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Gifted Education in the U.S. – State Policy & Legislation

Gifted Resources

Gifted students in states across the country often encounter a wide range of services varying from state to state and even district to district. Gifted education is often left up to local control, and what districts send to the state board may not be enforced or currently in effect.

One excellent resource on the topic is the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)’s State of the States in Gifted Education, which includes individual states’ approaches toward identification, funding, acceleration and more. This report reveals an uneven delivery system with differing policies that weaken access to services. Local school districts are often responsible for funding programs to identify and serve gifted students, support teacher training, and develop critical policies on identification and service models. While there have been some positive developments, including progress towards ensuring that gifted students are served using specialized plans, NAGC is calling for numerous changes, urging lawmakers and education leaders to develop comprehensive state strategies to expand access to a full range of high quality gifted education services.

See NAGC’s Gifted by State page for state-by-state statistics and policies.

Additional resources:

Comments

Dr SJ Worley

I believe ALL student are differently gifted. Distinguished Harvard professor Howard Gardner has show this theory called Multiple Intelligence. There are Musicians, Scientist, Naturalist, Social Geniuses who have soared and shown their brillance over and over. Gifted children in USA, are Visual-Word students who excel in test-taking. Great for them but , let’s not judge the rest of the students by one measurement. Can they play Mozart by heart? Paint a sunset or capture a photo of a dying species? Let’s come into the 21st century and notice each persons gifts…child, youth, adult or aging adult.

Jeff Thompson

Being gifted is different from being talented. By your definition everyone is gifted. If everyone is gifted, then no one is gifted.

Gilbert Villarreal

Wealth and lack of wealth determines the quality of resources among school districts affecting every aspect of a child's school participation from UIL activities to special needs departments.

Anita Spadaro

Your links above for Gifted by States page and State of the States do not work. says" "Page not Found"

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Please note, the Davidson Institute is a non-profit serving families with highly gifted children. We will not post comments that are considered soliciting, mention illicit topics, or share highly personal information.

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