I’m sorry to disappoint those expecting a reference to one of the great movies of the 1980s.
Instead this post focuses on TIME‘s latest cover story, an examination of the special challenges linked to educating abnormally intelligent students.
Two items caught my attention. The first was a great quote from the founder of an academy for geniuses located in Reno:
Educators often “want people to have equal results. But that’s not likely in our world. You know, I would love to be equal to Michael Jordan in my basketball talents, but somehow I never will be.”
The second item that drew my attention was writer John Cloud’s blatant editorialization in the story’s final paragraph:
Ideally, school systems should strive to keep their most talented students through a combination of grade skipping and other approaches (dual enrollment in community colleges, telescoping classwork without grade skipping) that ensure they won’t drop out or feel driven away to Nevada. The best way to treat the Annalisee Brasils [a 14-year-old genius] of the world is to let them grow up in their own communities ? by allowing them to skip ahead at their own pace. We shouldn’t be so wary of those who can move a lot faster than the rest of us.
Says who? The writer? His editor? Someone with expertise?