2.8.5 Recognizing and Serving Diversity in Rural Gifted Populations

Giftedness exists in all aspects of our population (Erwin & Worrell, 2012; Ford, Harris, Tyson & Trotman, 2001; Stambaugh & Wood, 2015). Under-representation is a challenge with the field of gifted education and appears in wide and varied demographic areas and regions (“Identifying gifted children from diverse populations”, 2017). The literature suggests that gifted students in poverty and minority groups who demonstrate comparable levels of achievement and aptitude as their peers are 250% less likely to be identified for and in, gifted and talented programs (“NAGC Micro-Credentials,” 2018). A three-year federally funded project explored the barriers to and supports in identifying and serving traditionally under-represented students in rural areas of a Western state in the United States of America. The project articulated four goals: 1) Increase rural gifted and talented programming, program plans and capacity of leadership, 2) Increase identified under-represented rural gifted and talented students to 7%, 3) Demonstrate improvement in rural teachers’ instructional practices’ and 4) Increase student performance using selected instructional methods. Research examined an overarching question of: What factors influenced the identification of traditionally marginalized students for gifted and talented programming in rural contexts? Secondary analyses included: What local assumptions and beliefs act as barriers to the appropriate identification of every gifted learner, how does a leader’s cultural proficiency influence the identification of gifted learners and how do school/district/BOCES leaders implement the state gifted and talented identification process? Initial interviews with site participants identified persistent problems of practice ranging from lack of consistency in identification, to lack of understanding, to cultural barriers. Project activities for teachers included Depth and Complexity thinking and instruction training through face-to-face workshops and coaching, cultural competency training and training in the four identification pathways utilized by the state. Project site leaders participated in on-site and virtual leadership workshops, selected a Theory of Action for an improvement basis and identified a persistent problem of practice. SMART goals were developed to guide action and included culturally responsive leadership content. The results of this mixed-method study indicated that recognition of the problem of under-representation and intensive and systemic interventions produce positive results including increased programming, increased identification of under-represented rural gifted and talented students, improvement in rural teachers’ instructional practices and increased student performance. Information was distributed and constituents informed through networking sessions and a state wide seminar. Project activities, lessons learned, recommendations for the field and suggestions for further study will be shared.

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