Access, equity, and missingness in gifted education

This project investigated laws, access, equity, and missingness related to gifted education identification as reported biennially to the federal government Office of Civil Rights by all  public  schools  in  2000,  2011–2012,  2013–14,  and  2015–16.  Specifically,  this study examines  these  areas nationally, and by state across schools for Non-Title I and Title I schools, by Locale (i.e., City, Suburb, Town, Rural), and by Race (i.e., American Indian/Alaska Native American Alaska Native [AIAN]; Asian; Black; Latinx; Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander [NHPI]; Two or More Races [TMR]; and White). Report cards were developed for each state and findings were synthesized. Representation  indices  were  used  to  investigate  equity.  These  analyses  were  compared  to  previous similar analyses.

Most states have laws concerning gifted education (N=38); however, laws vary widely with some only having language requiring identification (N=7) but not services, and some requiring identification and services (N=30). Of those 30 states, 6 have no funding and 4 are fully funded. Of the remaining 13 states with no laws, 11 have language, with 4 of those having partial funding. Only 2 states have no language, mandate, or funding. The top 25 states in terms of access to identification have mandates. Although access does not necessarily translate to equity, it is essential for equity. Additionally, access results in lower numbers of missing students. Those states with fully funded mandates for identification and services (FL, GA, IA, OK) lead in access to gifted education services, with Florida and Oklahoma showing promise in areas of equity.

This report as well as each state report card with narrative of methods and findings can be downloaded at www.purdue.edu/geri

and click access denied.At this interactive website (URL) visitors can find visual summaries of the data contained in the full report.