Prior research has documented substantial inequity across, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines
within the population of students identified as gifted. Less attention has paid to the equity of gifted
identification for student learning English or those with disabilities and what effect state policies toward
gifted education might have on these rates. This paper attempted to fill that void by analyzing data from
the Office of Civil Rights Data Collection and Stanford Education Data Archive along with original coding of
state gifted education policies. Our findings show that while both groups are substantially
underrepresented, state mandates for schools to offer services, requirements for formal gifted
education plans, and regular audits for compliance are correlated with much higher rates of gifted
service availability and equity for English learners and students with disabilities. We also describe the
location and characteristics of the top 5% most equitable schools for English learners and students with
disabilities.
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