Identifying gifted students from underrepresented populations

The identification of gifted and talented students from those populations that are underrepresented in programs for the gifted (minorities, children from low socioeconomic status environments, students with limited English speaking ability) is a problem that needs to be examined as the complex issue that it is rather than as a problem that can be solved with a single, silver-bullet answer. In examining this issue, the first step is to look at the interrelated factors that influence the process: definitions of giftedness, the use of 1-shot paper-and-pencil assessments, the inherent biases in policies and procedures, and the lack of coordination of curriculum with identification and placement procedures. Then, critical steps in bringing about change can be proposed. The solutions proposed are structured around increased advocacy for underrepresented students and attention to current research.

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THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (Donovan & Cross, 2002) documented that, although there has been an increase in the representation of American Indian and Native Alaskan, Black, and Hispanic students identified as gifted, the underrepresentation of these groups continues to plague our educational system. The report points out that, although there is considerable variation among states, Black and Hispanic students are less than half as likely to be in gifted programs as White students, and American Indian and Native Alaskans fall between Blacks and Whites. The National Excellence report (U.S. Department of Education, 1993) documented the underrepresentation of low-income students with National Education Longitudinal Study data indicating that only 9% of students in gifted and talented programs were categorized in the bottom quartile of family income.

The issues faced by administrators, teachers, and policy makers who seek to validly and reliably identify gifted and talented students from underrepresented populations of ethnic minority and low-income students are too often oversimplified or uncoupled from one another--resulting in unsuccessful and frustrating efforts that disappoint and discourage those who attempt to redress the inequities. The attempts to find a single, silver-bullet solution in the form of a new test or a single new policy (such as a quota system) result in controversy over the adequacy of processes and procedures, in criticisms of the validity of the process, and in conflicts between the majority and minority populations. The more appropriate approach is to view the situation as a complex interaction of factors, such as inadequate opportunities for talent development, the inadequacy of one-shot, paper-and-pencil assessments, the inherent bias and shortcomings of policies and procedures surrounding the identification of gifted students, and the lack of connections between the identification criteria and the curriculum and services offered to gifted students. Close examination of these factors has led to promising solutions that have been documented in the literature on identification and through analyses of successful practices implemented in innovative projects funded by the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act (Callahan, Tomlinson, & Pizzat, 1994). To understand why these solutions have the power to change the landscape of gifted programming, we have to first examine the ways the identified factors have negatively framed and impacted the identification of gifted students from minority and poor groups of students.

Inadequate Opportunities for Talent Development

Inadequate opportunities for talent development are the result of erroneous beliefs translated into detrimental practice. The two beliefs that mitigate against adequate talent development are: (a) the belief that it is the role of gifted and talented programs to serve only those children that parents bring to the school door "signed, sealed, and delivered" as gifted; and (b) inherent beliefs about the low capabilities of poor and minority children. Despite the clear statements in national policy documents that outstanding talents and abilities are present in students from all cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds (U.S. Department of Education, 1993), the more common belief is that there are few students who come from ethnic minority groups or from families in poverty who are capable of developing into gifted children and adults or of exhibiting gifted behaviors. In fact, there is a strong, erroneous belief that most of these children are so lacking in prerequisite basic skills or abilities that such development is highly unlikely (Clasen, 1994; Dusek & Joseph, 1983; Frasier, Garcia, & Passow, 1995; McCarty, Lynch, Wallace, & Benally, 1991). As a consequence, the focus of instruction for these children becomes mired in low-level, drill-and-kill practice of mundane, uninteresting, and unmotivating learning tasks. The children in these classrooms are never exposed to and are not given the opportunity to explore their ability to be creative, critical, analytic, and high-level thinkers and problem solvers in the school environment. Without the opportunity to experience the kinds of tasks associated with the development of these abilities, the likelihood that children will exhibit such skills in classrooms or on tests are severely diminished. In addition, focus on performance at low-level basic skills for success on basic skill assessment tools may result in the uninteresting practice of test-taking skills and limited options to express oneself using any modality other than paper-and-pencil. As a result, we may decrease motivation among these students to participate in schooling at all.