Early childhood education significantly influences children’s later achievement and well-being. In the US, recent trends have shown increased attention and resources directed toward universal preschool and access to high quality early childhood experiences. NAGC should be a center of expertise in early childhood gifted education and should promote equitable opportunities and access to rich contexts for talent development. Such support includes recognizing early childhood as an important phase of development that differs from other periods in children’s school years. This requires families and educators to focus on nurturing potential broadly within that developmental context as well as addressing the needs of children with demonstrated advanced abilities. Many gifted programs currently do not serve children younger than second or third grade, and those that do often rely on recommendations and policies that show limited attention to the developmental differences in younger children. At the same time, many general early childhood educators have limited background knowledge or resources for addressing advanced learning needs in young children.

NAGC is committed to ensuring that educators and families have support to nurture the talents of all young children. In recognition of this critical need, the NAGC Board of Directors has approved a task force to focus on early childhood gifted education. The Early Childhood Task Force, co-chaired by Nancy Hertzog and Catherine Little, will address questions pertaining to areas of alignment and points of tension between the gifted education and early childhood fields, with attention to preschool and primary education. The task force will explore the needs of educators and caregivers who support advanced ability and talent development and will facilitate access to information for describing effective practices for early childhood gifted education.

We anticipate that the task force will engage in a variety of information-seeking and synthesis activities, including seeking input from members about current practices and experiences with this young population of learners. We expect to collaborate with individuals and organizations in the field of early childhood around areas of alignment and needs for further exploration, including questions of equitable access and services for diverse populations. The task force will also examine implications of current policies related to early childhood identification and services.

We are looking for individuals interested in participating on the task force and providing diverse perspectives to illuminate issues and opportunities related to aligning early childhood and gifted education. If you are interested in potentially serving on the task force or contributing to task force efforts, please click here to complete a brief application.