Leadership Roles Impacting Gifted Education at the Secondary Level

A complex web of leadership roles, both formal and informal, shapes gifted education at the secondary level. The decisions and actions of these leaders directly influence how gifted services and programs are developed, implemented, and sustained. This chapter explores the multifaceted responsibilities of superintendents, principals, and school counselors, highlighting their impact on gifted education at the secondary level. The role of central office staff, such as the coordinator of gifted education or director of student services, who may have direct responsibility for secondary gifted education, is considered an extension of the superintendent&s;s office. Assistant principals and deans of students are considered representatives of the principal&s;s office. Districts utilize organizational or hierarchical charts to delineate roles and responsibilities, no leader acts in isolation, especially the good ones.