Teacher Professional Development Proposal

Increasing the Identification of Gifted Students from

Underrepresented Populations

Jeanette LukensMarch, 2013

Learning Objectives

• Participants will understand the core attributes of giftedness as they are expressed in different cultural and environmental contexts

• Participants will increase their recognition of cognitive, physical, and affective characteristics of diverse gifted students

• Participants will understand their role in the screening and identification process

Agenda

• Gifted Eligibility Criteria• Sample County Gifted Identification Data• Target School Demographics• Concept of Giftedness• Characteristics of Diverse Gifted Students• Specific Domains for Diverse Gifted Students• Student Vignettes• Current Plan B Process and Adaptations• Participant Role in Identification

• The underrepresentation of minority children in classes for the gifted has been and continues to be one of the most important problems facing educators of gifted students.

• As of 1993, the U.S. Department of Education reported that Black, Hispanic, and Native American students were underrepresented by 50-70% in gifted education programs. (Naglieri& Ford, 2003)

• Despite recent efforts to address this problem, the underrepresentation of minority students in gifted programs has been persistent and, for some groups, has increased.

(Ford, 1998 as cited in Naglieri & Ford, 2003)

Gifted Eligibility• Plan A

Education for learners who are gifted has been included within Florida’s Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Programs since 1968. The first state mandate for gifted education was State Board Rule 6A-6.3019, FAC, which became effective July 1, 1977. This State Board Rule defined the gifted student as “one who has superior intellectual development and is capable of high performance” further defining the criteria for eligibility to include an intelligence quotient of two standard deviations or more above the mean on an individually administered standardized test of intelligence, a majority of characteristics of gifted children according to a standard scale or checklist, and a need for a special program (Special Programs, 1977).

• Plan B:In 1991, as a result of the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, the State of Florida revised their gifted rule to include specific criteria for traditionally underrepresented students. Section B of Board Rule 6A-6.03019(2)(b)1., FAC, provided greater flexibility in identifying students who are members of an underrepresented group, including limited English proficient (LEP) students and students from low socioeconomic status (SES) families, as measured by the student’s eligibility for the government-subsidized free and reduced lunch program. This section, which became known as Plan B, provided school districts with guidelines to develop a plan for increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in programs for gifted students.

Sample County Gifted Identification Data

• Gifted and District Student Membership by Racial/Ethnic Category

• See next slide

• Limited English Proficient (LEP) Student Participation in Gifted Programs

• Insert graph

• Free/Reduced Lunch Student Participation in Gifted Programs

• Insert graph

Data generated from Skyward on 3/8/2013

Black White Hispanic Multiracial Asian/Pacific Islander Total

2012-13 District Popula-tion

0.14 0.5 0.2 0.0400000000000001

0.0400000000000001

NaN

2012-13 Gifted Popula-tion

0.0400000000000001

0.660000000000001

0.1 0.0400000000000001

0.11 0.0600000000000001

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

95%

2012 Elementary School and Gifted Student Membership by Racial/Ethnic Category

Perc

enta

ge o

f Pop

ulati

on

Target School Demographics

• Specific demographics per targeted school • Insert graph

Concept of Giftedness

• Concept of giftedness as a psychological construct

– Core traits, aptitudes and behaviors • handout, see next slide

– Classroom behaviors of Gifted Students• handout, see next slide

Characteristics of Diverse Gifted Students

• Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Students– Definition– Gifted Characteristics (handout, see next slide)

• Low SES Students– Definition– Gifted Characteristics (handout, see next slide)

• Venn Diagram: overlapping characteristics of– Traditional Gifted Students– Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students– Low SES Gifted Students

Traditional Gifted Students

Culturally & Linguistically

Diverse Gifted Students

Low SES Gifted

Students

Specific Domains to Consider for Diverse Gifted Students

Specific Domains to Consider for Diverse Gifted Students, cont.

Specific Domains to Consider for Diverse Gifted Students, cont.

Specific Domains to Consider for Diverse Gifted Students, cont.

Student Vignettes

• Vignettes of target student population

• Opportunity for participants to identify gifted characteristics

Current Plan B Process and Adaptations

• Current Plan B identification process

• Specific adaptations for targeted schools

Participant Role in Identification of Diverse Gifted Students

• Specific roles in identification– Based on audience: • Teacher• Guidance Counselor• Staffing Resource Specialist• School Psychologist

ReferencesCastellano, J. (2006). Bilingual education issues: Haitian and haitian-american students

in gifted education. In B. Wallace & G. Eriksson (Eds.), Diversity in gifted education (9-20). New York, NY: Routledge.

Clark, B. (2013). Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at school and at home (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children (1990). Giftedness and the gifted: What’s it all about, what does giftedness mean. ERIC EC Digest #E476. Retrieved from: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=121

Frasier, M. M., et. al. (1995). Core attributes of giftedness: A foundation for recognizing the gifted potential of minority and economically disadvantaged students. Storrs, CT: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.

Nielen, E. (1994). Characteristics of twice-exceptional children. University of New Mexico.