Self‐advocacy: Encouraging students to become partners in differentiation

For gifted students to be challenged, they frequently must go beyond what is offered in the regular classroom. However, even if a wide array of high quality differentiated educational options is available for gifted adolescents, many choose not to take advantage of those opportunities. Advice of parents and teachers is often shunned as teens transition into the greater independence of middle or high school. What can educators do to encourage students’ appropriate choices and to foster self‐advocacy? Students need help understanding their rights and responsibilities as gifted individuals, assessing their personal learner profiles, investigating alternative experiences, and connecting with the people who can bring about change. This action research examined the extent to which the direct teaching of these four components increased students’ interest in self‐advocacy.