Harvard: Research provides no simple answer

As the Montgomery County Board of Education discusses a change to Policy IOA Gifted and Talented Education, the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University - 2008 Conference Report comments on the ongoing discussion in Montgomery County.

MCPS administrators were panelists at the Harvard Conference last summer and quoted Superintendent Weast in their presentation. After the conference, MCPS parents watched the conference video, read the transcript and sent comments to the Achievement Gap Initiative. The 2008 Conference Report makes the following observation with regard to the ongoing discussion in Montgomery County:

The question of whether high-ability students require separate programming to
achieve their potential—as opposed to having teachers that are trained to
effectively differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classes—is an important matter
on which opinions are strong, but for which research provides no simple answer. It
was not discussed at the conference, and few studies over the past several decades
have addressed it in a rigorous manner. (Page 41)

To view video and PowerPoint presentations from the session, see http://www.agi.harvard.edu