Why the excellence gap matters for civil rights

What happens to talented students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds? American education reform has focused on students reaching minimal levels of proficiency, but it has failed to engage and support the most promising children from overlooked communities. The result is an incalculable injustice to our kids and our nation.

On Wednesday, September 7, the Institute for Education Policy, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and the Ingenuity Project hosted a conversation in Baltimore on why the “excellence gap” is worthy of attention from educators, policy makers, and the civil rights community.

Participants included:

• Jonathan A. Plucker, Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development, School of Education and Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University
• James L. Moore, III, EHE Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and Executive Director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male, The Ohio State University
• Mike Petrilli, President, Thomas B. Fordham Institute; and Executive Editor, Education Next
• Ariel Bowers, Integration and Test Engineer, James Webb Space Telescope; and Ingenuity Project, Class of 2009
• David Steiner, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy

The discussion was anchored in Jonathan Plucker’s latest book, Excellence Gaps in Education: Expanding Opportunities for Talented Students, co-authored with Scott Peters, and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s recent report, High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability Systems in the Age of ESSA.

Watch now: