The "gifted" system in US schools is broken, racist, and completely fixable

[LWolf]

15. So let's talk about the "system."

I can add some information; I have some extra certification re: gifted ed, and have worked at district and site levels on local plans in two different states.

First of all, know this:

While it's a federal mandate that "gifted" students be served, it's not a funded mandate, and it's left up to states and districts to determine how to identify and qualify students for the program. There is no uniform "system" of identification or service. Across a single state, different districts can identify and serve differently, and they don't necessarily have to accept an identification made by another district and/or state when a student transfers in, although they usually will.

Secondly, in the states and districts I've worked in, identification is always a conversation, at least at the district level, and we're always talking about how to identify those who don't score at the top on standard cognitive assessments. Here's something I've noticed:

I began my career in one state; a state that funded, at least partially, gifted ed. Districts in that state worked harder because of that funding to identify and serve students, including using a matrix of multiple measures for identification purposes.

In my current state, there is no funding at all, and each district carves a small amount out of their general fund to make sure mandates are met...and that's all. It's a minimum effort to identify and serve, BECAUSE ITS UNFUNDED. And, I find that, in this state, educators at all levels understand quite a bit less about intellectually gifted students and how to serve them.

Way back when I was earning that extra certification in gifted ed, my professor was a wonderful, highly gifted, elderly black woman with a doctorate in education; she spent a lot of time on identifying those students who are traditionally overlooked. Nobody walked away from that program without clearly understanding this issue. The challenge was to get districts to listen. I was lucky to work for one that did, before I moved to this state.

Here, it's not so much a matter of listening, as of limiting. The whole system is structured to do as little as possible and still meet the mandates, because there is no funding.

You've probably noticed a pattern here, and it sure isn't limited to gifted ed, or to public ed. Funded mandates are more effective, and you're more likely to make needed changes.

I've served intellectually gifted students from all races and demographics over the course of my career. That might be because my training helps me spot them when traditional markers aren't there.