State Offices of Gifted

State offices of gifted education oversee state involvement in the education of learners whose exceptionally high abilities or potentialities require differentiated instruction and systems of support beyond those provided in traditional classrooms to ensure appropriate instructional opportunities. Because there is no federal mandate to serve gifted and talented students, there is a wide range of policies and practices affecting gifted students implemented and overseen by the state offices. This entry describes national standards, local control, the state of the states, and further indicators of differences.

Although the federal definition of gifted and talented students is not binding on the states, many state definitions are modeled after a federal definition that first came into used in the 1970s. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 modified ...