I agree with most of the posts on this thread. I strongly agree that all children are important and have been endowed with special gifts and talents. I also believe that No Child should be left behind-ALL should be given the opportunity and attention they need to move from one skill level to the next.

Unfortunately I still believe that in American school's today, the kids who are good students are the ones who are being ignored. If your child is considered "above proficient" but not "gifted" the school system ignores their needs. In fact it is these students who are placed in classes below what they can handle-- not because of their educational needs but because school district needs them as mentors, role models, and mean adjusters. They can't do this with the student's identified as gifted because the IEP requires that they get at least something meaningful during the school day.

It is my contention that the school system, at least in my state is investing major resources in tutoring/remediation programs, test taking skills, weekend & summer classes, after school programs, etc. These programs all target only a small group of students (students just below proficiency). If a child is somewhere above the proficiency cut they are not permitted to participate in these activities. The rationale for focusing all the resources on these students is that they are ones who (if they drilled and practiced enough) can get a few more answers correct on the standardized test and become proficient data points. The schools can then say, "see we are meeting the AYP." Meanwhile what you don't see in the newspaper is the gradual lowering of SAT scores, fewer (REAL) AP and Honors courses, or that fewer graduates are getting accepted to quality 4-year institutions without going first to community college.