Get rid of gifted and talented programs

The gifted program in Ontario is a system where students are tested at the age of 10 with a test that usually contains math, spacial reasoning and "logic and verbal reasoning" (English, basically) questions. 

If the student passes, they are separated into a "gifted school" with slightly more advanced curriculum and classmates. This continues up until high school, where gifted students, and only gifted students, can take specialized gifted classes. 

This system, in my opinion has a lot of problems. So many problems in fact, that I think it should be abolished. 

The Test is Broken

Every student can learn, just not on the same day or the same way. 

- George Evans

Your brain finishes developing at around the age of 25. The gifted test in Ontario is administered in grade 4. I think it's safe to say that testing a students academic performance, not even an IQ test, at the age of 10 is slightly questionable at best, ridiculous and disastrous at worst. 

At the age of ten, your brain is still developing, and environmental factors can still affect your overall intelligence, positively or negatively. 

But the problems with the "gifted test" start here.

The most important problem I want to talk about is inequality and failure to capture real "giftedness". 

Here is an example practice question for the CCAT according to criteriacorp. 

Choose the word that is most nearly OPPOSITE to the word in capital letters. LENGTHEN

A. abdicate

B. truncate

C. elongate

D. stifle

E. resist

Now if your first instinct was "that might be a bit difficult for a grade 4", you're correct, but that doesn't make the test necessarily broken. 

Until you realize that the test is solely taken in English and tests all students. 

Here's where ESL students come into play. You need to do well in all three sections to be considered gifted, including the "verbal and logical reasoning", which is just english questions, section. It is nearly impossible for ESL students to do as well as the test expects you to do. If many English native speakers can't pass the english section, it's unrealistic to expect ESL students to do it to. 

Meaning in Ontario, ESL students are very rare in gifted schools. 

Moreover, there are cultural differences that can lead to distorted student proportions. 

Without making generalizations, some cultures just prioritize studying more. For example, East and South Asian parents can just encourage their children to start studying at an early age, giving them an edge in the gifted test. 

Will more students from cultures that prioritize studying make it into the gifted program? Yes. Are they actually smarter? Not necessarily. Will this turn into model minority stereotypes? Almost certainly. 

In the case that the parents don't necessarily encourage studying at home, some parents just have more money and spend it on tutoring at an early age. To be fair, not that many students receive tutoring before the age of 10, but this does mean that a few richer students just have an advantage.

But it should be concerning that the gifted test can be affected by studying at all. After all, gifted should mean a students ability to learn and progress faster than others, not that they are academically more talented in a few specific areas. 

The definition of gifted by this test sucks. 

People who are naturally talented in the arts, building, athletics, etc, are not even remotely considered in this test, even though you could call them "gifted". 

Instead, gifted students are defined as people who were academically proficient in math and english at 10 year olds, and so had the gifted label slapped on them because of that. 

It's a very narrow definition of gifted, which a lot of people just equate to intelligence for some reason. A lot of students who are "gifted" in their own way will feel as though they aren't intelligent if they fail the test. 

It Gets Worse After the Test

What happens after the test?

On one hand we have gifted students, who see a lack of representation of ESL students in their school, while seeing a disproportionately large amount of either wealthier or model minority students, leading to stereotypes and a distorted view on the world. 

At the same time, they got into the gifted school, meaning they have the pressure to stay academically proficient, especially when they're surrounded by other "gifted" students. Now that they're gifted, they are confined to this narrow definition of gifted, and they have to stay "gifted" because of the pressure this one label caused.

If they start to fall behind, especially in the more challenging environment, the guilt and pressure of being labeled a gifted kid will push them down even more, making them feel awful about themselves.

On the other hand we have the non-gifted students. Many of which will feel disappointed and unintelligent because they failed the test.

Academically proficient students who belong in the gifted program, but weren't that "gifted" at the age of 10 will find school boring and meaningless, with no second chance at that gifted title. 

Students that are incredibly gifted in other areas will think that school just doesn't care about the field that they are interested in, which is why their skills didn't matter in making it to the gifted program. 

And finally, ESL students, no matter how intelligent they are, were unable to make it into the gifted program because of english questions, and so are seen as less intelligent than other people because of that. 

You may think that these are all just over exaggerated impacts. 

But I'm still a student, not a teacher, and I have friends who are in the gifted program. I see these impacts first-hand. All negative.

Sure, a few truly academically proficient students who stay that way and ENJOY being that way will be benefited by the gifted program. 

But most non-gifted students and many gifted students are only being harmed by it. 

And so, We Need to Get Rid of it. 

Last year, Ontario spent 3.41 billion CAD (2.48 B USD) on special education. While this also covers ESL and IEP education, it's safe to assume a lot of this is just hiring teachers for gifted classes, maintaining classrooms meant for that and most of all, maintaining entire schools solely dedicated to the gifted program.

In my school district alone, there are 3 or 4 entire elementary schools (excluding high school classes) SOLELY dedicated to gifted students. 

And my school district is exceptionally small. 

All of this money could be spent on other more important things, like food for students who don't get enough, computers, personalized education and education resources. 

Our school as an example, did not have enough money to replace the soap, bell and most of all, chromebooks (we're not allowed to bring our own computers). 

Moreover, it simply doesn't have any reason to exist. 

After we continue on into high school, we already have more difficult courses in the form of the AP and IB programs, which are free and open to all students. The gifted classes are still only for gifted students, but aren't even as useful in university applications as AP and IB classes. 

There is just so much wrong with the gifted program. Even if those negative impacts didn't exist, the sheer fact that it is incredibly broken should justify a gifted program spending cut, if not the complete removal of the program.

Ontario does not need the gifted, and talented program. 

It's time to get rid of it.