The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), in collaboration with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), and the Association for the Gifted (CEC-TAG), has developed national standards for teacher preparation programs in gifted and talented education. Typically, these programs are at the masters level, but they may also be endorsement programs, or less frequently, teacher preparation programs at the undergraduate level. The programs develop expertise in gifted and talented education, which is needed in specialized programs for gifted students, and is also needed at the building and district level to coordinate programs and services. Gifted education specialists also collaborate with other educators to ensure that general education teachers are able to support advanced students in their classrooms and to refer students for further testing as part of the overall identification process. The standards are the basis for state standards in gifted education and are also used at the national level as part of the teacher preparation accreditation process. The 2013 standards include 7 standards and 28 individual elements. The previous standards were approved in 2006.