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.

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Jerold, an African American boy, is a rambunctious, imaginative, and intelligent first grader who asks a lot of questions and always has an elaborate explanation full of abstract, layered details to share during science class. He is a critical thinker who is being screened for gifted education services. Jerold's almost all White classmates are captivated by his questions-questions they had not considered. He works well with his classmates and enjoys science experiments, but gets frustrated when his teacher (Ms. Flower) does not understand what he thinks is happening scientifically. When Ms. Flower, a White female teacher, invites students to the science area of the classroom, Jerold is the first one to arrive with his mind racing, hand raised, and ready to participate. For 2 weeks, these first graders have been investigating plant growth and development using bulbs. As part of their experiment, students were told that they would force bulbs into bloom. Ms. Flower also told them that part of being a scientist is observing and documenting the changes that take place over time using "scientific language." To carry out this experiment, she instructed Jerold and his classmates to pick up the following materials from the science center: one clear cup for planting, a few marbles, stones or pebbles, a small bottle of water, and a bulb. Assigned to science cooperative learning groups, Jerold and his partner Lilly gathered their materials and returned to their desks. Eager to get started, Jerold filled the cup with marbles, Lilly placed the bulb on top with the root side down, and then Jerold poured in the water until it is just barely covered the bottom of the bulb. Together, they held both sides of the cup containing their bulb and walked over to place it on the sunny window ledge of their classroom. Fast-forward 2 weeks. Ms. Flowers walks around to talk with groups of children about their observations and documented changes to their bulbs. She arrives at the window ledge where Jerold and Lilly placed their bulb and invites them to join her to discuss their observations. With surprised looks on their faces, both children are amazed by the growth of their bulb. Before Ms. Flower can ask a question, Jerold, with his usual contemplative look, interjects a question: "Did you put magic in there or something?" Too often, Black children, especially Black boys, quickly lose interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) when their ideas are not seriously taken up by teachers because their sense making may be unfamiliar to teachers. This lack of familiarity can serve to downplay and minimize the reasoning and sense making (e.g., experiences, knowledge, beliefs) resources that Black boys use as they engage in STEM learning. When this happens, Black boys disengage, and may resort to misbehaving, which contributes to not being referred to or screened for gifted education; but it can result in suspensions, as well as underachievement and achievement gaps. For these reasons, it is important to take a closer look at earl...