No! All students have gifts and talents, and Renzulli Learning is an engine for developing the gifts and talents of all students, not just those of very high academic abilities. This approach – “teaching the giftedness”- to the development of high levels of multiple potentials in young people is purposefully designed to sidestep the traditional practice of labeling some students “gifted” (and by implication, relegating all others to the category of “non-gifted”).
All students should have the opportunity to develop higher-order thinking skills and pursue more rigorous content and first-hand investigative activities than those typically found in the traditional curriculum. This approach reflects a democratic ideal that accommodates the full range of individual differences in the entire student population and it opens the door to programs like Renzulli Learning that develop the talent potentials of many at-risk students who traditionally have been excluded from anything but the most basic types of curricular experiences.
Renzulli Learning creates a personalized menu of activities for each student based in part on that student’s grade level and academic ability – so no matter what each student’s unique strengths or need might be, Renzulli can find resources appropriate for challenging and engaging that student.
I use Renzulli with grades 1 – 5 at my school in the comptuer lab on Fridays. It is for everyone! I also use it to help make up my units for social studies for my 3 -5 graders.
Our school recieved the grant for the program because we have a large gifted population. I teach traditional English, however, in our inner city middle school, and have had enormous successes with using Renzulli. The students thoroughly enjoy utilizing and developing their own strengths with the wide range of activities available to them. The program has made marked improvements in student involvement, investment, and achievement in the classroom.