District Gifted Education Coordinator Preparation and Development: Establishing Training Pathways that Equip for Excellence and Strong Equity

Abstract

Central office coordinators of advanced academics and gifted education programs—otherwise known as district gifted education coordinators (DGECs)—play an important role in closing excellence gaps, promoting achievement for all learners, and ensuring equity in gifted education programs and advanced courses. Training and preparation programs for educational leaders tend to focus on the skills needed for the principalship or superintendency, overlooking the needs of those who play vital roles in middle-management in school systems across the United States, such as DGECs. In this article, we propose a model for training DGECs that considers the distinct responsibilities required for the position of DGEC and a grounding in strong equity, so that DGECs can be better leveraged as change agents for equity in their districts.