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This year, 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of Brown versus Board of Education (1954). Despite this amount of time since Black students were legally allowed to attend schools with White students, the goal(s) of this landmark court case have not been achieved. Schools are not desegregated in many states and districts. Even more segregated is gifted and talented education (GATE) in which Black students are underrepresented about approximately 55% (Office for Civil Rights' Civil Rights Data, 2023) ; denied access exists more for this group more than any other. In this brief article, we juxtapose GATE with the tenets of Brown, and provide recommendations and resources for families and educators from various disciplines. We urge educators to turn from equality to equity in order to truly advocate for their Black students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a half century, concerns have existed about the persistent underrepresentation of African American students in gifted education and advanced Placement classes. Various recommendations to reverse underrepresentation have been proposed, with the majority focusing on testing and assessment instruments. Nonetheless, progress has been inadequate as underrepresentation persists at high levels nationally, especially among Black males. Clearly, we must continue to find more effective tests and instruments, but we cannot stop there. In this article, we propose that, in the process of focusing on more effective ways to recruit and retain African American students, greater attention must be given to social and psychological factors, namely peer pressures and racial identity. Equally important, we must consider gender--the differential experiences of Black males and females. The discussion of these issues is followed by recommendations for change for educators. (Contains 1 table and 1 footnote.)

Cultural dynamics in school may contribute to disaffiliation and inhibited academic performance among diverse student populations (Marx, 2008). We queried 16 special education students in a low-income, ethnically diverse English Language Learner-cluster middle school about their perceptions of the cultural dynamics at their school and the occurrence of culturally responsive practices. Although most students reported the occurrence of some culturally responsive practices, students overwhelmingly responded that their race and culture were not acknowledged by teachers. Students also indicated that their teachers rarely, if ever, gave information or taught about other cultures or races. The majority of students also believed that animosity and violence among racial groups were a problem at school. Implications of the study are discussed and suggestions are given for future research and practice. (Contains 2 tables.)

Each year, the U.S. Department of Education publishes its comprehensive report "The Condition of Education." As the author perused this year's edition, she was reminded of an important reality, one that all education professionals must be mindful of: America and its schools are more racially and culturally different than ever before. The term "culturally different" is used instead of "culturally diverse" because every individual and group has a culture. An unfortunate reality is that those students having the least amount school success are often culturally different from the dominant or mainstream group, which necessitates that educators recognize, affirm, and respond to the differences and associated needs. In this article, the author presents a summary of America's ever-changing schools, and offers suggestions for educators in their efforts to increase the educational success and experiences of culturally different students. An important feature of such success is more culturally different students being screened, identified, and placed in gifted education. These suggestions offered are grounded in the need for educators to create culturally responsive classrooms. (Contains 1 figure.)

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 because she is getting "old" with the age of 50 knocking at her door? Is it because, in rereading some of her work of almost two decades, she sees the same problems and issues of underrepresentation being discussed ad nauseum with too little progress being evident? Or, is it because she knows that they can do better at decreasing underrepresentation but are fearful that the moral will seems to be missing in action? In this article, the author shares her view on some of the key problems or barriers to increasing the representation of African American and Hispanic students in gifted education, and offers suggestions for moving forward to meaningful change and progress. She grounds this article in the fundamental belief that underrepresentation negatively affects the lives and future of Black and Hispanic students, as well as the school district, the community, the state, and the nation. (Contains 1 figure.)

Racial identity attitudes, a construct proposed as a measure of the world view of Blacks (Cross & Vandiver, 2001), and academic performance of a group of Black females attending a high-poverty, failing high school with a 42% graduation rate were examined. These young women were either pregnant or parenting and attended a parenting support group at their school. Findings revealed that racial identity attitude scores generally were low for participants. In addition, two subscale scores were significantly related to school absence and academic performance. Significant relationships were also found among subscale scores. Findings are discussed in relation to future research and practice in the areas of racial identity attitudes and pregnancy prevention and parenting support programs for at-risk Black female youth. (Contains 3 tables.)

This Bill of Rights for Gifted Students of Color was envisioned with the singular goal of effecting change based on equity and cultural responsiveness. The eight sections focus on fundamental issues representing removing barriers. Gifted students of color must have their gifts and talents recognized, affirmed, and developed as districts endeavor to recruit and retain them in gifted education.

Similar to W.E.B. Du Bois, we believe that access to educational opportunities is a fundamental right that should be provided to all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin. Too often, however, the educational experiences for Black students are significantly uneven in comparison to other demographic groups. These students commonly do not have access to advanced curricula, courses, programs, facilities, and teachers--important factors regarded as the hallmark for receiving a quality pre-K-12 education. To this end, the authors critically investigated the under-representation of Black students in gifted and talented programs in the United States. Using data from the 2015-16 Office for Civil Rights, Civil Rights Data Collection, the authors discovered, again, negative gifted and talented trends among Black students, suggesting that racial discrimination and bias may significantly contribute to their low participation in such advanced academic programs. We link the findings to the court decisions of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas and McFadden v. Board of Education for Illinois School District U-46. Recommendations for dismantling the under-representation or low representation of Black students in gifted and talented are offered.

Using a two-phase content analysis approach, this study examined how education scholars have discussed the intersection of giftedness, race, and poverty in gifted academic journals from 2000 to 2015. Specifically, the authors explored the following questions: (a) What are the characteristics of studies published that explore the intersection of giftedness, poverty, and students of color? (b) How do scholars discuss and theorize about how to recruit and retain gifted students of color who come from families living in poverty? (c) In what ways do scholars discuss the intersection of race and poverty for gifted students of color? Findings indicated that while studies were focused on students of color, there was limited discussion about the impact of race and poverty on the recruitment and retention of gifted students of color who come from families living in poverty. Implications and future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to explore the differential effects of access to gifted education on the mathematics and science achievement of fourth-grade Black girls. This study utilized mean difference effect sizes to examine the magnitude of differences between groups. By convention, White girls were included as a comparison group. Girls receiving gifted instruction and girls not receiving gifted instruction were the populations of interest (N = 13,868). The mathematics results suggest that Black girls participating in gifted education statistically significantly outperform Black girls in the comparison group. The mean difference effect sizes for within-group differences were almost twice as large for Black girls compared with White girls. The science results indicate that Black girls receiving gifted instruction outperformed Black girls in the comparison group. White girls, regardless of access to gifted instruction, statistically significantly outperformed Black girls in science. These results inform the recommendations provided.

In this article, the author contends that, in many ways, our classrooms are like our homes. How much time, energy, and thought do educators devote to making the classroom (or school) environment welcoming for the students (their guests)? Expanding upon this analogy, the author equates preparing a meal for guests at her home with preparing the lesson plans or curriculum at school. In both our homes and our schools, thought should be given to the safety and comfort of guests. The environment should be clean, and the host (teacher) should be prepared, organized, and pleased to have company. In both settings, consideration should be given to seating arrangements designed to maximize comfort and productive conversation, and the likes and dislikes of your guests should be taken into account. As schools and communities become increasingly diverse, the need to create welcoming learning environments is even more critical. Students who bring cultural differences to classrooms want to be respected, appreciated, affirmed, and validated. According to the author, these students want a classroom where: (1) diversity is recognized and honored; (2) cultural mismatches are minimal among students and teachers; (3) teachers take the time to get to know students for the unique individuals they are; (4) formal and informal assessments are fair and equitable; (5) materials are culturally relevant and meaningful; (6) lessons plans and activities are infused with multicultural content; and (7) teachers display cultural sensitivity and competence.

Educators need to be more aware of and sensitive to the implications of diversity for themselves and their students. The student population is becoming more diverse at a faster rate than the teacher population. Teachers must understand other cultures in terms of concept of self, concept of time, personal vs. social responsibility, locus of control, and communication styles. Educators must find additional ways to increase the recruitment and retention of diverse students in gifted education programs.

While Robinson argues that we are sacrificing the needs of gifted students--"we are punishing the innocent for the sins of a society that has been unable to conquer these problems" (p. 251)--I propose a different argument: We are punishing diverse students, also innocent victims, for the sins of a society and an educational system that have not adequately addressed historical and contemporary social injustices. Minority students who are gifted and have the potential to achieve at higher levels are being denied opportunities to participate in gifted education for numerous reasons. This position is followed by examples of such ills and recommendations that support and build upon those provided by Robinson to solve or resolve problems associated with the unnecessary competition between excellence and equity and between gifted education and diversity. I think that the different positions held by Robinson and myself both point to one central question: "How can schools provide all young people with certain basics that are necessary to their common citizenship and, at the same time, give them the diverse opportunities and treatment that their differential abilities require?" (Gardner, 1984, p. 89).

Early recognition and formal identification of gifted children are important in helping them learn during their primary years and preventing disengagement and negative attitudes toward school. This is especially the case for children from low-income, racially, linguistically, and culturally different backgrounds. In this article, we suggest some equity-based changes to ensure that all children have access to the rigorous academic environments they need and deserve.

As early as preschool, Black boys face low and negative expectations that contribute to excessive subjective-based discipline, over-referrals by teachers to special education, and under-referrals by teachers to gifted education. An increasing body of research demonstrates that the predominantly White female teaching force is complicit in allowing deficit thinking to compromise their views of Black boys' languages, literacies, strengths, and cultural ways of being. We present an overview of these issues, with most attention devoted to gifted education, as it is a neglected topic when it comes to Black boys. We also share a formula for educators to adopt that sets minimum representation percentages in order to be equitable in gifted education for Black students in general and Black boys in particular. Keywords: Black boys, culturally responsive educators, discipline, equity, gifted education, racism, special education, Xavier Jackson is a Black preschooler who lives with his mother and grandmother in a low-income community. Both caregivers know the importance of education; he is required to read almost [...]