Here’s a fun fact: the first modern Gifted and Talented programs were initially created in Georgia and North Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
https://twitter.com/pashulman/status/1446456377208094723
They were definitely pushed by educators and psychologists who had sincere reasons for doing so—many believed there was a population of unusually bright children not only under-challenged by standard coursework but actively hurt by it.
The Cold War pressure for math-science education was another influence. The country needed more scientists and engineers!
Surprisingly, early advocates for G&T programs typically didn’t put much faith in standardized tests to demonstrate giftedness. Their understanding of it was much less precise: a student could be gifted in an area & yet test poorly while a high scorer might not really be gifted.
But when it came to states adopting and implementing G&T programs (which mainly took place between the 1960s and 1980s—I believe New York was on the later end here), tests tended to rule, along with the subjective—& biased—judgments of teachers and parents.
And the results were anything but racially equitable, with tons of evidence that African American students who were perfectly qualified for the programs were not admitted to them.
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