In recent years, much attention has been given to underidentification of some student groups for gifted services.  While this is a worthy and necessary conversation, taking a step back can provide a broader perspective for a more impactful framework for the purpose of education, including gifted services, and the desired outcomes for all students.

Arizona is a leader in the nation, employing one of the most important strategies for equitable opportunity for identification: universal screening.  However, in the 2019 report Access Denied by the Gifted Education Research & Resource Institute at Perdue University, showed that while equity of access, equity of services lags behind.  

In 2015, NAGC created a task force on Talent Development (TD) which they subsequently defined within the field of gifted education as a framework for identifying and serving students based on their domain-specific ability and stage of development.  The TD model provides a lens to view students, who are increasingly culturally, linguistically, and/or ethnically/economically diverse (CLED), within the context of how their abilities may manifest.  Additionally, it acknowledges that ability is malleable so it can be developed over time.  However, the TD framework also addresses the understanding that ability is vulnerable to loss if neglected.

In this session, we will explore the tenets of TD and how Arizona educators can leverage those ideas to more equitably identify students for gifted services, provide opportunities for CLED students to grow into their potential, and use strategies that result in growth for all students.

Gentry, M., Gray, A., Whiting, G. W., Maeda, Y., & Pereira, N. (2019). Access denied/System failure: Gifted education in the United States: Laws, access, equity, and missingness across the country by locale, Title I school status, and race. Report Cards, Technical Report, and Website. Purdue University: West Lafayette, IN; Jack Kent Cooke Foundation: Lansdowne, VA.