Access to gifted and talented education (referral, identification, and classes) and advanced classes has been challenging for two student groups of color--Black and Hispanic students. More than 10 years of data from the Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection and numerous reports reveal that discrimination is in operation and gravely…

Gifted girls of color represent a potentially untapped resource for increasing and sustaining a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Girls of color possess unique mathematics and science gifts and talents that can remain unrealized if not addressed before middle school. Culturally responsive STEM…

Lack of access to gifted education is prevalent, yet preventable for Black and Hispanic students. Years of data from the Office for Civil Rights and national reports reveal that deficit thinking, prejudice, and discrimination must be at work, thus compromising the educational experiences of gifted students of color. In this article, the authors…

This chapter examines underrepresentation among African American and Hispanic students in gifted education using the perfect storm analogy, arguing that social inequality, elitism, and colorblindness are three forces that contribute to the poor presence of these groups in gifted education. Underrepresentation trends are presented, along with…

Black and Hispanic students are consistently underrepresented in gifted education. Several factors contribute to their low identification and lack of access to such programs and services. While teacher underreferral is a significant contributing factor, problematic also is testing and assessment, which is often administered by school…

Black and Hispanic students are undeniably underidentified as gifted and underrepresented in gifted education. The underrepresentation of the two largest groups of "minority" students is long-standing, dating several decades, and is a serious area of contention. Most debates focus on the efficacy of traditional intelligence tests with…

This article expands the notion of culturally responsive learning environments by including Purkey and Novak's (1996) work on invitational learning. Their typology of four types of schools is described and applied to gifted education classrooms, along with associated characteristics of each. Specific attention is focused on implications for…

Gifted education consistently comes under scrutiny and criticism regarding the persistent and pervasive underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students in gifted education. Their underrepresentation is one of the most significant problems facing schools, along with the achievement gap and special education overrepresentation. It cannot be…

This article examines the underrepresentation of African American and Hispanic students in gifted education, proposing that social inequality, deficit thinking, and microaggressions contribute to the inequitable segregated programs. Underrepresentation trends are presented, along with methods for calculating underrepresentation and inequity.…

Gifted education has faced numerous criticisms regarding the extensive and persistent underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students. In the April 2013 issue of "Gifted Child Today," this author wrote about prejudice and discrimination in gifted education, and argued that in the past and now, discrimination exists in gifted education…

This article addresses an ongoing problem in gifted education: How severe is under-representation among Black and Hispanic students in gifted education nationally and in school districts and buildings? The degree of severity that is accepted, tolerated, or rejected depends on whether one adopts an equality or equity philosophy and associated…

In this article, the author summarizes a relatively recent report that has taken the road less traveled by focusing on the achievement gap among high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds (Wyner, Bridgeland, & DiIulio, 2007). Although the report does not focus on minority students directly or exclusively, these students nonetheless…

As the "land of opportunity" and arguably the greatest country in the world, the United States continues to change--culturally, racially, and linguistically. Reports abound regarding the changing demographics of the country and its schools. Over a 2-decade span (1989-2009), the percentage of "minority" students in public…

For almost two decades, the author has devoted her professional life to the field of gifted education, as have others. More than any time in her career, she finds herself reflecting even more so on the persistent or stubborn problem of underrepresentation among Black and Hispanic students in gifted education. Is this more frequent self-reflection…

The field of gifted education has faced criticism about the underrepresentation of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) in its programs. This article proposes that efforts targeting both recruitment and retention barriers are essential to remedying this disparity.…