“ …Leaders serve as a keystone in the provision of gifted education services in schools and districts” (pp. 26-27).
Knowledge is power, and in this case knowledge leads to powerful programs for students. Research published in the Journal of Organizational and Educational Leadership gathers perspectives from administrators to investigate gaps in the management of gifted education programs. Administrators hold power, and their opinions and actions make a difference to student success.
Therefore, when seeking to bolster opportunities for gifted students, administrators suggested the following as areas of leadership that would benefit from more attention:
- Understanding gap: Leaders recognize gaps in their understanding of gifted education
- PD gap: Lack of opportunity/time for PD on an administrative level
- Time gap: Difficulties with the logistics of providing impactful programs for gifted students
Their research indicates that these gaps directly impact the culture around gifted education in a school, including how gifted education standards and policies are implemented. Furthermore, responses from leaders indicated that many lack confidence in evaluating gifted programs and educators due to insufficient training. While the teachers might have experience, the lack of attention paid to their programs on an administrative level results in a lack of guidance, resources, and opportunities for high ability students.
To address these issues, researchers suggest that districts provide pre-service and in-service school leaders with:
- Better training through pre-service programs
- Ongoing professional development
- Greater attention given to gifted education best practices
“When school leaders and other school stakeholders have a better understanding of gifted education, more informed decision-making, further equitable and inclusive programming, and better outcomes for gifted students may occur” (pp 25-26).
Resources for Leaders
Teachers in the gifted education world can provide several resources to their administrators to support greater understanding of the latest research in gifted programming.
First of all, this resource, Gifted Weekly, provides a range of research-based articles on the latest in this field at no cost to them. They can subscribe here.
Second, our national NAGC and local gifted associations provide many resources for central office decision making in addition to the advocacy and teaching resources that many use. For example, my local NJAGC often provides administrators with no-cost entry to our annual conference for just this reason.
Finally, when you come across a helpful gifted article, forward it to your administrator along with an executive summary linking it to positive practices in your own district as well as an area of growth you’d like to bring to their attention.
We want to recognize what we are doing well on behalf of our students in addition to areas in need of further attention and growth. My emails to my K-5 Supervisor highlighting new research has led to productive discussions based on his areas of expertise as well as my own, and the articles I email have served as the launchpad for these conversations.
SOURCES
Geesa, Rachel Louise and Stith, Krista M. (2024) “Exploring school leaders’ perceptions of gifted education educator and gifted program evaluation,” Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership: Vol. 9: Iss. 2, Article 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/joel/vol9/iss2/2 & https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1425195
Gifted Weekly 