While no official data is collected on their basic operations, a 2019 national survey of more than 1,200 gifted and talented teachers and coordinators conducted by Education Week provides some insight into common practices. The structures and operations of gifted and talented programs are similarly diverse. Some programs use screening tests to determine entry, while others are based on teacher recommendation and portfolio review. These encompass a broad spectrum of approaches: IQ, demonstrated ability in multiple intelligences, creativity and problem solving, and focus and task commitment. Instead, states and school districts apply locally selected measures of intelligence and ability to determine which students are accelerated relative to their peers. There is no single standard definition of giftedness. ![]() In 2017–18, for example, 1.6 million elementary-school students were enrolled in gifted programs out of 23.6 million students overall, or 6.9 percent of total enrollment. Nationwide, these programs enroll a relatively small share of students. Gifted and talented programs have been a feature of American public schools for nearly a century. Gifted and talented programs are not a major contributor to racial segregation in U.S. When I track enrollment changes at specific elementary schools before and after gifted programs are initiated or discontinued, I find virtually no impact on the percentages of white and Asian students. However, they have only a minor impact on racial segregation, in part because they enroll relatively small numbers of American schoolchildren. Overall, gifted and talented programs do disproportionately enroll more white and Asian students and fewer Black and Hispanic students. I then apply standard indices of racial segregation to determine the extent to which gifted programs contribute to within-school segregation. I focus on the period between 2009 to 2018 to investigate and compare the racial compositions of gifted and talented and general-education programs. To explore these questions, I look at the federal education department’s Civil Rights Data Collection surveys, which provide detailed data on the existence and racial composition of gifted and talented programs at virtually every elementary school in the United States. But are gifted and talented programs drivers of racial segregation? If so, to what extent? ![]() So too are race-based differences in student enrollment in general-education versus gifted and talented programs. public schools are well-documented trends. Racial segregation and racial gaps in student achievement in U.S. After public outcry, the program was preserved, but with major changes: more classes, including in less-advantaged neighborhoods, and more pathways for students to qualify. New York City’s program, for example, was planned for virtual elimination in 2021 based on longstanding concerns about relatively low enrollment rates for Black and Latino students, who account for about 70 percent of all city students but 25 percent of gifted and talented students. They also have stoked controversy and allegations of contributing to racial segregation and academic inequality. For decades, gifted and talented programs have offered small, selected groups of students enrichment and faster-paced lessons.
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