Advocates of school choice pay scant attention to gifted education, accelerated learning, and other forms of advanced education — those services that provide students with opportunities to go beyond the normal, grade-level curriculum. These advanced services are both research-supported and common sense: If a student is capable of “doing more” in school, they should have every opportunity to learn. If forced to “learn” things they already know, what’s the point of them going to school?
Yet public schools often provide too little access to advanced learning, often because educators and policymakers underestimate both demand and need. In a series of studies, researchers have found that a surprisingly large percentage of students are working above grade level. One study suggests 24% of students are learning at least two grade levels above their current grade in reading, and 11% in math. Another study estimates that over a third of middle-grade students are above grade level in reading, and 8% in math. Those statistics reflect students already performing at advanced levels, not the much larger group of students who are capable of doing advanced work if given the opportunity. Put in economic terms, this is hardly a niche market.
