Tarek C. Grantham

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.

Multicultural gifted education: A wakeup call to the profession

The integration of multiculturalism into such fields as education, counseling, and research has received much attention in recent years. Much has been written about the importance of multicultural education to the psychological, affective, and educational well‐being of racially and culturally diverse students. A review of the literature, however, indicates that the need for multicultural education has received little attention in gifted education. Given the paucity of literature on gifted education that is multicultural, the authors rely heavily on the general education literature. This article is a call to professionals in gifted education to give greater attention to multicultural education. The authors answer the following questions: Why do we need multicultural education? Who needs an education that is multicultural? What is an education that is multicultural? Which components are most important? When is multicultural education needed? Where is this type of education needed? How can we implement multi...

The recruitment and retention of minority teachers in gifted education

The scarcity of racially and culturally diverse teachers remains a major issue in education nationally, particularly given projections which indicate that the representation of minority teachers is declining while the number of minority students is increasing1. The number of minority teachers in gifted programs, however, has received little attention in the literature. Accordingly, this article provides data on the under‐representation of Black and other minority teachers in education, explores personal and professional barriers to their representation, and provides recommendations for the recruitment and retention of minority teachers in gifted education. Owing to the limited information available on minority teachers in gifted education, the authors reason by analogy in order to draw implications from the general education literature and apply them to gifted education. Similarly, since the majority of research and writing have focused on Black teachers, we use Black teachers more often as a case in poin...

New Directions for Gifted Black Males Suffering From Bystander Effects: A Call for Upstanders

An educational crisis in Black male representation in gifted programs exists, requiring a new lens through which to view problems and find solutions. Though many people observe that Black males face extraordinary barriers to successful participation in gifted programs, many stand by, watching as they are overlooked for or drop out of gifted programs. This waste of talent can be understood in terms of bystander effects—influences on nonintervention in the educational crisis among gifted Black males. The author explains the notion of bystander effects, discusses groups of bystanders, and sends a call for upstanders on behalf of gifted Black males who are in the midst of educational neglect. Upstanders are those who take a stand and engage in proactive roles to address injustices. Recommendations are provided for educators, parents, and Black men to become upstanders.

Conducting Cross-Cultural Research: Controversy, Cautions, Concerns, and Considerations

In this article, the authors share concerns and considerations for researchers conducting cross-cultural research in gifted education. They contend that researchers should be mindful of the need to consider their own humanness—their beliefs, assumptions, attitudes, values, paradigms—and the limitations of their humanness when working with research participants from racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse backgrounds, especially those backgrounds that differ from their own. Furthermore, the authors assert that research is culture bound and that it is very difficult to conduct research where circumstances, demographics, and context can be ignored, minimized, negated, or in any way trivialized. Examples are presented of racially, culturally, and linguistically responsive researchers.