Gifted Access Pittsburgh, an initiative of the 2014-2015 Leaders in Learning cohort, seeks to improve racial equity among Gifted students in Pittsburgh Public Schools . Support this initiative by attending the Pittsburgh Board of Education Public Hearing on July 20 at 6pm.
Students of color make up more than half those attending Pittsburgh Public Schools (53%), yet no more than 1 in every 5 students labeled as having a Gifted level of intelligence. Research has proven that all children -regardless of race or ethnicity- have an equal chance of being identified as gifted. So in Pittsburgh (as in many cities around the nation), Gifted students of color are slipping through the cracks.
Gifted Access Pittsburgh (GAP), founded by Coro Center for Civic Leadership’s Leaders in Learning 2014-15 cohort, wants to help Pittsburgh Public Schools identify more of those children – and put them on a path toward a more challenging education and a successful future. At the Pittsburgh Board of Education public hearing July 20, GAP will introduce the plan to the School Board, a plan which already has support of principals at schools in high-need areas of the city. Members of the community will be speaking on behalf of GAP’s plan for the universal gifted screener.
GAP wants to change the current referral system for potentially gifted-level students. Currently, the district relies only on teachers (or parents) requesting gifted testing for a student. Students who don’t automatically appear as gifted to teachers – and especially students whose families don’t advocate for the testing – will never be noticed, tested, or identified. GAP has identified nonbiased screening exams that could be taken by ALL students at the second grade level in the district. The screeners are inexpensive, easy to administer, and will point out, at an early age, exactly those types of students who have been under the radar for generations.
For more information on GAP, Leaders in Learning, or the Coro Center for Civic Leadership, Pittsburgh, contact Shatara Washington or Tiwanda Taylor, GAP project managers.
Shatara Washington 412-608-2026 | Tiwanda Taylor 412-953-1120
Want to further support the 2014-2015 Leaders in Learning cohort? Join us at graduation on July 29th! >>RSVP