On Top of the News
Why Are American Schools Slowing Down So Many Bright Children?
6/23/15 | Washington Post

Behind the Headline
Gifted Students Have ‘Special Needs,’ Too
1/4/13 | Education Next blog

In his latest column, Jay Mathews writes about a new report that lists ways of accelerating learning for gifted students and then describes barriers that school administrators and state legislators sometimes set up to block students who might do better in more challenging classes.

Chester E. Finn, Jr. has written about why it is “unfashionable, even taboo” in America to offer more schools and classes geared toward motivated, high-potential students.

There are some entire schools that do cater to gifted students, however. In “Challenging the Gifted: Nuclear chemistry and Sartre draw the best and brightest to Reno,” June Kronholz writes about the Davidson Academy, a public school in Nevada for highly gifted students.

In “High Scores at BASIS Charter Schools,” June Kronholz wrote about two BASIS charter schools in Arizona, open-admission public schools that offer a challenging curriculum to all students.

In today’s Washington Post, T. Rees Shapiro notes that BASIS will be opening a private school in Virginia this fall.

– Education Next