Special Considerations in Gifted Identification: Increasing Access and Equitable Practices for Underrepresented Populations in an Urban School District

<p>Low-socio economic and/or minority students are substantially unidentified for gifted education programs. The disparities in gifted education for underrepresented students persist despite the growth in schools across the country of low income and minority students. Despite efforts to tackle equity issues in gifted education the large gaps of disproportionality persist. Explanations for this occurrence of underrepresentation is linked to the general processes for identifying gifted students, which are based largely on norm referenced standardized tests, with a single score criterion and a referral process that relies heavily on teacher and parent nominations. These identification processes tend to overlook the cultural needs and differences of students from underrepresented groups. Special consideration process as a tool to bridge the access and opportunity gap for underrepresented students in being identified as gifted is examined in this study. This hypothesis is studied using the experiences of a large urban school district following the introduction of a systematic special considerations process pilot in four schools with high representation of underrepresented populations. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral's

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

Eastern Kentucky University

Year

2021

Author dc:creator

• Stewart, Veda

• Disability and Equity in Education
• Education Policy
• Gifted Education
• Inequality and Stratification

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2021 Veda Stewart

Repository record dc:identifier

https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/766

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1764