How do gifted programs differ from a general education program?
It depends. The type of program your child has a chance to participate in will be limited by what the district or school has to offer. Some districts offer only one option, while others offer a choice. Some let individual schools run their own programs; others centralize all programs at one or two sites an approach which often requires that children be transported to a school outside their neighborhood. Is one type of program better than the others? Not necessarily. The worth of any program will depend on the teacher involved, the support she is given, and the needs of the child. Those who are doing well in a general education classroom and are able to make social connections there may do better in a pull-out program where they are spending only a portion of their time with a group of other identified kids. Those who are totally out of place, socially and academically, in a regular class might do better in a self-contained gifted education room where they spend more time in a modified
