Introduction to the NAGC Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards

The standards movement has grown exponentially since 1983, when the National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk. The Commission recommended that schools, colleges, and universities adopt more rigorous and measurable standards and set higher expectations for academic performance. Since that time, all states have adopted some form of a standards-based education system, professional associations have approved content standards in most subject areas, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has required that states report results on standards-related accountability measures (U.S. Department of Education, 2008). More recently, the U.S. Education Department’s competitive grant program, Race to the Top, which has billions of dollars in federal monies, requires that states that are competing for these funds have standards in place to improve teaching and learning. Clearly, the standards movement is not going away. Because gifted and talented students deserve to be included, gifted educators must have standards to become actively involved in the national conversation. Currently, gifted educators have two sets of standards—those that address teacher preparation and those that address pre-K–12 programs. This chapter will (a) examine where these gifted education standards fit within the national context, (b) recognize the need for gifted programming standards, (c) explain the process used for developing the 2010 Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards, (d) identify the general principles underlying the Gifted Program ming Standards, (e) contrast the 1998 Gifted Program Standards with the 2010 Gifted Programming Standards, (f ) describe each of the Gifted Programming Standards, and (g) make recommendations for their use.