Barriers to Underserved Students’ Participation in Gifted Programs and Possible Solutions
Journal for the Education of the Gifted
June 2016, Vol. 39, No. 2, Pages 103–131
doi:10.1177/0162353216640930
Del Siegle, E. Jean Gubbins, Patricia O’Rourke, Susan Dulong Langley, Rachel U. Mun, Sarah R. Luria, Catherine A. Little, D. Betsy McCoach, and Tawnya Knupp
University of Connecticut, Storrs,
Carolyn M. Callahan
University of Virginia, Charlottesville
Jonathan A. Plucker
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
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Abstract
Gifted students’ learning gains result from complex, advanced, and meaningful content provided by a knowledgeable teacher through high-quality curriculum and instruction at an appropriate pace with scaffolding and feedback. These elements exert influence that increases with dosage and within structures that facilitate student engagement in rigorous experiences, including interactions with one another. Talent development is a two-part process. First, educators and parents must provide opportunities for talent to surface, and then they must recognize the talent and provide educational opportunities that engage the emerging talent and move it to exceptional levels. Unfortunately, a variety of barriers exist that limit underserved students’ participation in this process. We discuss these barriers within a proposed model of talent development. |