In the interest of the child: Assessing the arguments for gifted education: Response to Miraca Gross

The case for special programs for children with exceptional abilities can o nly benefit from separating good arguments from bad ones. I attempt here to distinguish what is valuable in Miraca Gross's case for gifted education f rom what fails to stand up to closer examination. In particular, I argue th at talent is not a 'national resource', and that educational programs for c hildren should aim at their interest, not other people's. The best argument here is the simplest and most straightforward one: children should be give n what they need, and they need opportunities to develop whatever talents t hey have.