• 1)   Gifted children will do fine on their own

    * Truth - Gifted Children cannot teach themselves

    2)   Teachers challenge all students in their classrooms

    * Truth - Most teachers have not been trained to work with advanced students. 

    3)   Gifted students are role models for other students in their classroom.

    * Truth - Average or below-average students do not look to the gifted students as role models

    4)   All children are gifted.

    * Truth - All children have strengths and positive attitudes, but not all children are gifted in the academic sense of the word.

    5)   Academic acceleration is socially harmful for accelerated students.

    * Truth - Gifted children are often happier with older children who share their interests and abilities than with children their own age. 

  • 6)   Gifted education programs are elitist.

    * Truth - Gifted education program funding and availability of services can be elitist, but meeting the need is not.

    7)   Students getting poor or average grades cannot be gifted.

    * Truth - Not all gifted students are academically successful.

    8)   Gifted students are happy, popular, and well-adjusted in school.

    *Truth - School can be a negative experience for some gifted students.

    9)   A child receiving special education services cannot also be gifted.

    *Truth - Having strengths in one area does not preclude the need for support in another.

    10)  Gifted education programs require an abundance of resources.

    *Truth - Offering gifted education services does not need to break the bank.