As in many other areas of education policy,
a fundamental issue for gifted education is the
question of who is allowed access to the program. Traditionally, gifted education was targeted to
students with very high cognitive ability, often using IQ as a screen. Since the 1970s, many researchers
have argued for a more holistic admission standard that recognizes both cognitive and non‐cognitive
skills. While some states and school districts have clung to the traditional IQ‐based criteria, others have
adopted multi‐dimensional formulas. Most often, however, even these systems impose the same
thresholds across richer and poorer schools, leading to the systematic under‐representation of minority
and economically disadvantaged students in gifted and talented programs.