Black and Gifted in Rural America: Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Gifted and Talented Education Programs

Abstract

Nationwide, Black students are underrepresented in gifted and talented education and advanced learner programs. These tragic outcomes occur in all demographic communities: urban, suburban, and rural. As a result, the academic and psychosocial supports needed by gifted Black students are overlooked, disregarded, and underdeveloped. Rural communities are frequently depicted as remote, lacking in social and academic experiences and opportunities, and predominantly White and economically disadvantaged. For gifted and talented Black students, these characterizations contribute to feelings of isolation and alienation in school on a daily basis. Despite their high intellectual potential, they are constantly victimized by racially oppressive conditions in society that cause stress and anxiety. The Black rural community, including Black gifted and talented students, is almost invisible in scholarship that discusses rural education in the United States. This article explores the nature of the rural communities where these students reside; shares intellectual, academic, and cultural characteristics that make Black gifted students from rural communities unique; and delineates recommendations for research, curriculum, and specific programming to meet their intellectual, academic, cultural, and psychosocial needs with an emphasis on access, equity, and excellence.

“Developing Capabilities”. Inclusive Extracurricular Enrichment Programs to Improve the Well-Being of Gifted Adolescents

“…Poor family, school, and community environments may contribute to this phenomenon (Blaas, 2014;Plucker and Peters, 2018). Other problems experienced by gifted students may also lower their achievement, including maladaptive perfectionism (Yustikasari et al, 2020), social isolation (Vialle et al, 2007), stress (Suldo et al, 2009), depression, anxiety (Cross and Cross, 2015), loss of confidence (Siegle et al, 2020), twofold exceptionality (Reis and McCoach, 2002;McCoach et al, 2020), being a minority (Ford et al, 2018;Davis et al, 2020), and bullying (Bergold et al, 2019), among others.…”

Χαρισματικότητα Και Πολιτισμική Ετερότητα

“…Για παράδειγμα, κάποιος που είναι άριστος αλλά μιλάει μόνο ρωσικά είναι πιο πιθανό να είναι επίσης άριστος μετά από την εκμάθηση της Αγγλικής γλώσσας, σε σχέση με κάποιον άλλον που αποδίδει μέτρια στην αγγλική γλώσσα αλλά καλύτερα από τον Ρώσο ομιλητή, απλά και μόνο γιατί τα αγγλικά είναι η μητρική του γλώσσα (Sternberg, 2007). (Baldwin & Vialle, 1999. Davis, Ford, Moore III & Floyd, 2020.…”

Gifted Rural Learners: Exploring Power, Place, and Privilege with a Focus on Promising Practices

“…Miller and Brigandi's case study corroborate this, "the teachers in this study were neither conceptually nor pedagogically positioned, at this point in their practice, to create culturally relevant narratives in their curricula that either took advantage of the place's potential positive possibilities or challenged existing inequities" (Miller & Brigandi, 2020, p. 112). To address this need, Davis et al (2020) suggest targeted professional learning experiences that address three principal areas: "(a) understanding the gifted traits, intellectual strengths, and unique psychosocial needs of diverse gifted and talented students; (b) knowing and being able to implement culturally responsive curriculum and instruction in their gifted classes and specialized programs; and (c) understanding the cultural norms and traditions of culturally diverse families and communities" (p. 93).…”

“…Further, the researchers acknowledged that their participants' "disparate ideals of success for their gifted students in the future alternated between materialistic ethics and wanting their students to live well in their rural community" (2020, p. 99) and that their "narratives acknowledged place-based ideals of success, such as local employment, family, and a general enjoyment of life, but these ideals were secondary to dominant conceptions of success, including education, acquisition, outmigration, and career status" (2020, p. 26) pointing to a potential push/pull conflict on the part of the students, as well as potential training for the teachers to recognize this conflict. Lewis and Boswell (2020) indicate that the need for training for both coordinators and teachers is substantial for their study participants; Davis et al (2020) concur, highlighting the need for teachers of color, as well as the need to train all teachers in cultural competency. "Culturally responsive education affirms the value of individual and cultural differences through the act of reducing or, better yet, eliminating prejudices, biases, microaggressions, and stereotypes based on sociocultural demographic variables" (Davis et al, 2020, p. 93).…”