Poorest Students Often Miss Out on Gifted Classes

Embracing Difference: Tai D. Matthews leads a lesson on ancient Greece in her 6th grade humanities class at the Paterson (N.J.) Academy for the Gifted and Talented. She says the school’s cultural, linguistic, and economic diversity enriches her teaching. 

—Mark Abramson for Education Week

What does it take to find the country's most promising, academically talented students?

In wealthier enclaves, where gifted education programs often flourish, it can be simply a matter of testing to cream the best from a pool of youngsters who have had high-quality early enrichment and academics.

But with more than half of public school students now coming from low-income families and deepening concentrations of poverty in many communities, standard screening and pullout programs may not be enough to find and support the most vulnerable talented students.

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