Culturally Diverse Gifted
A culture's history, societal values, customs, and traditions influence the way the culture defines, recognizes, and provides for gifted individuals. Often Native American, African American, and Hispanic American students are not identified as gifted because their demeanors, behaviors, and talents may not be recognized in the American culture. If these students are identified as gifted, the programming options often do not correlate with the culture's values and customs.
General ResourcesUnderstanding Prejudice Website
The “Understanding Prejudice” website is a wonderful resource for any educator. The site features a special section for teachers to learn about presenting sensitive information to their students. "Improving Test Performance Among Culturally Diverse Gifted Students" This article, written by Deborah Harmon, informs readers about the challenges that children who are gifted and culturally diverse face when it comes to standardized testing. "Expanding Appropriate Assessment and Differentiated Instruction for Culturally Diverse Gifted Students" This project, from the Frances A. Karnes Center for Gifted Studies, was funded by the U.S. Department of Education and focuses on different cultural groups and how their behaviors may lead to incorrect labeling or misunderstanding by teachers. Underachievement Among Gifted Minority Students This article defines the term "underachiever" and lists factors that may contribute to a gifted child's underachievement. The article also lists suggestions for interventions and ideas for how to help these unique learners. African Americans who are GiftedNational Black Parents Association
This website gives parents information about important topics in education. There is a specific page that deals with issues concerning gifted students. 'Acting Black' Hinders Gifted Black Student Achievement This article, published by Vanderbilt Peabody College, discusses the issue of the teasing and bullying that some black gifted students face. Native American Indians who are GiftedJournal of American Indian Education
The Journal of American Indian Education website stores a vast wealth of information concerning American Indian education. Full text articles are available from 1961 to 2002, free of charge with no log-in required. Many articles from 1991 are on the topic of gifted education. Evaluating Children's Literature about Native American Indians This website includes a checklist and questions to ask when choosing children's literature about the topic of Native American Indians. Oyate Oyate, meaning “the people”, is a Native American Indian advocacy group that reviews children’s literature for accuracies and stereotypes about American Indians. The website offers checklists and articles about how to choose appropriate books about Native American Indians and gives tips for educators about topics and elements they should avoid. Identifying and Teaching Gifted Native American Students This article, written Tamara Fischer (2008) gives suggestions for alternatives for identification of Native American Indian gifted students. |
Hispanic Americans who are GiftedIdentification of Hispanic, Bilingual, Gifted Students
This article, featured on page 23 of this digital magazine, discusses how hispanic, bilingual students can be successfully identified for gifted programs and interventions for teachers. For more information about Hispanic American who are gifted and also English Language Learners, please see the page dedicated to "Linguistically Diverse" gifted populations.  Strategies for Gifted Students who are Culturally Diverse
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