![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
For more than 30 years, underrepresentation of certain racial, cultural, and income groups in gifted and talented programs has been documented as a serious problem. Not only does this issue make gifted programs appear as if they are designed solely for upper class, dominant-culture individuals, but it also means that talented students from diverse backgrounds are not having their needs met. This study sought to determine the utility of applying group-specific norms to achievement tests in identifying more proportional numbers of gifted and talented students from low-income families. In addition, this study applied the use of a teacher-rating scale to locate even more underserved students with high potential. Results indicated that both practices helped identify more underserved students than did using traditional general norm-group comparisons. Implications for identification policy and practice are shared.
Keywords gifted, achievement, identification, measurement, underrepresentation
References
Section:
|
Anastasi, A., Urbina, S. (1997). Psychological testing (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Google Scholar | |
|
Barton, P. E., Coley, R. J. (2009). Measuring the achievement elephant. Educational Leadership, 66(4), 30-34. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
Castellano, J. A., Frazier, A. D. (2010). Special populations in gifted education. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Donovan, M. S., Cross, C. T. (2002). Minority students in special and gifted education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Gagné, F. (1994). Are teachers really poor talent detectors? Comments on Pegnato and Birch’s (1959) study of the effectiveness and efficacy of various identification techniques. Gifted Child Quarterly, 38, 124-126. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
High, M. H., Udall, A. J. (1983). Teacher ratings of students in relation to ethnicity of student and school ethnic balance. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 6, 154-166. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Hodge, R. D., Cudmore, L. (1986). The use of teacher-judgment measures in the identification of gifted pupils. Teaching and Teacher Education, 2, 181-196. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Illinois State Board of Education . (2009). Illinois Standards Achievement Test Technical Manual. Retrieved from www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/iaa/IAA_Tech_Manual_09.pdf Google Scholar | |
|
Illinois State Board of Education . (2010). Scale Score Ranges that Define Student Performance Levels on the 2010 ISAT Scales. Retrieved from www.isbe.net/assessment/pdfs/cut_points_10.pdf Google Scholar | |
|
Lohman, D. F. (2005). An aptitude perspective on talent: Implications for identification of academically gifted minority students. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 28, 333-360. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Lohman, D. F. (2006). Identifying academically talented minority students (Research Monograph No. RM05216). Storrs: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut. Google Scholar | |
|
Lohman, D. F., Hagen, E. P. (2001). Cognitive Abilities Test–Form 6. Itasca, IL: Riverside Publishing. Google Scholar | |
|
Lohman, D. F., Renzulli, J. (2007). A simple procedure for combining ability test scores, achievement test scores, and teacher ratings to identify academically talented children. Unpublished manuscript. Google Scholar | |
|
Matthews, M. S. (2007). Assessing the impact of a proposed rule change on the identification of gifted English language learners. Gifted Children: An Electronic Journal of the AERA SIG—Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent, 2(1), 12-13. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/vol2/iss1/5 Google Scholar | |
|
Matthews, M. S., Kirsch, L. (2011). Evaluating gifted identification practice: Aptitude testing and linguistically diverse learners. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 27, 155-180. doi:10.1080/15377903.2011.56528110.1080/15377903.2011.565281 Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Miller, L. S. (2004). Promoting sustained growth in the representation of African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans among top students in the United States at all levels of the education system (Research Monograph No. RM04190). Storrs: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, University of Connecticut. Google Scholar | |
|
National Association for Gifted Children . (2009). State of the states in gifted education. Washington, DC: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
National Center for Educational Statistics . (n.d.). Number and percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, by state: 2000–01, 2005-06, 2006–07, and 2007–08. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_042.asp Google Scholar | |
|
Pegnato, C. W., Birch, J. W. (1959). Locating gifted children in junior high schools: Comparison of methods. Exceptional Children, 25, 300-304. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Peters, S. J., Gentry, M. (2010). Multi-group construct validity evidence of the HOPE Scale: Instrumentation to identify low-income elementary students for gifted programs. Gifted Child Quarterly, 54, 298-313. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Peterson, J. S. (1999). Gifted—through whose cultural lens? An application of the postpositivistic mode of inquiry. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 22, 354-383. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Peterson, J. S., Margolin, L. (1997). Naming gifted children: An examination of unintended reproduction. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 21, 82-100. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Pfeiffer, S. I., Jarosewich, T. (2003). Gifted Rating Scales. San Antonio, TX: Pearson. Google Scholar | |
|
Plucker, J. A., Burroughs, N., Song, R. (2010). Mind the (other) gap!: The growing excellence gap in K-12 education. Bloomington, IN: Center for Evaluation and Education Policy. Google Scholar | |
|
Reis, S. M., McCoach, D. B. (2000). The underachievement of gifted students: What do we know and where do we go? Gifted Child Quarterly, 44, 152-170. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Renzulli, J. S., Smith, L. H., White, A. J., Callahan, C. M., Hartman, R. K., Westberg, K. (2002). Scales for rating the behavioral characteristics of superior students. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Rollins, K., Mursky, C., Shah-Coltrane, S. V., Johnsen, S. K. (2009). RtI models for gifted students. Gifted Child Today, 32(3), 21-30. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Ryser, G. R., McConnell, K. (2004). Scales for identifying gifted students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Stambaugh, T. (2007). Next steps: An impetus for future directions in research, policy, and practice for low-income promising learners. In VanTassel-Baska, J., Stambaugh, T. (Eds.), Overlooked gems: A national perspective on low-income promising learners (pp. 83-88). Washington, DC: National Association for Gifted Children. Google Scholar | |
|
Swanson, J. D. (2006). Breaking through assumptions about low-income, minority gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 50, 11-25. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
United States Department of Education . (1993). National excellence: A case for developing America’s Talent. Washington, DC: Author. Google Scholar | |
|
Valencia, R. R., Suzuki, L. A. (2001). Intelligence testing and minority students. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Google Scholar | |
|
VanTassel-Baska, J. L. (2008). Epilogue: What do we know about identifying and assessing the learning of gifted students? In VanTassel-Baska, J. L. (Ed.), Alternative assessment with gifted and talented student (pp. 309-319). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Viadero, D. (2006, November 8). Scholars test out new yardstick of school poverty. Education Week, 26(11), 1, 15. Google Scholar | |
|
Wyner, J. S., Bridgeland, J. M., Diiulio, J. J. (2009). The achievement trap (Rev. ed.). Washington DC: The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Google Scholar | |
|
Yoon, S., Gentry, M. (2009). Racial and ethnic representation in gifted programs: Current status of and implications for gifted Asian American students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53, 121-136. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI |
