The Case Law on Gifted Education: A New Look

Abstract

To fill a gap in the literature, this article provides a comprehensive, concise, and current overview of the case law—specifically, published hearing/review officer and court decisions—concerning gifted education for K-12 students. This case law represents two distinct groups: “gifted alone,” designating students whose legal status is based solely on their gifted status, and “gifted plus,” designating students who not only are gifted, but also have special legal status typically in terms of disability (i.e., “twice exceptional”) or race. The outcomes of the case law in both categories have generally favored the defendant school districts. The absence in many states of strong and specific legislation or regulations for gifted-alone students and the lack of judicial sensitivity to the complexity of the gifted-plus category likely contribute to the overall district-friendly trend of the case law to date.