Massachusetts ranks near the bottom in the nation in providing opportunities for gifted and advanced students.
Our brightest students need your help.
There are no laws, requirements, recommendations, support, or funding for the education of gifted and advanced students in the state of Massachusetts.
Because of this, the vast majority of districts don’t provide gifted students and advanced learners, students capable of or already learning at above-grade levels with an education that is commensurate with their abilities. Therefore, MAGE has a very active advocacy committee.
MAGE Advocacy works at the state level by engaging with:
the Massachusetts legislature
the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and
the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)
We are a team of dedicated volunteers made up of people from all walks of life who care about the education of our state's brightest children. We believe that the state should help these children get an appropriate education.
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2023-2024 Gifted Education Bills currently before the state legislature
Six gifted education bills have been filed in the current state legislative session by Rep. Kilcoyne. Three bills (H.521, H.522, H.523) already had their public hearings, but the remaining three bills (H.518, H.519, H.520) need to collect as many legislative co-sponsors as possible in order to succeed. To make this happen, write to or call your state Senator and state Representative to urge them to support and co-sponsor these bills.
Overview and explanation of the 2023-2024 bills
H.518 An act relative to equity and inclusion in education
H.519 An Act concerning equitable state summative assessments of students
H.520 An Act relative to equitable accelerated learning opportunities for public school students
H.521 An Act relative to educator training to create educational equity for gifted and beyond grade-level children
H.522 An Act to prohibit age discrimination
H.523 An act relative to educational equity for gifted and beyond grade-level children
Instructions on how to ask your legislators to support these bills:
1. Find your state Rep.’s and Sen.’s contact information at: MA "Find My Legislator";
2. Copy and paste the message below in an email to your state Rep. and your state Senator, add your personal story if you like, and cc or bcc advocacy@massgifted.org;
3. Forward this email to friends and family asking them to join you in taking action.
Questions? Contact us at advocacy@massgifted.org.
Gifted and advanced students need state laws that provide them equitable protection to reach their full potential. Please make sure to let your representatives know about this need and ask them to support gifted education on your behalf.
*** SAMPLE EMAIL (Copy and paste, or compose your own. Adding your personal story is very helpful but keep in mind that emails to your legislators are considered public records) ***
Dear Representative/Senator [insert name here], The public schools of Massachusetts are doing an inadequate job of educating their advanced, gifted, and high-potential students, by not acknowledging their needs and not providing them with an appropriate educational path that nourishes their strengths, supports their social-emotional needs, and allows them to experience effective challenge to reach their full potential. In 2019, DESE delivered to the Massachusetts legislature a study report, Gifted Education in Massachusetts: A Practice and Policy Review. The report laid out that the Commonwealth is failing to serve the state’s advanced learners, resulting in lack of access to effective learning growth across the state that especially affects low-income, black, and brown advanced students. Gifted, advanced and high-potential students need state laws that advance both equity and excellence and provide them protection to reach their full potential so that Massachusetts gifted and advanced students can experience academic and social-emotional growth, and do so regardless of socio-economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds. I ask you to co-sponsor the following bills, in order to support equitable access to learning growth. An overview of the bills is linked here: Legislation Overview for 2023-2024H.518 An act relative to equity and inclusion in education
H.519 An Act concerning equitable state summative assessments of students
H.520 An Act relative to equitable accelerated learning opportunities for public school students
Thank you,[your name][your mailing address]Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 2019 Report on the State of Gifted in Massachusetts
In 2019, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) published a report on the state of gifted education in Massachusetts. It clearly outlined out the lack of support for advanced learners across the state.
Several recommendations included the tracking of the number of advanced learners in the state, the establishment of state policy and guidelines on acceleration, the hiring of a DESE staff member devoted to advanced learners, and the establishment of an advisory council. To date the only recommendation carried out has been the establishment of an advisory council that has received no support from the department.