ones that are currently being assessed, a revolu-
In Russia, the first public school for gifted students
tionary shift is needed in education as well as in
was founded by the Moscow Department of Educa-
parenting and society.
tion in 1992 is named Sozvezdie (Constellation)
and according to exiting reports is divided into a
The subject of gifted children in the
world
pro-gymnasium and a gymnasium. The differentiating feature of the curriculum is the fostering of
the creative, intellectual, and personal develop-
This is monitored in most countries and efforts are
ment of children with general giftedness from en-
made towards supporting extraordinary children.
tering till finishing school.
For example in US, the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) introduces a term called Ac-
In UK there are a number of supporting organiza-
celeration – according to their own website this is
tions and charities that focus on both the educa-
one way of supporting students as they move
tion of gifted children as well as the support of
through traditional curriculum at rates faster than
parents and carers. One of these is Potential Plus
typical. Among the many forms of acceleration are
UK, an independent charity established in 1967
grade-skipping, early entrance to kindergarten or
which works with the whole family to support chil-
college, dual-credit courses such as Advanced Place-
dren with high learning potential. There are 137
ment and International Baccalaureate programs and
schools that are members of Potential Plus UK.
subject-based acceleration (when a fifth-grade student takes a middle school math course). Many re-
Whist the average IQ in the general population is
searchers consider acceleration to be “appropriate
said to be about 100, four-year-old Heidi Hankins
educational planning. It means matching the level
from Winchester has scored an whopping IQ of
and complexity of the curriculum with the readi-
159 – just one point below that of Einstein and
ness and motivation of the student”. Is also inter-
Stephen Hawking. She has taught herself to read.
esting to observe some of the budgets that are
made available according to 2014-2015 State of the
Oscar Wrigley from Reading was two year old
States in Gifted Education in US.
when he scored an IQ of 160 in 2009. Oscar joined
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