The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) is a collaborative effort of The University of Connecticut, The University of Georgia, The University of Virginia, Yale University, 54 state and territorial departments of education, over 260 public and private schools, over 100 content area consultants, and stakeholders representing professional organizations, parent groups, and businesses. The funding for the Research Center has been provided by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, United States Department of Education, under the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988.
The mission of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented is to plan and conduct theory-driven quantitative and qualitative research that is problem-based, practice-relevant, and consumer-oriented. Our mission includes a broad-based dissemination function, and the formation of a nationwide cooperative of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and other persons and groups that have a stake in the psychology and education of high-potential youth from preschool through post-secondary levels. Emphasis will be placed on identifying the research needs of economically disadvantaged youth, individuals of limited English proficiency, individuals with handicaps, and other special populations that traditionally have been underserved in programs for gifted and talented students. The Center will also serve as a vehicle for providing the kinds of intellectual leadership necessary for the further stimulation, advancement and improvement of theory, research and practice in the field. In this regard, the Center will serve as an integrated forum for scholars and practitioners to come together and to pool their resources. Moreover, it will welcome contributions from, and output to, scholars in cognate fields, in order to enhance communication and interchange between scholars in multiple disciplines whose interests relate to giftedness.