Marcia Gentry

Racial and ethnic representation in gifted programs: Current status of and implications for gifted asian american students

The Elementary and Secondary School Survey data and Civil Rights Data Collection of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) were analyzed to describe the issue of overrepresentation of gifted Asian American students in gifted education programs in the United States. Nationally, Asian and Whites have been overrepresented in gifted education since 1978, whereas, students from other ethnic backgrounds, such as those from American Indian or Alaska Native, Hispanic, and African American groups, have been underrepresented with gradual increases in this underrepresentation since 1994. When the data were disaggregated by state for the period from 2002 to 2006, each racial and ethnic group displayed varied ranges of representation. Those varied distributions can be attributed to each states unique demographic profile, varied definitions of giftedness, identification procedures, and identification policies. By focusing on Asian American students, this study addressed some difficulties that gifted Asian American students may face concerning the image of model minority and through the acculturation processes as immigrants or descendents of immigrants. Furthermore, this study suggests a need for disaggregated data collection and more research concerning gifted Asian American students from various ethnic Asian groups. Putting the Research to Use: Findings from this study highlight the need for carefully collected data in the field of gifted education concerning race and ethnicity of students in programs and provide the reader with a picture of both underrepresentation and overrepresentation of students by state and ethnic group. Attention needs to be paid to sub-groups within categories of race and ethnicity to understand representation. By considering the issue of Asian Americans and their overrepresentation, this research has raised awareness about factors, such as identification processes, acculturation, and academic motivation that might promote recognition of giftedness among some ethnic groups. Finally, this research offers readers with a new, multiple-year, current, analysis of the representation in gifted programs nationally and by state for racial/ethnic groups, an area of continued concern to those in the field of gifted education.

An Investigation of the Effects of Total School Flexible Cluster Grouping on Identification, Achievement, and Classroom Practices

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal, causal comparative investigation of an elementary school cluster grouping program. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used. Although the cluster grouping program was originally designed to provide differentiation of content and instruction for gited students, positive effects were also found on the achievement of all students in the school. During the three program years, students involved in the school using cluster grouping were more likely to be identified as high achieving or above average. Fewer students were identified as low achieving. A significant increase in achievement test scores of all students was found when these students were compared to similar students from a comparison school district. Qualitative analyses yielded three core categories—the use of grouping, the impact of teachers, and the general school environment—that helped to provide an understanding of the quantitative findings.

Students' Perceptions of Classroom Activities: Are There Grade-Level and Gender Differences?.

The authors investigated whether differences existed in perceptions of class activities for students in Grades 3–8 and between genders. Specifically, the frequency that students perceived opportunities for interest, challenge, choice, and enjoyment in their classrooms was assessed using the affective instrument, My Class Activities (M. Gentry & R. K. Gable, 2001). Significant main effects existed for grade level and gender, with no interaction of the 2 variables. In general, middle school students found their classroom activities less frequently interesting and enjoyable, with fewer opportunities for choice, than did elementary students. These variables declined steadily from lower to upper grades. Girls indicated that their class activities were more frequently interesting and enjoyable than did boys, which contributed to the significant gender differences.

No Child Left Behind: Neglecting Excellence

This article is neither a study nor a review; rather, it is a thought piece from a contributing editor concerning issues associated with the state of gifted child education, as it exists today in the shadow of the effects of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The primary purpose of this article is to stimulate thought, discussion, and action concerning the effects of NCLB on gifted child education. Seven effects are highlighted, namely, a remedial, deficit‐based emphasis; teaching what it tested; delivering a standard, one‐size fits all education to diverse students; increased numbers of dropouts; educators afraid to teach; cheating; and unsubstantiated alternatives. A change in focus, questioning, and appropriate educational actions are suggested.

Multigroup Construct Validity Evidence of the HOPE Scale: Instrumentation to Identify Low-Income Elementary Students for Gifted Programs

Students with exceptional academic potential who come from low-income families are frequently not identified for and consequently are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs. Because of this, new means of identifying such children must be developed. This article presents the findings of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on the HOPE Scale, a 13-item teacher-rating instrument designed to identify academic and social components of giftedness in elementary-aged students. Participants included 349 teachers who completed HOPE Scales on 5,995 ethnically and economically diverse students from three rural and two metropolitan school districts in the Midwest. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was also used to evaluate measurement invariance between income groups. Findings suggest a two-factor model represents good fit for the data while remaining loyal to the latent constructs of academic and social giftedness. Although showing some legitimate mean differences, invariance test results suggested equivalence of model form, factor loading, and factor variances across income groups. Putting the Research to Use This research has important implications for practice. Frequently, traditional measures of achievement or aptitude under-identify children from low-income families. Concerns exist about the usefulness of teacher-ratings forms or scales in gifted and talented student identification. However, when given specific items or descriptors, teachers can provide useful information concerning student performance. The HOPE Scale provides items that teachers can use to rate specific social and academic behaviors of their students. Findings from this study revealed that teaches can effectively nominate low-income students for gifted programs. Further, items on the HOPE Scale were not biased against low-income students as rated by their teachers, meaning that the social and academic scales provided similar information concerning students in either income group. However, mean scores for student from low-income families on both scales were lower than their non-low income peers, providing evidence that instruments need to be normed on the specific groups for which their use is intended. Practitioners, should not shy away from using teacher nomination instruments, but they should consider the psychometric information available concerning the use of these instruments or rating forms as used with students in demographic groups of intended use. The HOPE Scale, as developed with indicated revisions, will provide educators and researchers with a simple, psychometrically sound instrument to help with identification of underrepresented student for gifted education services.

The Application of Enrichment Clusters to Teachers' Classroom Practices

This study investigated the impact of providing one type of gifted education pedagogy, enrichment clusters, to the entire population of two urban elementary schools. Enrichment clusters provided a regularly scheduled weekly time for students to work with adult facilitators to complete a product or provide service in a shared interest area. Teaching practices of classroom teachers who participated as cluster facilitators were affected both in the enrichment clusters and in regular classrooms. Challenging content was integrated into 95% of the clusters through teaching specific authentic methodologies, advanced-thinking and problem-solving strategies. Approximately 60% of the teachers who facilitated clusters transferred some of the strategies used in clusters into their regular classroom practices.

Secondary Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality: Instrumentation and Differences Between Advanced/Honors and Nonhonors Classes.

This article describes the initial development and psychometric evaluation of an instrument for use with secondary students to measure various perceptions about class activities. The instrument—Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality (SPOCQ)—focuses on meaningfulness, challenge, choice, self-efficacy, and appeal, constructs central to learning and deeply rooted in gifted education. The article reports content and construct validity evidence, reliability estimates, and demographic group comparisons from a diverse national sample of students in grades 7–12 (N = 7,411). The article also details differences between advanced and general education students’ perceptions of their classroom environments. SPOCQ can be useful to those interested in classroom research, as well as those aiming to improve teaching and learning by considering students’ perceptions of class activities.

Creativity and Working Memory in Gifted Students With and Without Characteristics of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Lifting the Mask

There have been some behavioral indicators and some types of task performance that suggest greater creativity in students with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). This evidence would appear counterintuitive given that lower working memory (i.e., holding information in mind for novel recombinations) has often been documented in students with ADHD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess working memory and creativity in two groups of gifted students (i.e., with characteristics of ADHD, n = 17, and without ADHD characteristics, n = 20), who were equivalent in fluid intelligence. Significant differences were found indicating that gifted students with ADHD characteristics had not only poorer working memory but also significantly greater creativity than those gifted students without these characteristics. These results were discussed in terms of creative potential, which could serve as an identifier and as a pathway to instruction.

Student-Identified Exemplary Teachers: Insights From Talented Teachers

What roles do teachers play in the development of talent and in the attitude of students toward school? Research indicates that teacher enthusiasm, feedback, and content knowledge are keys to student motivation, learning, and engagement. Research also reveals the importance of positive and supportive student/teacher relationships. In previous work concerning student attitudes toward school, a handful of teachers emerged, in the eyes of their students, as exemplary. Follow-up study provided insights concerning the characteristics, practices, and qualities of these teachers. What and how they teach, and the ways they relate to individual students distinguish these exemplary and talented teachers. This research reveals quantitative and qualitative findings that help to explain the student-identified exemplary teachers (n = 18) from two samples that included more than 400 teachers. Implications for practice based on findings from these exemplary teachers are highlighted.

Secondary Student Perceptions of Their Class Activities Regarding Meaningfulness, Challenge, Choice, and Appeal: An Initial Validation Study.

This research reports the results of an initial study in which the instrument Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality was developed and then administered to a sample of students to allow examination of validity and reliability evidence. Accordingly, exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the construct validity of the scores, and internal consistency alpha reliability estimates were calculated for the 4 factors that were derived from the data. Student Perceptions of Classroom Quality, assesses how high school students perceive their class activities concerning meaning-fulness, challenge, choice, and appeal—constructs clearly tied in the literature to motivation and learning and with their roots of practice found in gifted education programming. Validity and reliability evidence from this pilot study were sufficiently strong, and, thus, this line of research will be continued using a larger national sample in a confirmatory study of the revised version of the instrument that resulted from the present research. Ultimately, this instrument has potential value for those engaged in research or school improvement efforts in both general education and gifted education by providing them a means to assess constructs central to learning and classroom climate from the students’ points of view.