The Association for the Gifted, a division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC-TAG), has issued formal statements on certain issues pertinent to the education of children who are gifted and talented. Each statement has been approved by the CEC-TAG Board.
The need for a national call to action about diversity and developing gifts and talents derives from the continuing and significant underrepresentation of specific groups receiving educational services for the gifted and talented. This call to action requires thinking in terms of a more global system involving educators, families, communities, and businesses joining together to educate children at the edge of their ability. The home, the community, and the school are all places where children learn and may be encouraged to grow. Diversity and Developing Talents proposes action in four areas: preparing school personnel, ensuring equitable curriculum and learning environments, finding giftedness, and including diversity in research.
CEC-TAG urges Congress to hold schools accountable for growth of individual students who perform at the advanced, beyond “proficient” levels, when designing growth model accountability systems in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as reauthorized by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This position statement describes the issues plus makes recommendations for including advanced students in growth model systems.
CEC-TAG is committed to providing educational opportunities which foster excellence and equity in a democratic pluralistic society. Achieving these goals requires that schools develop programs which honor diversity. Because children are capable of developing beyond where we are able to predict, this position statement emphasizes that schools must sustain educational programs which promote development and magnify differences among persons.
CEC-TAG recognizes the importance and the impact of the Response to Intervention (RTI) method of identifying and serving students with diverse educational needs. The position paper on RTI issued by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) specifically addressed the needs of children who are “twice-exceptional” indicating that these needs must be met through the provision of “access to a challenging and accelerated curriculum, while also addressing the unique needs of their disability” (CEC Position Paper on RTI, 2007, p. 2). The inclusion of students who are twice exceptional within the RTI framework provided a starting point for addressing students who are gifted. In this paper we extend the application of RTI to include children who are gifted.