6 ms·
We sort kids into the smart and non-smart labels when they are young, and those labels tend to stick, even when what we're measuring isn't raw intelligence but
by bragr 1mo ago
We sort kids into the smart and non-smart labels when they are young, and those labels tend to stick, even when what we're measuring isn't raw intelligence but just variance in childhood development that wash out in the long term. I don't think either group is well served by this.
- estetlinus 1mo agoA smart kid can be anything from not eating rocks anymore to multiplying numbers at an early age. Most of us turn out like the rescued exotic bird which turns out to be a seagull covered in curry.
- andybak 1mo agoSometimes I wish there was a Hacker News comment hall of fame.
- Lwerewolf 1mo agoNever been easier to make one.
- fragmede 1mo agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/highlights https://news.ycombinator.com/highlights but you can also favorite comments for your own hall of fame, eg https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=andybak&comments=t https://news.ycombinator.com/favorites?id=andybak&comments=t
- groundzeros2015 1mo agoNo we don't. Public schools are incentivized not to help high performers. It actually hurts their metrics and budget. The widespread gifted/talented experience in public school ended in the late 90s. The actual intelligence segregation is self-selected. PMC parents live together in the same neighborhoods. Whether you believe in genetic or social factors, the smart kids come from here. In the 80s and 90s there was an educational culture that believed in finding overlooked geniuses regardless of where they are from. That narrative is completely dead. All institutions expect kids to come prepared with a resume from their youth, and have few avenues for identifying talent that doesn't meet their mold.
- hawaiianbrah 1mo agoSeattle Public Schools currently still has a “Highly Capable Cohort” program, though it is phasing it out.
- groundzeros2015 1mo agoSeattle public schools is a district of and for PMC. I'm sure you find all kinds of advanced programs in SCV too. There is an incentive to appease local parents by providing services they want to enroll their kids in. In areas where parents aren't demanding advanced classes, there is no program for the government to identify and separate top performers from the general student population.
- breezybottom 1mo agoI don't know where you're getting that from. The sorting of students into "gifted" and "non-gifted" categories is very common. You don't need to look further than your local school district for proof.
- groundzeros2015 1mo ago> don't need to look further than your local school district for proof. Yeah mine didn't have it. And the teachers fought every attempt to do so because it hurt their metrics (who gets stuck with the lower class average). Are you by chance part of the PMC and your local school district is of similar demographics?
- lelanthran 1mo agoWhat's PMC?
- groundzeros2015 1mo agoProfessional managerial class. There are a lot of alternative descriptors with overlapping meaning that you could choose.