Marcia Gentry: Early Research Passions and Subsequent Important Contributions to Equity and Diverse Students

ABSTRACT

When Marcia Gentry died last year, our field lost a fierce champion for inclusion and equity. In this article, I reflect on her work and the ways in which her early research helped to develop her interests in identifying and supporting the talent development of culturally diverse students. This early research on Enrichment Clusters was facilitated in two urban schools with diverse populations and the insights gained from this work contributed to her beliefs on talent development, more open and equitable identification, and enrichment opportunities for all students.

KEYWORDS:

• diverse populations
• enrichment clusters
• enrichment models
• research
• talent development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally M. Reis

Sally M. Reis holds the Letitia Neag Chair in Educational Psychology, is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, and was the former Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at the University of Connecticut. She also served as Principal Investigator of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. Her scholarship on academically talented students and strength-based pedagogy is diverse and broad, as summarized by her numerous articles, books, book chapters, monographs, and technical reports. Her specialized research interests are related to diverse populations of talented students, education of students with both talents and disabilities, gifted girls and women, and using enrichment and strength-based pedagogy to enhance education for all students. Email: [email protected]