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Gifted Education Officially Began in California
California and Illinois were leaders in developing specific gifted programs in the US. Both states organized comprehensive programs in larger cities for gifted learners by training teachers and funding resources. -
Founding of Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY)
The Spencer Foundation in Chicago had plenty of money but not established list of grant speakers. Julian Stanley received funding from the Spencer Foundation until 1984, and Julian created SMPY. The first talent search took place in March of 1972. -
The Marland Report
The Marland Report is the first national document on gifted education. This happened in the wake of the Soviet Union launching Sputnik. Even though the report's recommendation were not technically enacted, they served as a catalyst for states to develop plans and policies. -
Transition from SMPY to CTY (Center for Talented Youth)
CTY was created to reach more gifted youth. This new program would search just as much for verbal reasoning ability as for mathematical. This shift greatly enlarged the talent search and enrollment in summer gifted programs. -
Policy Change
South Carolina created a policy initiative to identify more African American children as gifted and talented. Performance tasks related to verbal, math, and nonverbal were added to the existing identification criteria to be used as a supplement. -
Acceleration
In 2004, "A Nation Deceived", declared that there was a greater need for acceleration within gifted programs to ensure that students were not unnecessarily being held back. In 2006, the NACG created a policy statement about the importance of crafting acceleration practices at the state and local level.
