Chapter One An Introduction to the Topic of Cultural Diversity - NAGC

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their academic studies, parental confusion about their children’s needs for complex content, issues related to acceptance and separation from their friends and community peers because of grouping, limited economic resources, and differences in social class (Reis et al., 1995; Slocumb & Payne, 2000, p. 223). If educators are aware of the home/school cultural disparity students may experience, they can strive to make changes in the ways they respond and provide opportunities for students to work in culturally relevant environments. In these environments, educators recognize and nurture the diverse manifestations of CLED students’ gifts and talents. Identification Practices Many educators strive to meet CLED students’ educational needs and create appropriate programming options. Programs for the gifted and talented, however, rarely have representative numbers of CLED students in relation to their presence in the total school population. National surveys indicate that only 10% of students performing at the highest levels are CLED students even though they represent 33% of the school population (Gallagher, 2002). Few doubts exist regarding the reasons that economically disadvantaged, culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse student groups are underrepresented in gifted programs. Frasier and Passow (1994) found that many current identification and selection procedures are ineffective and inappropriate for the identification of these young people, and that limited referrals and nominations of CLED students affect their eventual placement in programs. The largest majority of young people participating in gifted and talented programs in the U. S. continue to represent the dominant culture. Educators may hold a more traditional view of giftedness because a 8
correlation exists between identification of gifts and talents in students and high scores on achievement or IQ tests (Frasier & Passow, 1994). That form of giftedness, called schoolhouse giftedness by Renzulli and Reis (1997), is characterized by good grades, high scores on standardized tests, and model classroom behavior. Those CLED students who are identified as gifted and talented generally represent a fraction of the prospective talent or emerging gifts and talents of the large pool of CLED students in our schools. A change in identification practices must encourage the examination of giftedness in cultural and environmental contexts and provide a basis for recognizing talents without excuses for differences in learning styles and expressions (Frasier et al., 1995). Within each cultural group, cultural characteristics may mask gifted behavioral characteristics. Maker and Schiever (1989) suggest, for example, that Hispanic gifted students who may have potential talents as leaders may also have to accept responsibility at home for taking care of younger children. Standardized Assessments Researchers in gifted education have debated for decades the question of how to define giftedness, and a single, unified definition does not and should not exist (Renzulli & Reis, 1997; Sternberg & Davidson, 1990). Research reports often reflect a psychometric construct of intelligence; a discrete, unitary construct measured by a paper and pencil test (Patton, 1997). Psychometric methods may identify students as gifted who may be good test takers, high-academic achievers, and/or members of a dominant culture group and these methods may not be effective in identifying talent potential in CLED students (Frasier & Passow, 1994). These descriptors may fail to connect assessment to 9
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Chapter One An Introduction to the Topic of Cultural Diversity - NAGC

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