How a School District Proved Gifted Programs Can Be Racially Diverse
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Albuquerque studentsâ artwork and a poem about volcanoes, displayed at the 2019 National Association for Gifted Children conference.
(Danielle Dreilinger for The Hechinger Report)
April Wells grew up west of Chicago, a bright and avid bookworm in a low-income family. Her district, U-46, had gifted classes, but most of the students in them were white, and no one suggested that Wells, who is Black, might benefit from them.
Until middle school, when a U-46 administrator — Wells’ friend’s mother, also Black — noticed that April’s grasp exceeded her classes’ reach. She coached Wells on how to talk with her middle school counselor. Wells spoke up for herself and got into honors classes, where she remained through high school.