The Configuration of School Systems and How It Affects Gifted Students

A Crash Course on Giftedness and the Schools

The Configuration of School Systems

The physical configuration and organization of our school systems — i.e., separate buildings for elementary school, junior high or middle school, and high school — creates a significant artificial barrier to meeting individual needs. The old one-room schoolhouse allowed students to progress through the available curriculum at their own pace regardless of age; students got materials and instruction when they were ready and graduated when they had finished. There was no kindergarten; younger children stayed at home. School was for grades one through eight. Many students went on to four years of high school, but just finishing eighth grade was considered a worthy goal, especially in rural areas, until the mid-1900s. Skipping grades was quite common for the brightest children, and such advancement was possible because curriculum for all grades was available in the same building.

After World War II, public school systems built consolidated school districts where schools would feed into one large central high school. Most school systems attempted to have smaller schools for the younger children — usually kindergarten through sixth grade — throughout the district in…