{"id":101070,"date":"2015-04-01T09:22:47","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T13:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=101070"},"modified":"2023-08-29T16:52:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T20:52:06","slug":"excellence-gap-robs-talented-students-of-their-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/04\/excellence-gap-robs-talented-students-of-their-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Excellence Gap’ Robs Talented Students of Their Potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

While conventional wisdom may hold that academically gifted students can take care of themselves in school, a new report<\/a> co-authored by UConn professor of education Jonathan Plucker reveals a starkly different story.<\/p>\n

High-achieving students from low-income households are lagging far behind their wealthier peers in schools across the United States; and this situation has created an expanding \u201cExcellence Gap,\u201d according to the report, that is robbing the country of an abundance of talent and knowledge, undermining low-income students\u2019 chances for social mobility, and impacting the nation\u2019s future economic prosperity.<\/p>\n

\"High<\/a>
Even after being identified as high ability, low-income students often fail to achieve at high levels, or backslide as they progress through school, according to a new study co-authored by UConn education professor Jonathan Plucker. (iStock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of our most talented students come from upper-income, economically secure circumstances,\u201d the report states. \u201cEconomically vulnerable students, recently estimated to be roughly half of our public school population, rarely achieve academic excellence. Worse, after they are identified as high ability, they often fail to achieve at high levels, or even backslide as they progress through school.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report, titled “Equal Talents, Unequal Opportunities: A Report Card on State Support for Academically Talented Low-Income Students,” was funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a national non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Jennifer Giancola, the Cooke Foundation\u2019s director of research, served as a co-author. UConn seniors Grace Healey and Daniel Arndt, both currently studying teaching, and Chen Wang, a graduate student in UConn’s Cognition, Instruction, and Learning Technology program,\u00a0 also worked on the project.<\/p>\n

Plucker, a Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Education at UConn, is a nationally recognized expert on education policy and talent development, and has done extensive research on programs for the talented and gifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started out looking to see how much attention state policymakers are paying to low-income, high-ability students,\u201d says Plucker, who is affiliated with UConn\u2019s Neag School of Education. \u201cWhat we found was that there is very little attention being paid. It just doesn\u2019t seem to be on state policymakers\u2019 radar screens.\u201d<\/p>\n

We must reverse the downward trajectory of these students\u2019 educational achievement not only to improve their lives but also to strengthen our nation. — Harold Levy, Cooke Foundation<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The researchers gathered data from every state and the District of Columbia, in an attempt to learn what states are doing to address the needs of advanced students; what practices are in place; and which interventions appear to have the greatest impact. The team then scored the results for 18 indicators, representing nine state-level polices and nine specific student outcomes.<\/p>\n

The team found that overall, the data reflects a public education system that does not appear focused on high-performing students and is unaware of the inherent discrepancies that exist between high-achieving students from families at different income-levels. Lacking access to enriched academic opportunities, individualized lesson plans, and the kind of counseling provided to wealthier students, high-achieving, economically vulnerable children are becoming what one researcher has called \u201ca persistent talent underclass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a story of demography predetermining destiny,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n

Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n

The report found:<\/p>\n