According to the Ohio Association for Gifted Children (OAGC), youths who display exceptional ability in academic aptitude, intellectual capacity, creativity and other areas may be gifted.
In Ohio, school districts are required by law to identify gifted students, The Columbus Dispatch reports. However, these districts do not have to provide services for these children. As gifted students have their own unique needs, a lack of educational programs for their population can leave them less engaged in their schoolwork, which, in turn, can influence how they perform academically.
While 41 percent of gifted students in Ohio received services in 1999, this number fell to 19 percent in 2011 due to schools’ efforts to tighten their budgets.
"These students are invisible," Ann E. Sheldon, executive director of the OAGC, told the news source. "We have a whole population of kids that are being completely ignored."
To address this problem, state lawmakers added a provision to Senate Bill 316 that, if approved, would lead to the establishment of privately operated, tax-funded charter schools for gifted students in 16 regions by the fall of 2014.
No matter what state parents live in, they will want to make sure their children are receiving the education they deserve. To see whether or not they require gifted services, parents can have them take an IQ test for kids.
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