Parallel Session Proceedings »
3.2.12 Identifying Gifted English Language Learners
English language students who are advanced and gifted learners are some our most at risk students. These students have been and continue to be underrepresented in gifted and talented programs nationally. English Language Learners come with unique academic, intellectual, cultural, social and emotional needs. Inadequate assessments, identification procedures, lack of teacher referral, and rigid definitions of giftedness have all contributed as barriers to gifted identification of these students (Ford, Grantham & Whiting, 2008). This session will discuss current research on culturally and linguistically diverse gifted learners and empower participants with knowledge of bilingually gifted characteristics, identification strategies and professional development training for both parents and teachers. Participants will learn how a body of evidence is the key to early and accurate identification of students who are talented and gifted from diverse sub populations. They will learn how to use various assessments to identify students from diverse populations and service delivery for these students with a variety of practical research and strategies to take back to their schools and districts to increase the identification of gifted English Language Learners within their system.