Lathop 1

Gifted Education and cultural diversity St. Bonaventure University DIFF 506 Dr. Fisher Tonya Lathrop

Lathop 2 Introduction Since the 1900s the Unites States have recognized the value of gifted education and began to research and implement programs that supported gifted students. In 1901 Worcester, Massachusetts opened the first special school for gifted children; since then researchers and psychologist have conducted widely published research studies about gifted education. In the late 1950s the United States put accelerated classes on a pedestal after the launching of Sputnik. After the race to the moon died down, gifted education slowly was put on the back burner. In 1993, researchers began to report and recognize that the US Federal Government was failing to identify and serve gifted students throughout the nation (NAGC 2008). Culturally Biased Gifted Standardized Assessments One of the largest issues with gifted education is the fact that the federal government does not adequately fund gifted programs and the identification process is very capricious. Most tests used to identify gifted students are both demographically and sociologically biased and do not validly represent minority populations. In a case study evaluated in 1993 researchers from Arizona State University concluded that the standards assessments used to identify gifted students did not justifiably identify gifted Native American and Navajo student populations (Knutson et al.). These standardized timed tests were designed around the contemporary Anglo-American populations and did not reflect upon the traditional Native American Values and conflicted with their own cultural deposition. In order for a student to be labeled as gifted, one had to score above the 97th percentile. The Native American and Navajo student population were not

Lathop 3 given the equal opportunity to test their IQ and prove to be gifted Americans. These standardized tests were culturally unfair, Many counselors and educators can surmise disadvantaged, gifted students are a great source of intellectual talent in America and these talents were not being nurtured to ensure all equal opportunities for the youthful population (Knutson 1993). Identifying gifted students from minority populations In 2002, The National Academy of Sciences documented that though there have been some changes in intelligence testing to make them more culturally responsive. American Indian, Native American, African Americans, and Hispanic students are less than half as likely to be identified and placed in gifted programs as white students (Callahan 2005). Researchers have concluded that the reasons for this gap are due to the fact that these minority groups lack opportunities for talent development, they are given a one time only paper-pencil inauthentic assessment to assess/prove their intelligence, and IQ testing data on minority groups were not being gathered over time and assessed. Conclusion In conclusion, many studies have erupted since the 1900s in the field of gifted education. The sad truth is that many of these studies point to the same conclusion that intelligence testing available to identify gifted students are culturally biased and do no fairly classify gifted individuals. Students that are gifted should also be evaluated in their own specific gifted areas and be evaluated using both authentic and inauthentic assessments (not by their intellectual ability number made up from a one time pen and paper assessment).

Lathop 4 Final Thoughts When reading these two articles I couldnt help but to compare the argument about unfair assessments to what is going on in todays educational world. Standardized testing is being forced upon students and teachers to raise the bar of education. I believe that standardized tests are a good tool for data driven instruction but should be taken like a spoonful of salt, only in small increments. I think that the education system needs to incorporate more inauthentic assessments to truly see the entire picture of what a student is learning rather than a short snapshot (authentic tests). Assessments should also be culturally responsive and truly hold validity to the test subjects taking the assessment. Every time I think about unfair testing ( IQ testing, standardized state tests, regents exams ect.) I always think of he cartoon illustrated below. You would not make a goldfish climb a tree to assess their knowledge so why would you give cultural students all the same tests?

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/meyer769/myblog/2011/11/are-standardized-tests-really-effective.html

Lathop 5 Work cited:

Callahan, C. M. (2005). Identifying gifted students from underrepresented populations. Gifted Education, 44(2), 98-104. Knutson, K. A., & McCarrthy-Tucker, S. N. (1993). Gifted education for native americal students: A Sate of Affairs. American Educational Research Association, National Association for gifted children (NAGC). (2008). Retrieved from http://www.nagc.org/.