Since 2019, Roberto Cruze has been leading the charge to create more equitable 
gifted and talented (G&T) enrollment strategies at Tucson Unified School District (TUSD). As the Senior Coordinator for Advanced Learning Experiences, Testing, Placement, and Recruitment, Cruze has worked to ensure that G&T programs reflect the district’s diverse student population.
Serving over 40,000 students, TUSD has a significantly higher percentage of Latino, Black/African-American, Indigenous, low-income, and immigrant/refugee students than the national average. Under Cruze’s leadership, the district has made remarkable progress—not only aligning G&T enrollment more closely with its demographics but more than doubling the number of students identified as gifted in traditionally underserved populations.
Making G&T Identification Fair and Equitable
One of the unique challenges TUSD faces is that many families it serves are transitory, in large part due to the military base in town. How can identification be equitable when so many students only spend part of their primary education in TUSD? For that reason, Cruze ensures multiple opportunities for students to take CogAT by universally screening in both 1st grade and 5th-grade. This way, there are two chances for students to be identified as gifted.
Additionally, students can test once per year at any grade level upon a parent’s request. However, Cruze has observed that white families disproportionately request additional testing, creating an imbalance in opportunities.
Many immigrant and refugee parents are unfamiliar with the U.S. education system and may not even be aware of G&T programs or how to access them. To bridge this gap, Cruze and his team actively recruit students from underrepresented backgrounds, offering outreach in multiple languages to educate families about gifted testing and services.
“I actively do a lot of proactive recruitment for these parents and families to let them know, in their native languages, ‘Hey, this is gifted testing. This is what it's about. These are the kinds of opportunities. These are kinds of struggles that your student may face if they're not getting the proper support. Let's see if your student qualifies,’” Cruze said.
Using Local Norms to Double Gifted Identification
Recognizing that TUSD’s student demographics differ significantly from national averages, Cruze knew that standard national norms might not be the best fit for identifying gifted learners in his district. Instead, he leveraged local norms—ensuring that TUSD students are compared to peers within their own community rather than a national sample.
“We want to see and serve the students that really are the top students for our demographic, our geographic location, and our own understanding of things,” Cruze said.
Thanks to years of CogAT data, TUSD was able to develop homegrown norming that more accurately reflects student abilities within the district. Working across departments, he says, “we collaborated to submit a formal proposal to the Board of Education, and ask them, ‘Can we use this as a form of identifying students? Because using the local norms, we would actually double the number of students that are African American and Latino who would qualify for our services.’”
Next Steps: Engaging Parents in G&T Education
With an equitable identification system in place, Cruze is now focused on enhancing parent engagement in their children’s gifted education. He is exploring ways to integrate CogAT Ability Profiles and newly expanded parent resources—now available in eight languages—to help families better understand and support their students’ educational journey.
By continuing to refine TUSD’s G&T strategies, Cruze is ensuring that all students—regardless of background—have access to the opportunities and support they need to thrive.