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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Gifted Education: An Examination of Professional Learning — Lindsey Reinert, Vicki Boley, & Norma Hafenstein

Monday, May 20, 2024, 1:45 – 3:15 pm, Lawrence D. McHugh Hall, Room MCHU 202

Addressing the unique needs of gifted students from diverse backgrounds is one of the major challenges facing public education today, as many teachers are inadequately prepared with culturally responsive content knowledge, experience, and training (Au, 2009; Cummins, 2007). Limited preparation can create a cultural gap between teachers and students (Ford, 2010; Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2009), limiting the ability of educators to choose effective instructional approaches. The I-REECCH (Impacting Rural Education through Expanding Culturally responsive curriculum, Computer science training, and Higher order thinking skills) grant project, funded through a federal Jacob K. Javits grant, aims to investigate the effects of culturally responsive professional learning experiences. Using the Curriculum Arc as a framework (McConnell et al., 2020) for examination of professional learning curricula in practice, this research study explores how the delivered, intended, and received components of professional learning inform diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in gifted education. Findings suggest professional learning focused on DEI can lead to improvements in educators’ perceptions and practices related to gifted students from diverse backgrounds. Such findings indicate a call to action to educational institutions to both invest and engage in varied professional learning that promotes DEI practices in gifted education.