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Identifying "Gifted" Students and Challenges
After completing her doctorate at Columbia University, Leta Hollingworth is credited as the first to use the term "gifted" for intellectually advanced students. Throughout the 1920s, Hollingworth continued to teach classes and write textbooks, particularly concerning gifted students and their related psychological needs. -
Advancing Options for Gifted Secondary Students
Also part of the broader Cold War-era policy initiative to bolster American education, some preparatory high schools in 1954 began pilot Advanced Placement courses for advanced students to complete introductory college coursework. In 1956, the College Board offered 10 AP courses nationwide - increasing the available options for differentiation among gifted secondary students. -
Federal Education Reform and the Race to the Moon
In response to the successful launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, the US Congress passed the National Defense Education Act in 1958. As the first example of sweeping federal educational legislation, the NDEA allotted over $1 billion in educational funding, much of which was used to bolster the education of America's most talented students. -
Demanding Differentiated Instruction for Gifted Students
The "Marland Report" provided to the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Education broadly defines gifted students to include factors such as creativity or leadership - in addition to simple academic performance. The study recommended differentiated curriculum and instructional strategies that specifically "accommodate the learning styles of the gifted and talented". -
Multiple Intelligence - Broadening Gifted Students
Howard Gardner proposes eight specific areas of intelligence. Much like the Marland Study, the MI theory continues to broaden the traditional concept of gifted students. The traditional conception of a gifted student tends to remain; many still value academic performance and IQ as a greater indicator of giftedness. -
South Carolina: "Raising the Bar for All?"
In a state response to A Nation at Risk, South Carolina passed the Education Improvement Act of 1984 to, like similar national programs, bolster the overall quality of education. The EIA mandated gifted programs across multiple academic and creative domains. -
Federal Coordination of Gifted Programs
As part of the federal response to the Marland Report, the Javits Act is passed to fund and coordinate programs for gifted and talented students. Unlike IDEA, however, the Javits Act left legal protections for gifted students to the states. The Act is also challenged by the lack of political desire to increase appropriations and further federal involvement in education. -
South Carolina - Identifying Gifted and Talented Inqualities
Throughout the 1990s, a state task force was created to address structural inequalities in gifted programs - namely, the suppression of minority identification and recruitment into gifted programs. This culminated in 1999 with procedural changes to gifted identification as well as specific endorsements for G&T teachers. The success of this initiative remains to be seen, with an under-representation of minority groups in gifted programs and classes in many schools around the state and country. -
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No Child Left Behind's Impact of Gifted Students.
In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed to increase accountability by tying ESEA funds to school improvement. Javits was included within NCLB, which allocated insignificant funds for gifted students. The NCLB was focused on attaining MINIMAL goals, and so provided little for students that would easily attain those goals. NCLB was repealed in 2015 due to bipartisan criticism, largely over rampant testing. It's replacement (ESSA) turned accountability measures over to the states. -
Recent Challenges to Accessible Gifted Education
Today, gifted and talented educational programs are a significant asset to a student's life and future. On the other hand, gifted and talented programs are unable to do the most good if they do not achieve equitable access. Often, economically disadvantaged and minority students are simply overlooked for these programs (Lawson-McKinnie). In recent years and, I would predict, beyond 2020 there will be significant initiatives to provide greater access to all populations rather than a select few. -
Additional References Part 1
2nd Session, 92nd Congress. United States Senate. "Education of the Gifted and Talented: Report to the Congress of the United States by the U.S. Commissioner of Education". March 1972. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York, NY: Basic Books. History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “National Defense Education Act,” https://history.house.gov/Records-and-Research/Listing/lfp_006/ (June 12, 2020) -
Additional References Part 2
Silverman, Linda K. Social and Emotional Education of the Gifted: The Discoveries of Leta Hollingworth. Roeper Review, Mar 01, 1990. Retrieved June 12, 2020, from http://faculty.webster.edu/woolflm/hollingworth3.html Lawson-McKinnie, Alisa L., "Leveling the Playing Field: Ensuring African-American Students Access to Advanced Placement
Courses" (2016). ETD Archive. 872.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/872