What does the No Child Left Behind Act provide for "gifted" learners?

NCLB only has mandates in respect to children being proficient, there aren't any rules or provisions in place for "gifted" children because it is assumed that they are already proficient.

Theoretically, your child's gifted program shouldn't be impacted, but honestly that is rarely the case.Most, if not all funds are either mandated for or focused on getting the non-proficient children proficient. Sadly, providing an enriching and stimulating curriculum for your child is by far not a high priority because the main focus of the day must, by federal law, be geared towards making sure that every child in the school is proficient. (If they aren't, the school could be penalized greatly, while nothing happens if your child doesn't do their best but "just passes.")

Additionally, gifted programs differ greatly. There aren't any special curriculums, standards, or even trainings that a teacher must follow.Therefore a lot depends on the individual teacher. In my school there was a gifted program that my students often went in to it in 4th grade (I teach a 2/3 Montessori classroom). Over the years I have seen many different approaches to the gifted classrooms. One teacher followed the scripted curriculum, but gave the children extra work. Another teacher quickly covered the scripted curriculum,and then filled the rest of the time with plays and creations. (She would do things like turn the classroom into a "rain forest" by having the children make different plants and animals and then covering all the walls and the ceiling with them.-Sadly though, the children actually learned very little about the rain forest. The animals and plants came from different rain forests, and the children didn't understand what a rain forest actually was, in addition to not even being able to find one on a map of the world,- but the classroom sure looked impressive!) Another teacher handed out the worksheets that went with the curriculum and taught art all day long, while other teachers actually worked hard to expand each child's knowledge and teach them to think and work at their highest potential.

It sounds like your child's teacher might be one that expects the children to work on their own without any real teaching from her. Maybe what you should do is see if there is another Gifted class for your child to go to. But I will be honest, nowadays, even most gifted classes are just following the curriculum out of fear that some their students might not score in the proficient range and they will get penalized.

Another thought would be for you to find a teacher who differentiates instruction. It might be hard, or even impossible, but by asking around, you might find a teacher who does.

If you have the means and the resources, you might want to get you child involved with in enrichment classes somewhere.outside of school.

Last, but far from least, I would join or start a parent group aimed at getting rid of or at least modifying greatly the NCLB laws.