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A Call to Action
A Call to Action
The Division of Advanced Learning and Gifted Education at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has launched a multi-year strategic initiative to realize equity and excellence in gifted education. This initiative brings together years of work and provides needed clarity with meaningful and intentional support.
In gifted education, we seek to meet the advanced learning needs of students all day, every day. However, inequities rooted in larger society plague education, often leading to inequitable representation in gifted programs. Although schools cannot fix larger societal inequities on their own, we can ensure that our actions do not compound these inequities. Our goal must be to promote both equity and excellence. We must take actions to increase access and opportunity, which increases achievement and growth for all. We must assure that students’ racial, ethnic, economic, or other demographic factors do not reduce their likelihood of access and successful participation in advanced programming. By realizing equity and excellence in gifted education, schools will help all students reach their full potential.
This Call to Action: Guidebook responds to the needs of NC’s public schools. It provides a clear framework for improvement and actionable next steps for districts and schools to realize equity and excellence in gifted education. This journey is necessary for the sake of the state of North Carolina and most importantly for all students. Review to find Promising Practices from across the state that match each critical action, as well as an annotated bibliography. This Guidebook will help take NC from ideas to actions.
Critical Actions to Realize Equity and Excellence in Gifted Education
Critical Actions to Realize Equity and Excellence in Gifted Education
Changing Mindsets, Policies and Practices
Changing Mindsets, Policies and Practices
To set the foundation for realizing both equity and excellence, we must approach it from the shared perspective that both can be realized. Both are integral to a successful educational environment. This commitment toward equity and excellence is urgent and requires intentional and sustained actions. No single action will change mindsets, policies, and practices; we must synergize efforts to increase achievement and growth for all.
We must reframe our lens on how we view students, their actions and beliefs; how we view schools, our actions and goals; and how we view ourselves, our roles and responsibilities.
We must provide opportunities for every student to show us their strengths and talents and mitigate systemic barriers to access gifted education.
We must match the educational environment with each student’s demonstrated educational needs. Gifted services must adjust to the student instead of the student adjusting to the services.
We must also cultivate potential in students whose strengths are not yet tapped or readily observable in typical classroom environments, in addition to serving students who are already demonstrating high performance. We must provide intentional efforts that bring out and develop a student’s strengths and talents.
We must seek out and be responsive to meaningful data so that we align information with actions and aspirations.
We must provide a clear focus on the above critical actions in professional learning opportunities to realize equity and excellence in gifted education.
What is Equity and Excellence in Gifted Education? What is it not?
What is Equity and Excellence in Gifted Education? What is it not?
It is not about ‘status’ or sacrificing needs of one group of students for another; it is meeting the needs of all students.
It is not seeing students at-risk; it is seeing students at-potential.*
It is not having multiple hoops to show a student’s perfection in everything; it is about multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their potential.
It is not providing the same services to all; it is adjusting services based on demonstrated needs of students.
It is not about all students receiving the same content at the same time at the same pace; it is about personalized learning.
It is not about putting up barriers and hurdles; it is about expanding access and opportunities.
It is not based on a national comparison for local programs; it is based on local context and data.
It is not only recognizing students who come with easily recognizable gifts and talents; it is about being a talent scout and intentionally creating environments to recognize and develop talents not yet tapped.
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