“One of the clearest takeaways from examining these data is the correlation between state policies and the more-equitable identification of gifted and talented students,” said Dr. Scott Peters, senior research scientist at NWEA.
States that had specific policies and mandates had greater enrollment in gifted and talented programs by English learners and students with disabilities. For example, if schools were required to have and maintain formal plans for gifted services, they were 10 percentage points more likely to offer services. In addition, those same schools were 23 percentage points more likely to offer gifted services if their home state proactively conducted audits for compliance.
However, Peters added, “where the data got more complex and less clear is in the characteristics of schools who identify gifted and talented English learners and students with disabilities at higher rates.”
The findings challenged typical stereotypes of schools that had the most proportional rates for English learners and students with disabilities in gifted and talented programs. For English learners, these schools were smaller, had lower average socio-economic status, had more students eligible for the Free and Reduced Lunch program, were located in lower achieving districts, and were lower average achieving themselves. For students with disabilities, the characteristics were less clear, with the only standout being that the schools were smaller than the average school in the sample and had smaller, if more equitable, gifted and talented enrollment. In addition, equity went up in schools in states that had gifted and talented under the office of Special Education.
“These findings suggest there is much more that needs to be studied about how these schools found success identifying English learners and students with disabilities for GT programs at greater rates,” said Dr. Angela Johnson, research scientist at NWEA and co-author of the study.
This press release originally appeared online.
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