How We Formed a Parent Advocacy Group and What We’ve Learned in the Process

Abstract

Advocacy is of central importance in the education of students with gifts and talents due to the great variation in legislated policies protecting the provision of educational services for these learners. The authors present here a descriptive study based on their experiences founding a successful parent advocacy organization in one large school district in Florida. The Gifted Advocacy Council of Hillsborough, Inc. grew to over 100 members within its first year, and it has become an important contributor to the local educational scene during its 3 years in existence. The authors’ experiences support the value of developing a collaborative and proactive approach that is inclusive of teachers and administrators, rather than one that is adversarial or primarily reactive in nature. Findings highlight the importance of an effective web presence in building an advocacy organization, the benefits of consistency in key leadership roles within the organization, the relevance of the diverse professional skills that our members bring to the organization, and other selected points that the authors believe have been keys to their organization’s success. The authors hope that their experiences may inform others who wish to found similar organizations to support the education of students with gifts and talents in their local schools.