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Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

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Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#2
There is no argument against academic acceleration beyond that it increases inequality of achievement. If the school system was about education more than childcare acceleration would be the norm for bright children and we’d have 14 year olds starting their Bachelor’s level studies in every school and 20 year olds who already had doctorates in every city of any size. Instead we waste their time, to their detriment and ours. Theirs, because if you’re going to be in school you should be challenged, and ours because they’d be able to start their professional lives earlier or with substantially more education, and hopefully skills.

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#3

There is no argument against academic acceleration beyond that it increases inequality of achievement. If the school system was about education more than childcare acceleration would be the norm for bright children and we’d have 14 year olds starting their Bachelor’s level studies in every school and 20 year olds who already had doctorates in every city of any size. Instead we waste their time, to their detriment and…

That's also why you practically never hear about anyone being left behind a grade. From the start of kindergarten to the end of high school, the everyone I knew who started in my grade finished in it. I can't remember a single exception. In what other areas do the fastest and slowest do 13 years of work at nearly the exact same pace?

The only difference allowed seems to be in AP classes, which are pretty limited in availability. If you imagine AP classes and stuff like that making maybe 2 years of difference in what you're actually taught, that's still putting everyone within 15% of each other.

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#4

There is no argument against academic acceleration beyond that it increases inequality of achievement. If the school system was about education more than childcare acceleration would be the norm for bright children and we’d have 14 year olds starting their Bachelor’s level studies in every school and 20 year olds who already had doctorates in every city of any size. Instead we waste their time, to their detriment and…

I agree. How do we change it?

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#7

There is no argument against academic acceleration beyond that it increases inequality of achievement. If the school system was about education more than childcare acceleration would be the norm for bright children and we’d have 14 year olds starting their Bachelor’s level studies in every school and 20 year olds who already had doctorates in every city of any size. Instead we waste their time, to their detriment and…

Counterpoint: the general level of maturity of an individual, and in particular their emotional maturity and their social maturity, do not strongly correlate with their intellectual maturity. Someone may be advanced enough to graduate at 18 with a bachelor's degree in a technically challenging field, but lack enough self-discipline, sense of responsibilities, or basic social graces and knowledge of social codes to realize their full potential. They might also feel alienated from their older peers.

By moving through the education system at the same speed as their normal peers, they have more time to construct their personalities and learn what they really want to do later in life.

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#8
post #6

This study is clearly wrong. When I was 16 I completed my CS degree, finished university by 22, and joined an early tech company by 25. It changed my life forever.

Are you just trying to troll or do you really live in that big of a bubble? Forgive my snarkiness... but you're in the 99.5%+ of opportunities given to public school students.

A good question is - did you go to a public school? Many questions could be had after this... but it's a great place to start.

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#9
post #6

This study is clearly wrong. When I was 16 I completed my CS degree, finished university by 22, and joined an early tech company by 25. It changed my life forever.

Are you sure you understood the abstract/title correctly? The study says there seem to be no negative social/emotional effects of academic acceleration.

Re: Academic acceleration in gifted youth: a 35-year longitudinal study

#10

There is no argument against academic acceleration beyond that it increases inequality of achievement. If the school system was about education more than childcare acceleration would be the norm for bright children and we’d have 14 year olds starting their Bachelor’s level studies in every school and 20 year olds who already had doctorates in every city of any size. Instead we waste their time, to their detriment and…

Counterpoint: the general level of maturity of an individual, and in particular their emotional maturity and their social maturity, do not strongly correlate with their intellectual maturity. Someone may be advanced enough to graduate at 18 with a bachelor's degree in a technically challenging field, but lack enough self-discipline, sense of responsibilities, or basic social graces and knowledge of social codes to re…

When I was a teenager, I felt much less alienated from adults than I did from high school students, who lived in a weird, artificial, often hostile social bubble with rules unlike anywhere else:

http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

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