Gifted and Talented: A Barrier to Student Wellness

By: Sarah Berhanu

(Image source: NBC news)

For over 100 years, Gifted and Talented programs (G&T) have been around. Gifted classes would use tests to evaluate the cognitive and intellectual abilities of children to determine whether a child was suitable for the specialized classrooms. Years later, gifted programs still exist across the country. However, for years, the gifted and talented programs have sparked controversy over how these classrooms contribute to the segregation of students, as white and Asian students are the overwhelming demographic in such classrooms.

In New York City, the public school system is especially interesting given that it begins evaluating children for such programs from a very young age, some even being evaluated at age 4. Beginning in kindergarten, parents can register their children to be evaluated for G&T classrooms. Originally, students were accepted into classrooms through testing, but now, children are given a lottery spot through teacher recommendation. This came after several reports and complaints that testing children that early was not equitable and not an accurate representation of children's abilities. Before moving to a teacher recommendation base system, these classes significantly underrepresented black and Latino students, as 70% of the students in the city school system were black and Latino, while around 75% of the students in gifted classrooms were white and Asian American. However, even after the change, gifted classrooms still significantly underrepresented Black and Latino students, as during the 2022–23 school year, Black and Hispanic students made up only 24% of classrooms. 

Not only do gifted classrooms contribute to exacerbating inequality in the classroom, but they also contribute to creating a space where teacher bias is reinforced and students' wellness is not protected. With the new model of teacher recommendation for entrance into G&T classrooms, it is important to question how bias in classrooms will continue to disproportionately affect black and Latino students and further be a barrier to access for them. One way in which bias is explicit among black students can be demonstrated through the distortion of suspensions. In the 2022–2023 school year, suspensions increased by 27% in the first half of the year, mostly affecting black students, even though enrollment in K–12 education had decreased. Teacher prejudice can also take place when a student is an English language learner or in special education, where assumptions about abilities can be made and therefore rob a student of being recommended for a spot in G&T classrooms. All of this can lead to a negative perception of students' selves and be a detriment to the wellness of children. If many black and Latino students are often left out of these classrooms, many start to question why they are perceived as not gifted, which can be extremely disruptive to their development and education. 

We must question whether gifted and talented programs are truly aimed at achieving the best outcomes for all students or just to benefit privileged students. Is there a way to eliminate teacher bias? How can all students, inside and outside of the G&T classrooms, have an equitable opportunity for the rest of their time in school? These are just some of the questions that need to be asked to determine whether G&T classrooms are worth the problems they cause. NYC has faced several challenges and changes to the gifted and talented programs through the different administrations, and while all have the goals of making the G&T classrooms more diverse and inclusive of students, there has not been sufficient success. Student wellness at all ages must be centered, and evaluating how gifted programs hinder this is crucial.