Overhauling Gifted Ed: Schools, Feds, Researchers Race to Better Identify Top Students of Color
Updated on March 3: This is the first article in a series that explores the topic of gifted education, classroom creativity, and geniuses in society. (View our complete genius archive) is proud to be a media partner of the 92nd Street Y’s "7 Days of Genius," a global series of events designed to explore "the power of genius to make a positive impact on the world" taking place from March 5-12. Check out the events at 92y.org/Genius.
The face of the American student is undergoing a transformation, leading schools across the country to adapt and provide additional services for the increasing number of students living in poverty. Additionally, schools are offering English language instruction to children who enter school speaking various languages.
After years of focusing on raising the achievement of all students to a minimum level, as mandated by No Child Left Behind, schools and educational leaders are now turning their attention to the brightest students within the increasingly diverse student body.
This shift in focus is essential, as federal statistics from the 2011-12 school year show that Black and Hispanic children make up 40 percent of students, but only 26 percent of those enrolled in gifted and talented programs offered by schools.
Professor Donna Ford from Vanderbilt University, who has extensively researched the underrepresentation of children of color in gifted education programs, describes this issue as a national crisis.
"I believe that no child should be denied the opportunity to excel simply because of their race or low-income status, and unfortunately, this is happening in many circumstances," she stated.
This struggle is personal for Ford, who was a gifted student growing up in a neighborhood that was 99 percent black in East Cleveland during the 1970s. Her neighborhood school had limited opportunities, so she received a "better chance scholarship" and attended Hathaway Brown School, which was an hour away in affluent Shaker Heights and described itself as the oldest continuously operating girls’ college preparatory school in Ohio. Ford felt like an outsider at the new school, and her old friends from the Cleveland neighborhood couldn’t understand why she left their school.
"I didn’t feel welcomed in my community, I didn’t feel welcomed at that school, and I essentially became isolated," Ford recalled. She eventually left after a year and returned to the Cleveland schools, where she still struggled to fit in with her classmates due to her advanced abilities.
Unfortunately, Ford continues to face challenges in obtaining appropriate identification and services for her gifted son.
The availability of gifted education for children of all races varies across the country. While it was once heavily emphasized during the Cold War as a means to compete with the Soviet Union and strengthen national defense, gifted education has taken a backseat in recent years. Some attribute this to the enduring influence of No Child Left Behind, while others argue that it simply stems from funding priorities.
Unlike students with special needs, who are protected by a robust federal law and receive substantial funding to support their needs, there is no mandate from the federal government for identifying or serving gifted students.
State laws concerning gifted education differ significantly. Each state determines its own standards for identifying gifted students and the services that schools must provide to meet their needs.
Four states, including Iowa, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Georgia, require schools to offer gifted programming and, importantly, fund it, according to the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a nonprofit organization focused on profoundly gifted students.
On the other hand, nine states, namely South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, neither require schools to offer gifted programming nor provide funding for it. The remaining states fall somewhere in between, either funding programs if districts choose to implement them or mandating programming without financial support.
The Under-Referral Issue
Not all schools offer gifted programs, but for those that do, why is there such a notable discrepancy between the identification of white students and their peers of color?
It is not because white and Asian students are inherently more gifted than black and Hispanic students. The issue lies in schools not identifying these high-ability students of color in the first place.
For many years, schools relied on referrals from parents and teachers, who would then have the students take a standardized IQ test. This system has two inherent problems.
Firstly, teachers have consistently been reluctant to refer English language learners and students of color, which Donna Ford identifies as the primary reason for the underrepresentation of minority, low-income, and English language learner students.
Family referrals pose unique challenges. Parents may not be aware of the options available for gifted programming or have the necessary language skills to refer their children. Additionally, parents of low-income or minority children tend to downplay their children’s gifts when making referrals. This leads to these children receiving lower scores in measures of gifted behaviors, which hinders their chances of being referred, tested, and placed in advanced programs.
The standardized verbal IQ test, experts say, was designed to measure the intelligence of middle-class white males. It assumes a certain level of cultural knowledge that may not be equal across different populations. Moreover, the IQ test discriminates against children with weaker English language skills.
According to research and experts, a better approach is to screen all children, using a test that does not require strong English skills.
One example of this effort can be seen in the schools of Seminole County, Florida, in suburban Orlando. Seminole County was one of the 11 winners of a grant from the Jacob K. Javits program, a federal initiative that supports research and scholarships for gifted children from low-income families. The focus of these grants is to increase the representation of minority and underrepresented groups in gifted programs.
Similar to many districts across the country, Seminole’s student body is primarily made up of white and Asian students, who constitute 60% of the students. However, these students account for 80% of those participating in gifted programs. On the other hand, black and Hispanic students amount to 36% of the students, yet comprise less than 15% of those in gifted programs, according to federal data.
Jeannette Leukens, an educator in the district’s Exceptional Student Support office, is leading Project ELEVATE, which aims to create a more comprehensive assessment system to identify gifted children who may not be identified using traditional intelligence tests. The project utilizes best practices and research-based components to develop this new approach.
Initially, the project will be implemented at five elementary schools with a high percentage of low-income students. If the federal government approves their requested funding of $2.4 million, the project will expand to an additional five elementary schools and two middle schools.
The district has also partnered with experts from the University of Central Florida to improve the identification of giftedness in students from minority populations, both by teachers and parents. Furthermore, the grant will support the development of an internationally responsive curriculum for gifted minority students and expand the talent development program for students who show potential but have not been formally identified as gifted.
The research conducted on universal screening carried out in a large urban school district showed promising results. The screening involved second-graders using a non-verbal test. After the implementation of universal screening, with no changes to the minimum score requirements, the gifted rate among disadvantaged students increased by 180%, including a 130% increase for Hispanic students and an 80% increase for black students, as reported by the researchers.
It is worth noting that different threshold scores were already in place in the district, with non-disadvantaged students needing to score 130 points to advance in the screening process, while economically disadvantaged students had to score 115 points. This is because the tests aim to measure capacity, which is influenced by the resources and nurturing environment that children have been exposed to since birth. Students from underrepresented groups may have had fewer resources available to them, such as high-quality preschool or extracurricular enrichment, which can impact their performance on gifted tests.
In conclusion, efforts like those in Seminole County, Florida, and the other Javits program winners are supported by research and aim to provide equal opportunities for underrepresented groups in gifted programs.
Around 15 years ago, schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, which is one of the largest school districts in the country, with over 165,000 students in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., began to overhaul their approach to education. They realized that their gifted programs were not diverse enough, despite using criteria beyond just intelligence tests to identify gifted students. Carol Horn, a gifted coordinator at Fairfax schools, explained that they knew there were gifted students from all cultural backgrounds and economic levels, but their current practices were not effectively identifying them.
To address this, one principal suggested starting the screening process early, even as early as kindergarten. They selected 30 students from kindergarten to third grade and secured funding from the district for a three-week summer school program. These students spent their time studying wetlands and culminated the program with a field trip to a nearby county park. This program was a tremendous success and news of its results quickly spread amongst principals. As a result, the following year, Young Scholars programs were implemented in 16 different schools. It has since expanded to 81 elementary schools and three middle schools out of the district’s total of 139 elementary schools and 26 middle schools.
Implementing this model, which now includes special programming throughout the academic year, requires collaboration between classroom teachers and gifted resources teachers, as well as support and leadership from principals. Horn explained that the curriculum becomes the identifier of talent. Some students may not have the verbal or math skills to excel in traditional tests, but by engaging in conversations with them and giving them problem-solving activities, their exceptional thinking abilities become apparent.
While being part of the Young Scholars program does not equate to being labeled as gifted and talented, it helps identify students who may have been overlooked otherwise. Over half of the students in this program come from low-income backgrounds and many are English language learners. Additionally, out of the approximately 5,000 Young Scholars now in junior and senior high, 95 percent are enrolled in honors, Advanced Placement (AP), or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, or are receiving full-time gifted instruction in specialized Level 4 centers for highly gifted children.
For the younger students, Horn estimates that about half of them are eligible for Level 2 services, which provide differentiated instruction by their classroom teacher in subjects where they excel. The remaining half of elementary-level Young Scholars are divided between Level 4 centers, which cater to students in third to eighth grade, and Level 3 programs, which offer part-time services by a gifted resource teacher from third to sixth grade.
One parent, Rose Masuku, shared her daughter Namambo’s positive experience in the Young Scholars program. Namambo, a fifth-grader, now receives Level 3 services in math and English and enjoys the project-based learning assigned by her gifted instructor. Masuku is pleased that her daughter is challenged academically, as Namambo learns quickly and tends to get bored easily. Namambo’s friend, who lives nearby, is also in the program, and they often discuss school activities together.
For older students, there are honors classes available to seventh and eighth-graders, and all high school students can access honors, AP, and IB classes. They also have the opportunity to dual enroll in local colleges or apply to attend the renowned Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, which was ranked number 3 in the country by U.S. News this year.
It is important to note that Fairfax County is an exception compared to other school districts nationwide. Although the schools have diversity, with approximately 40 percent white, 25 percent Hispanic, 20 percent Asian, and 10 percent black students, they tend to come from affluent families. The average household income in Fairfax County is well over $100,000, and over two-thirds of households had incomes above $75,000 in 2013, according to the Census Bureau.
Despite its achievements and national recognition, the programs in Fairfax County may face challenges due to an anticipated budget shortfall of $50 to $75 million for the next school year, as reported by The Washington Post.
"Given the numerous advantages that students derive from our provided services," she expressed. "I consistently hold optimism for their continual availability."
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