Identifying gifted students from underrepresented populations

One underlying reason behind diminished beliefs in the potential of ethnic minority and low-income students lies in strong acceptance in the educator population of very narrow and internally determined conception of intelligence and giftedness. Within the American public schools, giftedness is associated largely with traditional school skills and characteristics measured by traditional intelligence and achievement tests--advanced vocabulary, highly developed verbal skills in written and oral expression in Standard English, and early and advanced reading skills (Gallagher & Gallagher, 1994). Children who come to school without having had the opportunity to develop and practice these skills are quickly labeled "at-risk" and categorized as "less able." Seldom are teachers provided the skills in discerning either (a) alternative ways in which students may be gifted, or (b) ways to identify verbal talents that may exist in students who have not had opportunities to develop fluency and advanced expressive abilities in formal English.

Solution 1: Expand Conceptions of Intelligence and Giftedness

The first step in addressing the issues identified previously is the examination and expansion of the ways in which we conceptualize the notions of aptitude and intelligence, such as those offered by cognitive and developmental psychologists, including Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg. Gardner's (1991) study of creative and productive adults provides useful constructs of intelligence that include the verbal--linguistic realm already accepted by educators, but extend the range of consideration of giftedness to those with logical--mathematical talent, spatial abilities, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal talents. Sternberg's (1986) conceptions include analytic, practical, and synthetic (creative) intelligence. These intelligences are not divorced from performance in the disciplines we include in our school curriculum, but provide a basis for consideration of the different ways in which children (and ultimately adults) are best able to know, understand, and finally to express themselves in the disciplines.

Of equal importance is the ability to see giftedness as something other than pure precocious behavior or genius that must exhibit itself across all realms of performance for the child to be considered gifted. Giftedness is not a trait that demands that a child exhibit outstanding abilities in all areas. Children may be gifted or talented in just one area of performance. Some children may be quite talented in mathematics, but not in reading or writing for example.

Solution 2: Provide Exemplars of Gifted Performance and Use the Identification Process To Enhance Understanding

Because teachers are often gatekeepers (Archambault et al., 1993; Donovan & Cross, 2002) and, thus, have the potential to become advocates for gifted students in the nomination, screening, and identification of gifted students from underserved populations, it is important they are provided with examples of how the various talents, both the traditional verbal--linguistic and analytic intelligence as well as the less known alternative talents, may manifest themselves in performance outside of the typical indicators as manifest in reading and writing in formal English. In particular, we must provide examples of students from target populations in classroom settings exhibiting the behaviors associated with all aspects of talent, including nontraditional examples of verbal ability. These examples may be in writing or may be presented as video clips for additional context.