Ability Grouping of Gifted Children

Today’s topic is one that impacts gifted kids in schools on a regular basis. In the past, gifted children often were placed into special gifted classes or accelerated learning groups. The thinking went that gifted children learned at a faster pace than other kids, and if you could group gifted children together it was easier for those students and their teachers to move at a faster pace through the class’ subject matter. However, the practice of grouping students by ability has become a controversial topic in many schools. As a result, during the last few years we have seen the dismantling of special gifted classes. We’ve seen teachers move away from the use of ability groups in their classrooms. How are gifted students affected by this change and does it make sense to move away from ability grouping?