If you don't understand calculus the first time around, it doesn't mean you're not a "math person", it means you need to sit down and RTFM for a few more hours. Likewise, if you're really uncoordinated and can't hit a baseball, go outside and practice for 2 hours every day. I guarantee you'll improve dramatically. There's not many things that humans do that can't be improved through practice and discipline.
For some background, I say all this as someone who was told up and down during his childhood how smart and gifted he was, all of which came crashing and burning during high school and college when I realized there were actually things I needed to put in effort to learn. I'm still trying to repair my study habits and fill in knowledge gaps to this day, and I truly wish people had congratulated me more when I had put in a lot of effort into something than when I appeared to grasp a concept quickly with no effort.
If it makes you feel better, in raising my daughter I'm trying to do things a better way. I do believe my daughter is gifted, but I spend little if any time praising for that. Instead, I talk about how things like hard word, perseverance, and practice are the key ingredients of success, and I point out and discuss examples wherever I can.
I'll let you know in about 10 years or so whether it made a difference. :)
To do that you need twins to treat differently. Every experiment needs a control group ;)
There are of course other issue, where many students are categorized based on race and/or upbringing and this effectively curtails their educational opportunities.
And it reaches to the highest levels, with creationist congressman and even anti-vaccination nuts like Dan Brown.
Only in America do people scoff at the work of science and academicians and put air quotes around the word "expert".