Standards in Gifted & Talented Education

Teacher Preparation and Program/Services Standards 

Classroom teachers are the primary agent for identifying and serving gifted and talented students in our nation's schools. Ensuring that highly able learners are recognized and subsequently served through systematic programming is of the highest priority. It is critical that all teachers are able to recognize a high-ability student who may need more depth and complexity in instruction or be referred for further assessment and services.  Teachers in specialized programs for gifted learners or those who coordinate gifted and talented programs and services should be familiar with the theory, research, curriculum strategies, and educational practices necessary to developing and sustaining classroom-based opportunities for advanced student learning.

NAGC has developed standards for gifted education teacher preparation programs as well as knowledge and skills standards for all teachers to assist teacher training programs and K-12 professional development coordinators in ensuring that teachers are able to meet the diverse learning needs of the nation’s high-ability students.  NAGC has also recently revised its Pre-K Grade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards to assist districts in developing strong services and programs for gifted children.  Together, these three sets of standards will help educators improve teaching and deepen student learning.

The 2010 NAGC  Pre-K -- Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards assist school districts in examining the quality of their programming for gifted learners. Recognizing that the ongoing evaluation and re-tooling of a successful gifted program is an evolutionary process, the NAGC Programming Standards detail a framework that focuses on student outcomes, which mirrors current practice in most schools, so the revised standards should connect without difficulty to state and local initiatives.  Districts across the country use the program standards both as mileposts for improving programs and services and as rubrics for evaluation. 

In late 2006, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) approved new Teacher Preparation Standards in Gifted Education that were developed jointly by NAGC, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and the Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG).  The standards, which are the foundation for the knowledge and skills in which teacher candidates demonstrate competency, as determined by the field of gifted education, are used by college and university teacher preparation programs in gifted education and are a model for district-based professional development programming.  Click here to view supplemental information related to the Teacher Preparation Standards in Gifted Education.

Knowledge & Skill Standards in Gifted & Talented Education For All Teachers 

Few teacher preparation programs provide instruction on the needs of gifted and talented students, so that the majority of teachers in classrooms today have not been trained to meet the learning needs of these students.  As teacher preparation programs begin to acknowledging the importance of candidates’ ability to recognize and address the specialized learning requirements for gifted children, NAGC has developed the Knowledge and Skill Standards in Gifted and Talented Education for their use, as well as for others involved in training all teachers already in the classroom.  This set of standards presents the primary understanding of the issues, learning differences, and strategies that all teachers should possess. The Knowledge and Skill Standards in Gifted and Talented Education were drawn from the NAGC-CEC Teacher Preparation Standards.

NAGC is extremely pleased to provide standards for the field and we thank all the volunteers whose leadership and expertise resulted in standards that are valuable to district leaders and post-secondary education professionals.  We offer additional information on the standards and how to use them. 

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