Originally Posted on Ramblings of a Gifted Teacher
When you look at your gifted class lists, have you ever wondered why you had very few minority students?
This week I came across an email that had a link to an article about minorities in gifted programs that are under-represented. I believe that minorities in gifted programs are under-represented, but I also know that minorities add a great deal of diversity to class.
To begin, I feel that every student should have the opportunity to self-advocate for their education, minority or not. If a student feels that he or she could benefit being in a gifted program they should have the opportunity to test in.
The test that schools use should be chosen based on your student body. I teach in an urban school district. We use the CogAt, NNAT2, OLSAT, and the Gates. We chose those based on the fact that urban students’ minority or not score better on those tests. If you feel that the tests that your school district uses is not fair to minorities then I would challenge you to stand up for your students and advocate for better testing.
I would also look at your districts definition of gifted. Is it broad or narrow? If it is too narrow most likely you will have less minorities. If you feel that it is too narrow, then I would encourage you to discuss with your district ways they can broaden it to give all students a chance to identified and serviced.
According to Dr. Jim Delisle’s book When Gifted Kids Don’t Have All the Answers there are many ways to support minority students in your gifted program. Here are a few ways to support minority gifted students:
- Communicate clear high expectations
- Be sensitive to the experiences, beliefs, and cultures of all students
- Encourage students often the importance of college
- Help students to connect with role models and mentors to help them with the challenges and stresses of both school and home
- Reach out to parents and family members for support, but to also communicate your expectations to them
- Provide many different learning opportunities for students in and outside of class
- Listen to students fears, concerns, and their experiences about their education
What are you doing to help minorities to be more prevalent in your gifted program? Are you seeking out the recommendations of teachers, parents, and administrators who may know about minorities that would qualify for gifted services but may have been overlooked? If not, hope you do. If you are keep it up.