Access and Identification: Gifted Program Identification Following Early Referral for High-Potential Behaviors

• In Event: 51.070 - Identification and Interventions With Gifted and Talented Populations

Abstract

We examined gifted program identification results following an implementation of the Young Scholars Model in a quasi-experimental study across four districts, focusing on demographics of the students to understand the project’s influence on teachers’ decisions to refer students to the project and the districts’ identification of diverse students for their gifted programs. We found that schools in the treatment group yielded a more diverse pool of students to the project than schools in the comparison group, and that a more diverse group of students was later identified for the gifted program in their districts. The findings support the implementation of the Young Scholars Model as an approach to supporting increased diversity in gifted program identification and participation.

Authors

• Catherine A. Little, University of Connecticut

• Kelly L. Kearney, University of Connecticut

• Rebecca O'Brien, Whitworth University

• Jill L. Adelson, Duke University

• Caroline Pittard, University of Louisville