Abstract
The United States is becoming more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. According to United States Census Bureau (2012) projections, the Hispanic population will more than double from 53.3 million today to 128.8 million in 2060 or 33% of the U.S. population; the Black population from 41.2 to 61.8 million or 14.7% of the U.S. population; and the Asian population from 15.9 to 34.4 million or 8.2% of the U.S. population. The U.S. is projected to become a majority–minority nation for the first time in 2043.
While the Pre-K-16 school population will parallel the U.S. population in becoming more diverse, their educational attainment will continue to be quite uneven unless policymakers and educators address the needs of gifted and advanced students and performances at the highest levels (i.e., excellence gaps; Plucker, Hardesty, & Burroughs, 2013). In a previous report, Plucker et al. (2013) found that while White students’ scores at the advanced level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Grade 4 mathematics test increased by 6.1 percentage points from 1996 to 2011, the percentages of increase for Black and Hispanic students were only 1.0% and 1.7%, respectively. The same was true for Grade 8 mathematics where White students’ increase was 5.9 percentage points, and Black and Hispanic students were 1.4 and 1.9 percentage points, respectively. While percentages of increase across the same time period were comparable for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics for the NAEP reading tests, excellence gaps were noted for both the NAEP Grades 4 and 8 reading tests. At the fourth grade, 10.9% of White students’ scored at the advanced level with only 2.7% of Hispanics and 2.3% of Blacks performing similarly; at the eighth grade, 7.8% of White students’ scored at the advanced level with only 1.0% of Hispanics and 0.7% of Blacks performing at the highest level.
Excellence gaps are even greater when comparing students from different economic backgrounds. For example, students’ Grade 4 mathematics scores at the advanced levels increased 1.8 percentage points for students using free/reduced-price lunch whereas they increased 11.4 percentage points for other, more advantaged students. Unfortunately, these academic disparities continue after high school. Low-income students tend to graduate from high school on time but are less likely to attend “selective colleges than their more advantaged peers (21% vs. 14%), less likely to graduate from college (49% vs. 77%), and less likely to receive a graduate degree (29% vs. 47%)” (Olszewski-Kubilius & Clarenbach, 2012, p. 7).
The authors of these earlier reports offer some suggestions for closing these gaps in this Gifted Child Today issue. In their article, Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Jane Clarenbach delineate program factors that might close the opportunity gap—the underrepresentation of gifted minority students in both gifted education and rigorous courses. These factors include identification practices, educator beliefs, psychosocial characteristics, challenging curriculum, and program options. Bryn Harris and her colleague, Jonathan Plucker, also describe ways that excellence gaps can be addressed by including other school staff such as mental health professionals in solving the problem. These support staff can evaluate and interpret data, provide mental health services, collaborate with other school professionals, discuss gifted children in Response to Intervention meetings, create family and community partnerships, provide professional development, and advocate for gifted and advanced students.
In our next issue, the focus will be entirely on diverse populations. As guest editors, Jaime Castellano, Mary Ruth Coleman, Joy Davis, and Donna Ford have assembled a wealth of information and interventions related to recruiting and retaining Black males in gifted education, designing multicultural differentiated curriculum, counseling gifted Black males, racial bullying, and developing gifted potential in Spanish-speaking English language learners.
Along with the other fine articles on building supportive classroom environments and parental roles in this issue, we hope you will enjoy our emphasis on diversity in this and upcoming issues of Gifted Child Today.