Martin Luther King Jr. once said that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.

This is how Liz Schabel, program coordinator for the Office of Precollegiate Programs for the Talented and Gifted (OPPTAG), explains the significance of education for talented children.

“We can’t force our gifted students to underachieve in a traditional classroom and then expect them to come up with amazing insights and innovations. We need to nurture them and their skills,” she said.

And Schabel believes education for the gifted is being neglected.

“In fact, it’s sort of a fad now to deemphasize special programs for these special children,” Schabel said.

Co-director of OPPTAG, Camilla Benbow, agreed that gifted education is at a crossroads.

“Right now there’s a struggle between providing equitable education and fostering excellence. We’ve always viewed these two as polar opposites but I hope that administrators will realize that they support each other and do not negate one another,” Benbow said.

Until this realization comes, however, children will have to “look elsewhere for challenge” Schabel said.

“All children have the right to challenge. Each child is at a different stage of mastery, and we must develop curriculum to aid each in his or her learning process,” Benbow said.

The future of education for the talented and gifted is uncertain.

“It’s time that the pendulum swing back in favor of gifted education, but schools may follow the fad as opposed to the research, doing what is popular and not what is needed,” Schabel said.

To help stop this trend, Schabel has taught gifted classes, is active in OPPTAG, and gives speeches concerning the issue. She is trying to reverse various myths about gifted children and their education.

One such myth is that the achievement levels of the brightest students are increasing; another is that educational fads are synonymous with positive change.

Schabel also has several suggestions for schools when dealing with gifted youth. Foremost is to toughen requirements and standards for the brightest students and to implement only research-based change.

Schabel suggests parents of talented children considering allowing their children to skip grades, take Advanced Placement courses and take college courses part time while still in high school.

OPPTAG is another way that people like Benbow and Schabel champion gifted education. The main purpose of OPPTAG is to identify talented youth and then offer challenging experiences to encourage achievement. Some of the programs include CY-TAG, where seventh through tenth graders live on campus and take accelerated courses, and Scholar’s Academy, where high school juniors and seniors enroll in ISU summer classes. Other programs include week-long enrichment courses, career exploration and scholarships.

“In my opinion, gifted youth are the hope of our future,” Schabel said. “Samuel Johnson said ‘that the future is purchased by the present,’ and right now, we’re not purchasing. We’re neglecting.”