Does ability grouping hurt the self-esteem of gifted students?
No. Parents and teachers may assume students will become arrogant if they are identified for a high ability group, but there is no evidence that this occurs. Others assume gifted students’ confidence and self-esteem will drop if they are placed with other highly able students. Self-esteem is , in part, a product of a person’s comparing himself or herself to others, a process called “social comparison.” Students who are grouped with other highly able students may experience a slight decrease in the perception of their academic ability. Even if this does occur, it is nothing to worry about. If such changes occur at all, they are very slight. Gifted students’ academic self-esteem does not drop below average when they are grouped by ability. Further, if a slight decrease does occur, it is specific to academics and simply reflects the reality of the new social comparisons. Ability grouping is not related to a dangerous drop in self-esteem for gifted students. Does ability grouping hurt aver
