Children who were admitted to the gifted program because of high achievement test scores received academic benefits in multiple school subjects

Card and Giuliano conducted a regression discontinuity study in a large Florida school district to investigate the magnitude of academic benefits of the district’s gifted program.

They found that for children identified as gifted through an intelligence test, the program provided few or no benefits. But children who were admitted to the gifted program because of high achievement test scores received academic benefits in multiple school subjects.

A review of this study—performed by economists with no vested interest in educational theory or practice— concludes that it is a welcomed contribution to the gifted education research because it touches upon issues of identification, diversity, program evaluation, and more.