As we enter into another calendar year, many of us make resolutions to improve our lives and the lives of others. There is always room for improvement in all that we do, and for those of us immersed in gifted education, a new year is a time to reflect on past practices and resolve to imagine promising new practices.
This November 2025 Thomas Fordham Institute study,
The Leaky Pipeline: Assessing the college outcomes of Ohio’s high-achieving low-income students, provided an opportunity for me to reflect on a topic dear to my heart – the inclusion of underrepresented students, especially those from low income families, in gifted programming.
In the foreword to this study, Aaron Churchill and Michael J. Petrelli open with this statement,
“America is wasting much of its human capital. That’s because many high-achieving, low-income students—we call them HALO (high achieving-low income) students—fall off the education track and never reach the gates of our top colleges and universities…This represents a tragic loss of potential, while also leaving our best colleges and—later—our most promising occupations bereft of socioeconomic diversity and looking less like the nation writ large.” This phenomenon is known as the leaky pipeline.
The key findings of this study in Ohio were that 26% of HALO students were less likely to take advanced math (primarily algebra) during their middle school years. Additionally, they were 34% less likely to take Advanced Placement (AP) classes, International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, or dual enrollment courses during their high school years. Finally, they were 44% less likely to receive gifted services during their middle or high school years, in the form of acceleration or enrichment of curriculum.
Though this study concentrated on students in Ohio, I believe that the findings can be interpreted and extrapolated for other states, including Wisconsin.
Several findings stood out to me as very important, especially as I reflect on my years in gifted education.
- The academic achievement of HALO students’
peers most strongly predicts the college-going value-added for a district or high school. This outweighs the more common measures of poverty rates or per-pupil spending in a district or school. In Ohio, these schools were predominantly but not exclusively found in high-achieving suburbs.
- The more high-level courses that HALO students are encouraged to take, the greater their chances at entering top colleges and universities. Again, this also outweighs the more common measures of poverty rates or per-pupil spending in a district or school.
- AP courses are highly predictive of future college admissions but so are other dual-credit options.
- Taking advanced math classes in middle school is more predictive of future college enrollment than gifted services, though both benefit HALO students.
What I found most interesting about this study was its focus on the middle and high school years, and what needs to be done to support HALO students. My years in gifted education nationally have taught me that though many districts have some programming options at the elementary level, these often are meager (or non-existent beyond math) at the middle school level. And for some students, this gap means that we lose students. Our pipelines are “leaky”.
Additionally, my former students have given me great insight into what they need to continue their hopeful trajectories. Here are some of their thoughts:
- Find us early and support our talents. Continue gifted services beyond elementary school. Please don’t make us wait until high school for higher level classes.
- Provide school counselor support for our social and emotional needs.
- Make sure that there are other students who “look like us” in high-level classes.
- Provide scaffolding when we need it – early and without blame or shame.
- Continue to encourage us, even when we’re in middle and high school.
- Help our parents/caregivers to understand how to support us (e.g., filling out the FAFSA forms - the Free Application for Free Student Aid). Provide help for them, too.
- Help us apply to colleges and universities; often we are first generation college students, and our parents/caregivers do not have the knowledge or skill to help us, though they want to.
- Help our families understand that a chance at higher education will not alienate us from them. It is our chance to use our gifts and talents to better our world.
As you enter 2026, I hope you will find time to read the entire Leaky Pipeline study and to reflect on what it means for gifted children in your community and family. Then resolve to make a difference for all gifted students. Happy New Year!
- Jackie Drummer, Past President and Current Board Advisor, WATG
Thank you to Esther Vazquez for her translation of this article for our Spanish speaking educators and families.
