The Debate on Gifted Education Programs

Anti-merit education experiments conducted between 2010 and early 2020 have garnered criticism due to their unpopularity and lack of success.

Within this context, City Journal, a publication by the Manhattan Institute focusing on urban policy, explores the criticisms surrounding gifted education. Writer Katie Arnold-Ratliff recently posed a provocative question in New York, challenging the notion of student giftedness. She argued that the concept might be a myth. Supporting her argument, she referenced a study indicating that merely 12.3 percent of students identified as gifted achieved significant prominence by age 50. This statistic implies that 88 percent did not reach outstanding success, such as rising to Fortune 500 executive positions or earning notable journalistic awards.