WASHINGTON – The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the nation’s leading advocate for high-achieving and high-potential students, commends the Obama Administration for including $12 million for the Jacob Javits Gifted Education program in its Fiscal Year 2017 budget, released earlier today.

The Javits program, the nation’s only federal program focused on gifted education, funds applied or classroom-based research to help develop effective strategies for identifying and serving high-potential students from populations that have historically been underrepresented in gifted education.

“NAGC applauds the Obama Administration for recognizing that the Jacob Javits program works and that it has helped produce the tools and interventions to identify countless students as gifted, students who would have otherwise languished unidentified and unserved,” said M. RENÉ ISLAS, NAGC Executive Director. “By including the Javits program in its budget, the Administration sends a clear message that supporting the needs of gifted children is integral to our nation’s future.

Established in 1988 and reauthorized in the recently enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Javits-funded research has yielded valid and reliable ways to identify gifted students from underserved populations, fair and equitable observation tools for identifying gifted and talented English Language Learners and strategies to help teachers improve the academic performances of high-potential black and Hispanic students as well as those with disabilities and from low-income families.

“NAGC is fortunate for our many champions and supporters in Congress who have been instrumental in reviving and subsequently growing the Javits program in recent years, and we look forward to working with Congress to ensure that at least $12 million is included for the program within the FY 17 spending package,” said Islas

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The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is a membership organization whose leaders support and develop policies and practices that encourage and respond to the diverse expressions of gifts and talents in children and youth from all cultures, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic groups. NAGC invests its resources to train teachers, encourage parents, and educate administrators and policy makers on how to develop and support gifted children. NAGC’s State of the Nation in Gifted Education provides a biennial analysis of state laws and policies to support high-ability and high-potential students. 

CONTACT:  Cathleen Healy, chealy@nagc.org/202-365-4636