Identifying Gifted English Language Learners: A Search for Commonalities

Abstract

This study explored the identification practices of three different public school districts in the United States, in an effort to discover the way they modify traditional methods in order to include more ELLs in their gifted programs. These three cases, each chosen because they are located within states that claim to fully fund the gifted education they mandate, were studied with the intent of comparing districts and discovering potential commonalities. This research found that while similarities do exist, the lack of guidance at the state and national levels regarding research-based methods for identifying gifted ELLs results in inconsistencies in the way each district executes policy.