Advocating for Gifted Programs in Your Local Schools

1. Establish a rationale

Administrators and community members do not always know that advanced learners need something more than they are receiving in the regular classroom.  Explaining why gifted students need continuous challenge to be successful in the classroom today and in the high school and college classes to come will be your first task.

• Read the Myths of Gifted Education and be prepared to counter misunderstandings about advanced students with research.
• Familiarize yourself with the definitions of giftedness.

2. Know what you want to happen

In order to build support to retain or develop a program for gifted learners, it is important that you are aware of what the state and district currently offers for gifted students and how learners access these programs and services.
The NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards will help you map out what the leading experts in the field view as exemplary practices as well as the bare essentials that are needed in a school to meet the needs of gifted students. This is a nationally recognized and accepted document.

• Find out what is required by your state or what is decided locally on the NAGC State pages
• Use the program assessment tool if you are trying to improve your gifted education program
• Download the NAGC Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards
• Acceleration can mean many things, not just grade skipping.  Learn more about the forms of accelerations and when it should be used. 

3. Build a bridge for administrators

School administrators are deeply concerned about ensuring educational excellence for all of their students; however, many are unaware of the unique needs of advanced learners.  Because these administrators are very busy, your plan must be both artful and efficient. Start by sharing an article and eventually invite them to a weekend event for advanced students or to a school event if your program is already in place so they can see the possibilities firsthand.

• Share Maximizing Student Achievement, Identifying and Serving Gifted Students in Elementary School/Middle School/High School brochures with your principal or district administrator. They can be found in the NAGC Bookstore.
• Discover resources for you to share with your administrator in the Administrator toolbox.

4. Reach out to the community and network, network, network

There are many different groups of people in your school and community that would be willing to lend support for high-ability students, but they need to understand the issue and what role they can play. There are many positive, active ways to meet like-minded individuals and begin an open dialogue in your community. You can:

• become an active participant in local school groups like the PTO or booster club,
• offer to provide a speaker for local service organizations (e.g., Lions Club, Chamber of Commerce, etc.) about your gifted program and its ties to the community,
• volunteer to serve on school committees involved with strategic planning, accountability, or program evaluation and planning,
• start a parent group
• get to know the education reporters for your local media outlet.

Download brochure on How to Start a Parent Group
Download a series of articles from Parenting for High Potential, Effective Advocacy.