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.
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.
...& 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.
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...