The Editor’s Note: The economics of talent development

When we planned this issue of Kappan, my colleagues and I expected that it would focus on the research into how best to identify and support the millions of American students who are ready for a greater level of academic challenge, whether or not they belong to the 5-6% of the population who meet the usual criteria for “giftedness.” And, by and large, that is exactly what our contributors have done, in articles that review what’s known about the effectiveness of advanced educational programs, how to select students equitably for such programs, and how to help greater numbers of students from marginalized backgrounds reach their full academic potential.

I’ve been struck, though, by the extent to which these authors have also chosen to highlight the economic forces that have shaped their field. If the nation’s gifted and talented programs have largely excluded poor children, it isn’t for any educationally sound reason, they note. If Black and brown students have been all but shut out of specialized high schools in science and technology, it isn’t because researchers have suggested doing anything of the sort. Rather, it is because policy makers have limited the number of such programs and schools, artificially creating a scarcity of learning resources, which has, in turn, triggered a mad scramble among affluent and/or ambitious parents to secure those few opportunities for their own kids.

The articles in this issue call upon public educators to stop showering those resources on a small number of children deemed (often by way of dubious selection criteria) to belong to an intellectual elite. Rather, they argue that our schools and districts should be careful to assess and monitor the needs of all students, and to provide every student with an appropriate level of academic challenge, whether they are struggling to catch up to their peers or performing several years ahead of them.

There’s nothing particularly innovative about this sort of personalized attention and support. However, it can’t be done on the cheap. According to recent research, many more students can and should benefit from the sorts of advanced learning opportunities that our schools have always reserved for a fortunate few. And in that case, as Scott Peters, James Carter, and Jonathan Plucker put it in their article, we’re faced with two choices: Either we can cut the pie into smaller and smaller pieces, so that every child who deserves a bite can have one (no matter how small), or we can bake a much bigger pie. If, as a nation, we truly want to develop the talents of all of our young people, then the choice is obvious.