With most gifted students being educated in a mainstream model of education, the prevailing myth that the regular classroom teacher can "go it alone" and the companion myth that the teacher can provide for the education of gifted students through differentiation are alive and well. In reality, the regular classroom teacher is too often concerned about test scores and thinks the best way to prepare students for the state standardized tests is to teach them test-taking strategies and then conduct work sessions using old state tests as review and practice, concentrating on test format. Without professional development and a willingness to address the individual needs of gifted students in the curriculum within an "accountability" frenzied environment, it becomes a real challenge for the regular classroom teacher to differentiate using the suggested strategies presented in this article. One solution would be to reexamine the idea of the gifted specialist who in a collaborative mode could assist the regular classroom teacher in assessing the gifted student's interests, learning preferences, and skill level and then help in the planning and development of lessons with depth and complexity. However, one danger is if there are not a sufficient number of gifted students in a given regular class, gifted students will once again become "lonely learners" with their social and emotional needs ignored. What is needed is a belief system and school culture that supports the development of the individual student's giftedness because the regular classroom teacher cannot go it alone with or without differentiation.