this article focuses on the underrepresentation of african american males in gifted and talented programs, and offers a number of key recommendations to practitioners and researchers who seek viable strategies to circumvent this problem. Beyond the focus on underrepresentation, several additional topics for discussion are excogitated to provide a clear perspective on the challenges these students experience in school; namely, (a) definitions of giftedness, (b) identity development, (c) student Millennial culture, and (d) how gifted african american Millennial males in school contexts are treated. additionally, data collected from a recent study of a large Midwestern school district will be presented to further highlight the topics under investigation. National efforts focused on enhancing American schooling have led to numerous initiatives, movements, and policies aimed at addressing questions related to improving the who, what, when, where, and how of educational attainment. Despite these efforts, one group in Definition, Identification, Identity, and Culture 177 particular continues to fall beyond the veil of benefits accrued by those who have been the beneficiaries of this enhanced focus on educational achievement.
As the Guest Editors for this special issue of Gifted Child Today, Academically Gifted Black Males: An Intersectional Focus on Achievement Across the P-12 Spectrum, we are excited about the focus of this issue on the engagements of academically gifted African American males in P-12 education contexts. The extant literature that has underscored the experiences of this cohort is quite clear on the challenges as well as the opportunities these students face in school settings (
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