District Leaders Focused on Systemic Equity in Identification and Services for Gifted Education: From Policy to Practice

ABSTRACT This article describes district-wide cultural proficiency efforts and how they affected the policies and practices of identifying and serving culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) student populations in gifted education. Data were taken from a larger study and included interviews, focus groups, and observations of the district’s gifted identification practices. Data analysis using a culturally relevant leadership (CRL) framework revealed three major findings that emphasized the importance of district advocacy, communication pathways, and conceptions of giftedness. The findings further equity in gifted education for historically marginalized students.