As the awareness of the existence and negative effects of excellence gaps has grown among educators and policy makers, so too has a desire for research-supported interventions to reduce these gaps. A recent review of research related to promoting equitable outcomes for all gifted students identified six specific strategies for reducing excellence gaps. This article describes those components, along with a strategy of frontloading that should serve as the foundation for any comprehensive intervention efforts.
BriggsC. J.ReisS. M.SullivanE. E. (2008). A national view of promising programs and practices for culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse gifted and talented students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 52, 131-145.
2.
ChoS.YangJ.MandracchiaM. (2015). Effects of M3 curriculum on mathematics and English proficiency achievement of mathematically promising English language learners. Journal of Advanced Academics, 26, 112-142.
3.
FirmenderJ. M.ReisS. M.SweenyS. M. (2013). Reading comprehension and fluency levels ranges across diverse classrooms: The need for differentiated reading instruction and content. Gifted Child Quarterly, 57, 3-14.
4.
GavinK. M.CasaT. M.AdelsonJ. L.CarrollS. R.SheffieldL. J.SpinelliA. M. (2007). Project M3: Mentoring mathematical minds—A research-based curriculum for talented elementary students. Journal of Advanced Academics, 18, 566-585.
5.
GentryM. (2014). Total school cluster grouping and differentiation: A comprehensive research-based plan for raising student achievement and improving teacher practices. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
6.
GoodC.AronsonJ.HarderJ. A. (2008). Problems in the pipeline: Stereotype threat and women’s achievement in high-level math courses. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 17-28.
7.
GrissomJ. A.ReddingC. (2016). Discretion and disproportionality: Explaining the underrepresentation of high-achieving students of color in gifted programs. AERA Open, 2, 1-25.
8.
Hertberg-DavisH. (2009). Myth 7: Differentiation in the regular classroom is equivalent to gifted programs and is sufficient: Classroom teachers have the time, the skill, and the will to differentiate adequately. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53, 251-253.
9.
Higher Education Opportunity Act (PL110-315).
10.
McBeeM. T. (2006). A descriptive analysis of referral sources for gifted identification screening by race and socioeconomic status. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17, 103-111.
11.
NealD.SchanzenbachD. W. (2010). Left behind by design: Proficiency counts and test-based accountability. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92, 263-283.
12.
PluckerJ. A.GiancolaJ.HealeyG.ArndtD.WangC. (2015). Equal talents, unequal opportunities: A report card on state support for academically talented low-income students. Lansdowne, VA: Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.
13.
PluckerJ. A.HardestyJ.BurroughsN. (2013). Talent on the sidelines: Excellence gaps and America’s persistent talent underclass. Storrs: University of Connecticut.
14.
PluckerJ. A.PetersS. J. (2016). Excellence gaps in education: Expanding opportunities for talented youth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
15.
RutkowskiD.RutkowskiL.PluckerJ. A. (2012). Trends in education excellence gaps: A 12-year international perspective via the multilevel model for change. High Ability Studies, 23, 143-166. doi:10.1080/13598139.2012.735414
16.
Steenbergen-HuS.MakelM. C.Olszewski-KubiliusP. (2016). What one hundred years of research says about the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K-12 students’ academic achievement: Findings of two second-order meta-analyses. Review of Educational Research, 86, 849-899.
WaltonG. M.CohenG. L. (2011). A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outcomes of minority students. Science, 331, 1447-1451.
