Why We Need Gifted and Talented Education

Why Gifted and Talented Education is Important

Helping students learn and grow is a goal of every school.  Implicit in that goal is an understanding of how to work with special populations of children.  Gifted and talented education encompasses the expertise needed to properly identify and serve not only the students who demonstrate high achievement, but also those who have the ability to achieve at high levels.  The term also covers the specific services and programs offered as well as the teacher training necessary to provide the academic guidance gifted students need in order to thrive.  Gifted and talented education, then, is the system by which districts recognize and serve this special population of children.

The educational community owes a great deal to the efforts of those involved in gifted and talented education. Over the past 50 years, terms like acceleration, curriculum compacting, grouping, pull-out, and even differentiation have seeped into mainstream language. Visit this section for the evidence that gifted education strategies make a meaningful difference for high-ability students.

Teacher Training Matters

Did you know that gifted children spend 80 percent of their time in the regular classroom, yet only 61% of classroom teachers have had any training in meeting their needs?  See this section to read more about how well-trained teachers implementing gifted education pedagogy affect student learning.

Research Summaries

To help advocates and researchers easily locate some of the strongest research findings that support the need for and benefits of gifted education, we have included several links to the right, including NAGC Legislative Committee co-chair Dr. Sally Reis’s summary report, Looking for Data in all the Right Places. 

Fact Sheets

NAGC has created several easy to read fact sheets to help you make your argument for gifted chidlren and gifted education and to hand out to others.

GT in the Classroom: What We Know

Advanced Achievement in STEM Disciplines

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