ERIC Number: EJ1387351
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1539-9664
EISSN: EISSN-1539-9672
Gifted and Talented Programs Don't Cause School Segregation: Uneven Enrollments, but Minor Impacts on Racial Separation
Thompson, Owen
Education Next, v23 n2 p54-59 Spr 2023
Racial segregation and racial gaps in student achievement in U.S. public schools are well-documented trends. So too are race-based differences in student enrollment in general-education versus gifted and talented programs. But are gifted and talented programs drivers of racial segregation? If so, to what extent? To explore these questions, the author looks at the federal education department's Civil Rights Data Collection surveys, which provide detailed data on the existence and racial composition of gifted and talented programs at virtually every elementary school in the United States. He focuses on the period between 2009 to 2018 to investigate and compare the racial compositions of gifted and talented and general-education programs. He then applies standard indices of racial segregation to determine the extent to which gifted programs contribute to within-school segregation. Overall, gifted and talented programs do disproportionately enroll more white and Asian students and fewer Black and Hispanic students. However, they have only a minor impact on racial segregation, in part because they enroll relatively small numbers of American schoolchildren.
Descriptors: Gifted Education, School Segregation, Enrollment, Racial Differences, Racism, Elementary School Students
Education Next Institute, Inc. Harvard Kennedy School, Taubman 310, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138; Fax: 617-496–4428; e-mail: Education_Next@hks.harvard.edu; Web site: https://www.educationnext.org/the-journal/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A