Lisa Van Gemert

➡️True equity will be when all children receive the services they need to allow all of their talents and abilities shine, regardless of where they live, what color they are, or how much money their parents have. That's equity. And its time is now.

Source: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/…

9/12 Fact: There are kids coming to Kindergarten who’ve mastered 2nd grade standards. Mamdani spox Dora Pekec says “Identifying academic giftedness at age 4 is hard to do.” Oh, well, if it’s hard, let’s not even try to give the brightest of the youngest what they need.

1/12 It’s déjà vu, all over again. Yet another @NYCMayor ignorantly wanting to dismantle a gifted program because it is “inequitable.” This reflects a profound misunderstanding of both equity and education research. Here’s a novel approach: Maybe we should look at the facts.

Source: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23…

7/12 Education research is remarkably consistent on this point. Acceleration, advanced coursework, and intellectual peer groups produce some of the strongest academic gains observed in education studies. The evidence supporting advanced learning interventions is extensive.

@NYCMayor Source: nytimes.com/2025/10/02/nyr…

12/12 The problem is not the existence of gifted education, even in Kinder. The problem is whether identification systems are designed to find talent everywhere it exists. Reforming those systems expands opportunity. Eliminating programs removes it. For everyone.

11/12 First they come for Kindergarten - 2nd Grade GT programs. Then they come for them all. The gifted have always been sacrificed on the altar of false narratives and anti-gifted bias. This mayor's rhetoric is just another verse of the same old song.

Was a series of books what turned you into a [rabid] reader? Samesies. Summer is my fave time for starting a new series. Find my curated list of series books for young readers here amazon.com/shop/gifted_gu… #childrensbooks #youngreaders #gtchat #youngreaders

My great-grandparents are buried in New Trier, MN here in the cemetery of St. Mary's. Their headstones are in German because that was their language. How powerful a reminder to me of the need to serve English Learners. No filter - just a gorgeous Spring day.

I typically fly American Airlines, but I need to give a shout out to @Delta for the excellent FREE wifi on my flight yesterday. Also, two snacks. Um, do you guys have status match? #creditwherecreditisdue

Driving home from my surgeon's office today, I was moved to tears by the beauty of the daffodils planted by @CityColleyville. William Wordsworth had you in mind... When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils... Truly lovely. Thank you.

@GreatMindsEd I've filled out the contact form on the website twice requesting some assistance with using W&W with gifted learners and received no response. Can you please direct me to the correct person?