Donna Y. Ford

Providing Access for Culturally Diverse Gifted Students: From Deficit to Dynamic Thinking

Few school districts in the United States have successfully recruited and retained culturally diverse students in programs for gifted students. Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are underrepresented in gifted education programs nationally, with underrepresentation ranging from 50-70%. This article addresses two questions that are at least as old as gifted education itself: Why are diverse students underrepresented, and how can we recruit and retain more diverse students in our gifted programs? Factors contributing to the persistent underrepresentation of Black students in gifted education are presented, along with suggestions for changes. The central premise of this article is that deficit thinking held by educators about diverse students hinders access to gifted programs for them.

Addressing Underrepresentation of Gifted Minority Children Using the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT).

A persistent problem in education is the underrepresentation of diverse students in gifted education programs. Many educators attribute the poor participation of diverse students in gifted programs to the ineffectiveness of standardized tests in capturing the ability of these students. Thus, a primary agenda of school selection committees is to find more culturally sensitive measures. This study examined the effectiveness of the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT) in identifying gifted Black and Hispanic students in comparison to White students. The sample was comprised of 20,270 students in grades K-12 who were similar to the U.S. population on several demographic variables. The distributions of NNAT standard scores were studied separately for White, Black, and Hispanic groups. Results indicate that similar percentages of White (5.6%), Black (5.1%0/), and Hispanic (4.4%) children earned an NNAT standard score of 125 (95th percentile rank). These findings suggest that the NNAT may be useful as part of a procedure to identify diverse students for gifted education services.

Culturally Different Students in Special Education: Looking Backward to Move Forward

As the “land of opportunity” and arguably the greatest country in the world, the United States continues to change—culturally, racially, and linguistically. Reports abound regarding the changing demographics of the country and its schools. Over a 2-decade span (1989–2009), the percentage of “minority” students in public schools (referring to Hispanic American, African American, Asian American, and Native American students) increased from 32% to 45%. This trend is expected to continue, with these 4 groups soon becoming the numerical majority nationally, as is the case already in many school districts. With these changes come growing pains. Special education often receives attention, including debates and litigation, regarding disproportionality or overrepresentation, particularly among African American students (especially males). This albatross has plagued the field for decades. This article presents an overview of demographics in schools and special education, discusses overrepresentation, and provides suggestions for much-needed changes now and in the future. It is guided by the primary question: What does the future hold for Black, Hispanic, and English language learners in special education?

Determinants of underachievement as perceived by gifted, above‐average, and average black students 1

This study examined determinants of underachievement as perceived by 148 Black fifth‐and sixth‐grade students in an urban school district. Explored were the respective influences of social, psychological, and cultural determinants of underachievement as perceived by Black students in three different academic programs (gifted, above‐average, and average). Students were placed into groups based on profiles of achievement behavior (Types I through V) and compared relative to their perceptions and attitudes. Findings from the statistical analyses (frequency analyses, t‐tests, analyses of variance, and multiple regression) suggest that psychological factors played the greatest role in underachievement or poor achievement motivation, and that underachievement behaviors were noted among all students, irrespective of their academic program. Implications and recommendations are suggested for educators working with gifted, above‐average, and average Black students in urban areas.

Nurturing Resilience in Gifted Black Youth.

Many children, including the gifted, are at risk for underachievement, school failure, and otherwise not reaching their potential in school and in life. This is most often true of Black youth who face numerous social and cultural barriers to achievement. On the other hand, some youth do adapt to the many barriers to achievement and to the many stressors in their lives. This article explores the concept of resilience as it relates to gifted children, particularly gifted Black children. Also presented are recommendations for fostering resilience in these students and ensuring their success in school and life.

Recruitment Is Not Enough: Retaining African American Students in Gifted Education.

In public school systems all around the country, educators—teachers, counselors, and administrators—have made significant progress in identifying and recruiting diverse populations in gifted and enrichment programs. Despite the efforts, too many African American students and other students of color (e.g., Hispanic Americans and Native Americans) are not faring well in gifted education. The social and cultural obstacles (e.g., racial and ethnic prejudice, negative peer pressure, poor parental involvement, negative teacher and counselor expectations, etc.) that students of color, particularly African Americans, face in gifted education are well known. In order to improve African American student retention, it is clear that public school systems must do more. Recruitment is an important component for increasing the number of African American students in gifted education, but retention is equally important. Using multiple frameworks, this article examines the notion of retention and its many challenges and offers recommendations for improving the retention of African American students in gifted education.

A study of the racial identity and achievement of black males and females

A review of the literature suggests that little information exists regarding the self‐perceptions of gifted Black students. Yet, more than 400 studies have explored the racial identity status and development of Black children and adults. This study examined the racial identity and achievement of 152 Black males and females. Forty‐two Black adolescents (28%) were identified as gifted by their school districts. Sixty‐two students (42%) were underachieving, a disproportionate percentage of them male. Comparisons were made by three variables — gender, achievement status (underachieving vs. achieving) and academic ability (44 gifted, 67 potentially gifted, and 38 general education students). T‐test and ANOVA results indicate that students tended to have strong, positive racial identities. However, males and underachievers had less positive racial identities than females and achievers. Also, gifted students had more positive racial identities than other students.

On discovering the hidden treasure of gifted and talented black children

An abundance of literature is available regarding effective identification practices for white middle‐class gifted students. Fewer articles provide operative identification practices for gifted and talented Black students. This paucity results from several reasons, which are synthesized in the article by the authors. Specifically, the authors suggest that inadequate identification procedures, lacks of agreement on a universally accepted definition of gifted and talented, and over‐reliance on standardized tests, for example, hinder the identification process. The authors provide rationales for augmenting current identification procedures. Recommendations are advanced so that Black students will no longer go undiscovered in programs for the gifted and talented.

African Americans and Multicultural Education A Proposed Remedy for Disproportionate Special Education Placement and Underinclusion in Gifted Education

This article examines the root causes for the overrepresentation of African American students in special education classes and their under representation in gifted and talented programs in America’s public schools. The article (a) provides a historic overview of the legal struggles for educational equity, (b) examines key issues surrounding the academic status of African American students, (c) discusses multicultural education as a remedy, and (d) recommends an appropriate course of action for educators and policy makers.

Increasing Minority Children's Participation in Gifted Classes Using the NNAT: A Response to Lohman.

In a previous article, we (Naglieri & Ford, 2003) provided evidence from a large-scale study that similar proportions of White, Black, and Hispanic children would be identified as gifted using the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT; Naglieri, 1997). Lohman (2005) has taken issue with our conclusions and our methods. We provide several responses to his arguments and make five important points. First, we take the position that underrepresentation of minority children in classes for the gifted is a serious problem that must be remedied. Second, traditional measures of ability that include verbal and quantitative tests pose particular problems to less-advantaged children who may be intelligent, but lack verbal and math knowledge. Third, we argue that the CogAT verbal and quantitative tests of “ability” correlate higher with the ITBS “achievement” tests than the CogAT nonverbal tests of ability because of the similarity of skills needed to answer the items on both the ITBS and the CogAT. Fourth, we reject an emphasis on “academically gifted” children that excludes the identification of “intellectually gifted” children who happen to have poor academic skills. Fifth, we request that critics of the NNAT provide evidence of the magnitude of race and ethnic differences, as well as the likely effect on representation of minorities using whatever alternatives they propose.