How “gifted education” can be a game changer for disadvantaged boys 

This is a summary of our working paper, forthcoming in the Journal of Political Economy. You can read the full paper at https://www.nber.org/papers/w33282.

Across the United States, boys are significantly less likely than girls to enroll in college. This problem is particularly acute among disadvantaged students. Among low-income students with strong academic abilities, we find that boys are much less likely than girls to attend college.

One widely used tool for supporting high-ability children is “gifted education.” About 3 million students in the United States participate in gifted programs each year and receive services that may include enriched instruction, individualized plans, and access to advanced coursework. These programs are designed in part to ensure that students with high cognitive ability stay engaged in school and fulfill their potential.

Can gifted education improve the outcomes of those boys who appear most at risk for under-achievement? Our research shows the answer is yes. In a study of a large Florida school district, we examined the causal impacts of gifted education on disadvantaged boys and girls and found:

• Dramatic increases in college enrollment for boys, narrowing the gender gap: Among disadvantaged boys, 74% of those who just meet the eligibility criteria for gifted education attend college, compared to 46% who just miss the criteria—a 28-percentage-point difference. For girls, the comparable increase is only 5 points (74% vs. 79%).

Figure 1

• Significant improvements in academic engagement for boys: Boys show large gains in advanced course-taking and grades in middle and high school.

• Enhanced academic guidance: Gifted students receive more support in selecting challenging courses.

• No measurable effects on cognitive skills: Neither boys nor girls showed improvements on state tests or PSAT scores.

What does this mean for educators and policy makers? The overall patterns suggest that gifted services boost the engagement of underachieving boys—opening a path to college and helping to close gender gaps. Even high-ability boys benefit from additional support, and individualized programs with advanced coursework are especially important for keeping low-income boys on track.

Gifted education in our context

We focus on a large and socioeconomically diverse Florida school district that has operated a stable and well-documented gifted education program for several decades.

Our analysis of district data demonstrates why low-income boys may need particular support. Figure 2 shows that low-income boys with high cognitive skills are much less likely to attend college than other high-ability students, including low-income girls. This widening gap suggests that disadvantaged boys often fail to realize their academic potential as measured by early IQ and standardized test scores.

Figure 2

The gifted program selection process in this district is:

• Students are evaluated for giftedness, typically in grades 2 through 5, using an IQ test administered by a licensed psychologist;
• Disadvantaged students—defined as those receiving a free or reduced-price lunch or classified as English Language Learners—are eligible for gifted status at an IQ threshold of 116;
• Once identified, students typically remain in the gifted program through the end of high school.

Gifted students receive a combination of state-mandated and district-supported services such as:

• Guidance from Exceptional Student Education (ESE) specialists, who develop an individualized Education Plan (EP) with each gifted student and/or their parents;
• Dedicated gifted or gifted/high-achiever classrooms in elementary grades;
• Access to enriched course options in middle and high school.

Why IQ cutoffs provide a credible way to estimate the causal effects of gifted education

Because gifted children, by definition, have higher cognitive ability than non-gifted children, they may have different outcomes irrespective of their participation in a special program. To account for such differences, and isolate the causal effects of gifted education, we used a “regression discontinuity” approach that compares students just above and below our district’s IQ threshold for gifted eligibility. Intuitively, students near the threshold should be similar in both observable and unobservable ways, except for the fact that students over the threshold are more likely to be identified as gifted and to have access to gifted services as a result.

We analyze a sample of disadvantaged students who were in 5th grade between 2003 and 2012, had an IQ test by the end of 5th grade, and remained enrolled in the district through the end of high school. All students in this group were either eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or classified as English Language Learners at the time of testing— the criteria that define “disadvantage” for the purpose of gifted eligibility in Florida. As shown in figure 3, the share of disadvantaged students who are classified as gifted is close to zero for those who missed the 116-point IQ threshold, but it increases substantially at the threshold, with a slightly larger jump for girls than for boys.

Figure 3

Gifted status leads to large gains for boys—but not for girls

For disadvantaged boys whose IQ scores just meet the 116-point cutoff, being identified as gifted leads to a large increase in the probability of completing high-school on time and entering college the following year. As shown previously in figure 1, among boys who score just below the cutoff (and narrowly miss gifted status as a result), 46% end up enrolling in college on time. But for those who narrowly achieve gifted status, their rate of on-time college entry is 74%. Interestingly, this jump of around 28 percentage points pushes the college entry rate of boys up to that of non-gifted girls with similar IQ scores. And in contrast to the large effect for boys, the impact of gifted status for girls who just meet the IQ threshold is only around 5 percentage points and not statistically significant.

Why does gifted status lead to higher college enrollment for boys?

We find no effects on statewide standardized test scores or on PSAT scores for boys or girls, suggesting that gifted services do not impact cognitive skills. However, figure 4 highlights several important patterns. Based on 6th-graders’ responses to district surveys, we find strong evidence that gifted students receive more help selecting challenging courses. And gifted boys in particular are much more likely to take advanced courses in middle and high school. They also have much better math grades in high-school. But, as is true for college enrollment, girls already tend to outperform boys on GPA and advanced course-taking, and we find little evidence that gifted services improve these outcomes further for girls.

Figure 4

Gifted services may help boys by increasing their engagement and effort in school. This interpretation is consistent with prior research linking gender gaps in educational attainment to gaps in “non-cognitive” skills like motivation and self-discipline. Since boys are also less likely than girls to form career expectations by 9th grade, it is also possible that participation in a gifted program helps to shape boys’ aspirations.

Why this matters for policy

Our findings offer some important insights for educators and policy makers. First, even though gifted children typically have high scores on tests of cognitive ability and academic achievement, they still benefit from additional support.

Second, gains in standardized test scores are not the only way to measure the success of educational programs. Our results show that being identified as gifted and participating in a gifted program can increase college entry rates for boys with high cognitive ability despite having no impact on standardized test scores.

Finally, high-scoring boys from lower-income families are especially likely to disengage from school—putting them at risk of falling short of their potential. Gifted programs with individualized education plans and options for advanced coursework throughout middle and high school can be an effective way to keep these boys on track for college.