Across the nation, policymakers and education leaders are embracing the “science of reading” to bring evidence-based literacy instruction to American classrooms. Millions of American children will now have a better opportunity to learn to read.
It’s time to apply the same strategy to other persistent challenges in K-12 education, including ensuring that gifted children have an opportunity to reach their potential. As with the “science of reading,” policymakers and school leaders have an opportunity to leverage best practices identified through rigorous, federally-funded research.
Decades of a well-intended national focus on ensuring that struggling learners aren’t left behind has resulted in too many students with advanced academic potential being neglected. A 2019 Purdue University study estimated that more than 3 million American children could be identified as gifted but are being overlooked.
