In this study, I aimed to examine the gifted program in one school district in comparison to nationwide gifted programs to identify best practices. The review of literature consists of three primary foci, which question whether (a) there is a threat of underrepresented students in the gifted program, (b) there are social justice issues related to the instruction in gifted programs, and (c) the school under study has the right components for a successful gifted program. Using a mixed-methods approach, I gathered data through surveys, interviews, and extant data. The participants included chool administrators, teachers, parents, and one district gifted coordinator. Findings indicate that minority students were underrepresented in the gifted program, and some members of the school districts were not tracking the performance of students of color in the program. Additionally, the findings also indicate that district personnel provided inadequate resources to support the district's gifted programs. To address these issues, I proposed a policy centered on professional learning and the allocation of funding. As a solution, I suggested a policy alteration that would mandate a certain number of professional learning hours focused on equity and culturally responsive teaching.
","abstract_html":"<p>In this study, I aimed to examine the gifted program in one school district in comparison to nationwide gifted programs to identify best practices. The review of literature consists of three primary foci, which question whether (a) there is a threat of underrepresented students in the gifted program, (b) there are social justice issues related to the instruction in gifted programs, and (c) the school under study has the right components for a successful gifted program. Using a mixed-methods approach, I gathered data through surveys, interviews, and extant data. The participants included chool administrators, teachers, parents, and one district gifted coordinator. Findings indicate that minority students were underrepresented in the gifted program, and some members of the school districts were not tracking the performance of students of color in the program. Additionally, the findings also indicate that district personnel provided inadequate resources to support the district's gifted programs. To address these issues, I proposed a policy centered on professional learning and the allocation of funding. As a solution, I suggested a policy alteration that would mandate a certain number of professional learning hours focused on equity and culturally responsive teaching.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Thompson, Jomane"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - NLU Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. James Lawson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:38Z","subjects":["Gifted Education","Gifted","Giftedness","Equity","Inclusion","Minority","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education Administration","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/937","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. James Lawson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Thompson, Jomane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-10-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - NLU Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Gifted Education","Gifted","Giftedness","Equity","Inclusion","Minority","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education Administration","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/937"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In this study, I aimed to examine the gifted program in one school district in comparison to nationwide gifted programs to identify best practices. The review of literature consists of three primary foci, which question whether (a) there is a threat of underrepresented students in the gifted program, (b) there are social justice issues related to the instruction in gifted programs, and (c) the school under study has the right components for a successful gifted program. Using a mixed-methods approach, I gathered data through surveys, interviews, and extant data. The participants included chool administrators, teachers, parents, and one district gifted coordinator. Findings indicate that minority students were underrepresented in the gifted program, and some members of the school districts were not tracking the performance of students of color in the program. Additionally, the findings also indicate that district personnel provided inadequate resources to support the district's gifted programs. To address these issues, I proposed a policy centered on professional learning and the allocation of funding. As a solution, I suggested a policy alteration that would mandate a certain number of professional learning hours focused on equity and culturally responsive teaching.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/937"],"dc:subject":["Gifted Education","Gifted","Giftedness","Equity","Inclusion","Minority","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration","Higher Education Administration","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"],"dc:title":["Perceptions of Gifted Education: An Examination of One School District’s Gifted Program Compared to Nationwide Gifted Programs for Best Practices"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - NLU Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:38Z"}