#811: How one district scouts for talent for its gifted programs - 3/16/22

On this week’s Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), April Wells, Gifted Coordinator in Illinois School District U-46 and author of Achieving Equity in Gifted Programming: Dismantling Barriers and Tapping Potential, joins Mike Petrilli and David Griffith to discuss how her district scouts for talented students early on, and from all backgrounds. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a survey of district and charter network leaders about staffing challenges they’ve faced this school year.

You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.

Recommended content:

• A 2021 Hechinger Report piece on April’s district and how it reformed its approach to gifted education: “An Illinois district proved gifted programs can be racially diverse.”
• April’s 2019 book: Achieving Equity in Gifted Programming: Dismantling Barriers and Tapping Potential.
• The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Heather L. Schwartz and Melissa Kay Diliberti, “Flux in the Educator Labor Market: Acute Staff Shortages and Projected Superintendent Departures,” RAND Corporation (2022).

Feedback welcome!

Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.