So when I was a kid, my school district did a bunch of tests on me & decided I was gifted. I went into two diff. programs, eventually landing in the program that had the students who scored in the top 1-2% on district tests at the time.
It fucked me & many other of my cohorts good & proper.
The program had a TON of educational enrichment stuff, that wasn't the bad part. In fact that was the best part about it. I had some really excellent teachers too.
The part that fucked us up is that a lot of adults assumed that because we were all really smart, that therefore we didn't need to be taught anything. And they NEVER focused on our emotional & psych development AT ALL.
They fed our minds & brains & intellect with a feast any child should have access to. And they did jack shit for things like our emotional intelligence or psyches. We were all 10 or 12 & they assumed we were adults.
I can't say that gifted programs aren't warranted, necessarily. I firmly believe that ECE & primary education is best when it can support *every* student where they are, who they are, whether they're "gifted" or not. There's so many downsides to gifted programs I don't even have time to get into them here...
...& upsides that I strongly feel need to be available to everyone, somehow.
The best education shouldn't be reserved for the kids who test highest on whatever bullshit standardized test is out there.
It was all based on test scores & numbers & what level we could read at, things like that. Both teachers & parents expressed constant surprise & bewilderment when we behaved like the adolescents we were, then punished us accordingly.