What does a ‘bright kid’ look like? New York expands its gifted program.
In a fifth grade classroom in central Harlem, chess coach Tommy Zhang is teaching a group of 10- and 11-year-olds an opening called the fried liver attack.
These students are no beginners – they’ve been studying chess since kindergarten – and they catch on quickly. They eagerly direct Mr. Zhang’s moves on the hanging chess board at the front of the classroom. Then they pair off to practice.
Weekly chess lessons aren’t part of most elementary grades’ schedules, but they’re not the only thing that sets apart Harlem Academy, a K-8 private school for gifted kids. Even more unusual, in the world of advanced education, are the school’s demographics: Close to three-quarters of students are low-income, and nearly all are students of color.
For years, gifted of students from the lowest income quintile receive gifted services, compared with 13% of students from the highest quintile.
