Report Shows Massachusetts Needs Gifted Education

In June 2018 the state legislature mandated that the state's department of education (a.k.a. DESE) have independent research done into the practices, policies, and educational needs of students  who could achieve beyond their grade level and the those who are gifted. The report was completed by the end of June 2019 and was released 8/21/2019. 

The report's findings concluded with: 

"The current approach of Massachusetts, with few gifted programs and not much attention to gifted education, is not serving students well. The Commonwealth can and should take actions to make certain that all students, including advanced and gifted students of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic characteristics, have opportunities to engage in meaningful learning and rise to their potential."

"Massachusetts will benefit from unleashing the untapped potential of high-achieving students." 

The report's recommendations were,

Create a statewide task force, which will:

• Define giftedness and measures to assess giftedness;

• Determine most effective way to collect data on gifted students;

• Consider best practices of other states and districts;

• Establish state policy and guidelines on acceleration;

• Track and report on the excellence gap; identify and implement strategies to close it.

• Include instruction on the learning needs of gifted students as part of teacher training for all teachers; and

• Hire staff at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with expertise in gifted students and gifted education.

These findings and recommendations are highly consistent with MAGE's bills in the legislature!

All of these recommendations and findings substantiate what MAGE has known for a long time. Now we have to make sure that action takes place to make these recommendations a reality. 

You can help! Call, email, and/or visit your legislators A.S.A.P. You may not have done it before, but you can do it now. To find out more about the bills and how to contact your legislators, click on the Advocacy tab above. Thank you!