Essential Programs and Services Report of Findings: Gifted and Talented Education

Report Overview This review of the Gifted and Talented (G&T) funding component within the Essential Programs and Services (EPS) education cost model begins with a summary of our most recent (2019) analyses of the G&T funding patterns and trends in Maine. Next we provide updated data (Part I) about G&T program implementation and enrollment in Maine public schools in FY2020 and FY2021 to confirm that trends from prior studies persist. We then provide a summary of the available research literature on the rationale and effectiveness of G&T programming in order to revisit the underlying tenets of this aspect of Maine’s funding model and evaluate whether it remains consistent with the EPS model’s overall goals of adequacy and equity