I recently retired as supervisor of gifted students in the Lower Merion School District after 27 years, so I read with much interest about the predominant number of girls who are valedictorians ("Girls edge boys at head of class," July 14). This does not mean they are the "smartest" in the class. Valedictorians are chosen by grade point average, and how the grade is determined by individual teachers often has more to do with conformity to classroom expectations than... intelligence.

Exceptionally gifted boys (and sometimes girls) are often the ones who will not "play the game" teachers demand in order to get an A. This is especially true when they are fine divergent thinkers who see the world as slightly askew. These also are the students who become the true producers of new knowledge when they mature, the ones who open the eyes of their disciplines to new ways of thinking about a topic.

Little reward is given to them during their K-12 schooling, and their grades, especially as they move up the academic ladder, often reflect a lack of conformity to teacher demand rather than a lack of understanding of a subject.

In the future, I hope these students can be rewarded in some way, as well. If they are not nurtured and recognized during their school years, they might never get to a point where they feel comfortable with their gifts, and the world will be a less developed place as a result.

Cecile P. Frey, Ed.D.

Gladwyne