State of the States in Gifted Education

The National Association for Gifted Children's “State of the States in Gifted Education” report for 2008-2009 is now available.

For the full report: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=5364
(go to the set of tables to see how Tennessee ranks compared to other states)

The following is a summary of the report from David Nagel published in The Journal at
http://thejournal.com/articles/2009/11/16/is-american-education-neglecting-gifted-children.aspx

“America's 3 million gifted and talented students are getting the shaft in the vast majority of K-12 schools, according to a new report from the National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted. The report found that gifted students are being neglected at all levels in the United States, from weak or non-existent policies at the state level to uneven funding at the district level to a lack of teacher preparation at the classroom level.

The report… pointed to several failures on the part of U.S. education, from a severe lack of commitment on a national level to spotty services and little or no support to get teachers trained to deal with gifted students.

Some of the findings included:

• A full fourth of states provided zero funding for programs and resources for gifted students last year;

• In states that did provide funding, there was little consistency, with per-pupil expenditures ranging from $2 to $750 last year;

• Only five states require professional development for teachers who work in gifted programs;

• Only five require any kind preparation for these teachers;

• Gifted students spend most of their time in general classrooms and receive little specialized instruction;

• Key policies are handled at the district level, when there are policies in place at all, rather than at the state level, creating "the potential for fractured approaches and limits on funding";

• There is no coherent national strategy for dealing with gifted students.”