Dr. Naff appointed to advisory committee for gifted education

Headshot of David Naff, Ph.D., for news article stories.
David Naff, Ph.D.

David Naff, Ph.D., associate director for the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC), has been appointed to the Virginia Advisory Committee for the Education of the Gifted (VACEG). MERC is a center affiliated with the VCU School of Education.

The VACEG was formally established in 1982 by the Virginia Board of Education to provide guidance to the board and the superintendent of public instruction about the educational needs of students identified as gifted in school divisions. The committee is composed of representatives from school divisions, professional organizations, institutions of higher education, governor's schools, business and industry, and parent groups.

Naff is the lead author of two recent MERC reports exploring advanced coursework through an equity lens, Unpacking "Giftedness": Research and Strategies for Promoting Racial and Socioeconomic Equity and Analyzing Advanced Placement (AP): Making the Nation's Most Prominent College Preparatory Program More Equitable. He also leads the MERC Equitable Access and Support for Advanced Coursework study, is the host of the MERC podcast "Abstract," and leads planning efforts for the annual MERC Conference. Prior to coming to MERC, Naff served as a high school counselor for four years in North Carolina.

Naff holds a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University in psychology, a master's degree in counseling from Wake Forest University, and a Ph.D. in Education, Concentration in Educational Psychology from the VCU School of Education.

Naff will be part of 10-person VACEG cohort for the next three years (July 2021-June 2024). The committee will meet four times during each school year, and all meetings will be open to the public. More information is available on the VACEG website.