We Are More Than You Think We Are

Linda Kreger Silverman, Ph.D
Gifted Development Center

Joy Lawson Davis and Linda Silverman will be delivering a Signature Session at the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) 68th Annual Convention in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday, November 13th, from 2:30 to 3:30 on “Eliminating Gifted Programs Increases Inequity.” The presentation is based on an article posted on our website  (https://www.gifteddevelopment.org/musings/increasedinequality) November 19, 2020 and published in our GDC Newsletter November 23, 2020. My original article was a response to the NBC News report attacking gifted programs as racist.

Our presentation could not be more timely. On October 8, 2021, Mayor De Blasio announced his plan to phase out the New York City Gifted and Talented Program. This places all gifted programs in America at risk. Over the last several months, Joy Lawson Davis and I have worked together to create a powerful response to the latest attempt to scapegoat gifted programs. Here is a glimpse of our Signature Session:

Why Eliminating Gifted Programs Will NOT Address Inequities

• Underrepresented gifted students have many identities. They need support for their giftedness as much as they do for their cultural differences.

• Students who can least afford access to enrichment, acceleration and services designed to meet their asynchronous development and advanced cognitive capacities will be hurt the most if programs are destroyed.

• Sacrificing the gifted in misguided attempts to reduce racism prevents brilliant members of culturally diverse groups from being discovered and nurtured.

• Black, Latino and low-income students who become leaders are often nurtured by selective schools that welcome diverse learners.

• Abolishing gifted programs widens the gap between haves and have-nots.

• Eliminating gifted programs is the highest form of discrimination, suggesting that under-represented populations cannot BE gifted.