A broadened conception of giftedness has impacted the language and nature of the field of gifted education, making talent development its central metaphor. Despite the emergence of the talent development paradigm, relatively little talent development research exists among racially and socioeconomically diverse learners. The purpose of this study was to expand upon talent development research and to examine how well academic potential predicts success.

This study employed secondary data analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Françoys Gagné's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent served as the theoretical and conceptual framework. The analytic sample included 1,916 Black and White eighth grade students who scored in the top decile within their racial group on any one of four base-year achievement tests. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to examine educational degree attainment and occupational prestige.

Findings revealed that socioeconomic indicators were the most influential predictors of success for both Black and White students. Additional common predictors of success included attending a private school, grades being important, and participation in gifted programs for Black students and Advanced Placement programs for White students. Additional findings demonstrated comparable educational degree attainment and occupational prestige across race and levels of academic potential.

Several interrelated implications for policy, practice, and research emerged from this study. Most notably, policy implications include establishing identification policies that err on the side of inclusion, and a shift in focus from early indicators of the achievement gap to an emphasis on long-term educational and life outcomes.