What’s Wrong With Pursuing Gifted Education for Our Kids?

Last updated on: March 11, 2013 at 8:58 am by Helen Lee

What’s Wrong With Pursuing Gifted Education for Our Kids? 2013-03-11T08:58:37-06:00 Helen Lee

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

While having dinner with a family who lives in Manhattan, the parents told me about their daughter’s saga of testing for kindergarten admission into New York’s notoriously selective Hunter Elementary School. The parents are two of the brightest people I know, and their four-year-old daughter is fluent in at least three languages so far (Mandarin, French, and English). Her test results placed her in the impressive 98th percentile. And yet, she hadn’t made it past the first round; only kids who scored in the 99th percentile and above advanced.

My friends took it in good stride, shrugging off the results. “I look on the bright side,” said Jennifer. “At least she scored in the 98th percentile! I just wasn’t willing to do all the test prep that everyone else does.”

Test preparation has become the norm for many Manhattan families wishing to give their children that extra boost needed to gain admission into these very competitive public school programs. The New York Times recently reported that, despite education administrators’ efforts to downplay the impact of test preparation, an impact clearly seems to exist. The well-prepared child is one whose parents have the resources to afford the many tutoring services that have emerged to meet the demand of today’s anxious parents.

Thinking about the situation of my well-educated and intelligent friends and their precocious daughter, I have to wonder what hope there is for kids from families that are not as well-resourced. Pundits and politicians have dissected the increasing “opportunity gap” that exists between the upper and lower classes, with conservatives and liberals both pointing fingers at the other’s flawed plans to bring more parity to our society. Unfortunately, policies can only go so far. What we’re seeing in our culture is not just an opportunity gap, but a moral and spiritual one as well.

Part of what Christian families can bring to the conversation is an awareness of this disparity and a willingness to stand against cultural norms to carve out a new pathway for themselves and their kids. I’ve been heartened to read more stories lately of Christian parents who are taking an approach to their children’s education that is clearly not based upon an individualistic desire to see their own kids succeed, but instead, seeks to lift the quality of education for all of the children in their community.

Christianity Today’s April 2012 cover story, “The New School Choice Agenda,” featured a group of young adult couples who chose to live together in a low-income community in Richmond, Virginia. As these couples began to have children, they faced a choice of what to do for their kids, education-wise. The local public school, with 88 percent of its students receiving free or reduced-price lunches, was not the typical educational choice that well-educated Christian parents make for their kids. But as father Corey Widmer asked in the article, “What would it communicate to our neighbors if we said, ‘We’re moving into your neighborhood, but we don’t consider your schools and public institutions good enough for our families’?”

Unfortunately, stories like this are not yet the norm. Too often even Christian families take an individualistic approach to our educational choices. We concern ourselves with just our own children because the culture has surrounded us with the message that being good parents means we’re doing the best we can to give our children every advantage. The government may desire that no child is “left behind” but the modern American family typically cares that just theirs are not.

But Jesus did not instruct us to “Love God, then love your family, then your neighbor.” It’s good to remind ourselves that walking the narrow path means we make choices that go against the cultural flow, even if it may not seem like the wisest way in the world’s eyes.

How does this sound for a radical approach to social justice and equality: Christians embracing opportunities not just to mold their kids into star performers, but to use the resources at their disposal to help ensure that no children in their neighborhoods and communities are left behind. Sounds like an approach that both George W. Bush and Jesus could support.

Previous Post

March 11, 2013

What Do Teens Hope to Gain When They Leave Facebook?

Next Post

March 11, 2013 Faith in Humanity Just Took Another Hit: A Horrifying Holocaust Revelation

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Asides Elsewhere Featured Film Games General Culture Headline Literature Music Of the Moment Podcast Politics RetroPost Sports Technology Television Uncategorized Viral

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz