GIFTED EDUCATION AND DISCRIMINATION - THE ROLE OF THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL-RIGHTS

A recurrent problem in gifted education has been charges of discrimina tory practices. In recent years the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), U.S . Department of Education, has been active in examining gifted program s to determine whether they are operating in a nondiscriminatory manne r. The purpose of this article is to examine the amount of activity by the OCR involving gifted programs through the years 1985-1991. Using the Freedom of Information Act, 48 letters of findings were obtained f rom the OCR. The letters were analyzed as to the issues involved, prot ected classes, the geographic regions, and the results of the investig ations.