Gifted Education :: Teaching Education

Gifted EducationRunning head GIFTED EDUCATION/CIVIL RIGHTSEducation of Gifted StudentsA Civil Rights proceeds?Article CritiqueEducation of Gifted Students A Civil Rights Issue? This paper seeks to answer the question Is the differential representation of the sexes and of racial and ethnical groups in educational programs for gifted students a civil rights problem? The agent does a more than adequate job of presenting the arguments on both sides of the issue and drawing licit inferences. The article seeks to identify the actual dilemma and proposes possible approaches for resolution.Much of the school system today has been shaped by the civil rights laws of the past. The writer notes that the link these rights drop to education is the pledge of an equal opportunity for all children to learn and be educated in this country. Schools must accomplish this without regard to race, creed or gender. The author notes that there have been references to the gifted programs being just another subtle form of segregation by the white upper-middle-class. These concerns arise from the fact that the representation of the sexes and of ethnic groups inwardly the gifted classes reflects just such a phenomenon. The unjustified beliefs of genetic inferiority of some races have long since been denounced. These unfounded beliefs have been replaced by seek which indicates that the genetic component of intelligence is augmented by the nurturing environment (or lack thereof) of a child. The paper sites twin studies, which give creedence to the genetic component of intelligence, and notes these differences apply within the different ethnic and racial groups. The author attributes an almost equal role to the environment of the child referring to nurturing as the crystallization of native abilities. Noting the differences between the sexes in maths and verbal skills, the author seeks to validate this conception. The author sees the cultural values of society as an u navoidable encroachment upon the genders resulting in these differences. I beg to differ, as molecular and developmental studies have shown that there are structural and biological differences in the brains of males and females (Zhang, 1995 Palego, 2000). As a molecular biologist I would be more accustomed to attribute differences to the biochemical aspects of development. The writer next addresses the inequities of intelligence tests and accurately identifies them as mere predictors of future academic performance.