A survey of the challenges and responsibilities of school district gifted education coordinators before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

District-level gifted education coordinators (DGECs) complete the critical work of overseeing and leading gifted and advanced education programs in school systems. However, only a few studies have explored what their roles and responsibilities entail (Ezzani et al., 2021; Floyd, 2023; Guilbault et al., 2022; Kennedy, 1997). Emerging qualitative research from the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that the pandemic posed unique challenges for DGECs (Guilbault et al., 2022), but quantitative information is also needed to further elucidate those challenges. The present study utilized descriptive cross-sectional methods to quantify and define DGECs’ roles and responsibilities, how their roles and responsibilities changed throughout 2020-2021, and what challenges DGECs faced during the pandemic. Participants included a purposive national sample of 35 DGECs from small, medium, and large school districts in the United States. They completed an online questionnaire that was fitted to the research questions. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and 2x3 contingency tables with subsequent Pearson’s chi-square tests of independence to examine how roles and responsibilities changed over three different time points: prior to COVID-19, during the spring 2020 semester, and during the spring 2021 semester. Results suggest that instructional leadership duties (such as overseeing district identification processes) and program management duties (like developing and revising policies, handbooks, and procedures) were the most common types of roles and responsibilities shared across the sample, while communication and collaboration duties were less widespread. Throughout the pandemic, duties that required face-to-face interactions and communication (e.g., observing teachers, in-person professional development, and parent informational nights) were most negatively impacted. Conversely, the provision of virtual professional development, overseeing district identification processes, and reporting of activities to the state department of education increased throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Furthermore, results revealed high levels of stress among the DGECs with a majority of them considering leaving their role. Major leadership challenges included the following: adapting to constant changes to policies and procedures, delivery of professional learning, gaps in student and teacher access to technology, equity issues, identification procedures, ensuring continuity of services, and providing teachers of the gifted with the necessary digital materials needed for online instruction. Recommendations for practice and future research will be discussed.