Milwaukee Makes a Difference: Recognizing Gifted Students from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families

Abstract

Gifted education today faces a significant challenge in reaching equity as well as excellence. This is reflected in the disproportionate underrepresentation of children from Black, Hispanic, Native, and low-income families. This pattern of underrepresentation within programs for students with gifts and talents is pervasive and pernicious and impacts gifted education programming across all 50 states in the United States of America. This article describes the efforts of Milwaukee Public Schools, a large urban school district in Wisconsin, to address the need for both equity and excellence within their gifted education programming. The U~STRARS~PLUS model formed the foundation for changing the culture of the schools from “at risk” to “at potential”. Dedicated leadership and the combination of securing external support, developing internal trust, and building capacity across the district were critical to creating a strength-based focus within the schools. While the journey is not over, the authors hope that others can learn from Milwaukee’s experiences.

Available and Desirable Resources for Gifted Children in Israel’s Rural and Central Regions: Parent and Educator’ Perspectives

“…Although the literature on rural education emphasizes the dual challenges faced by gifted students who are both academically advanced and geographically remote or isolated, studies focusing on urban schools and areas shed light on the challenges associated with underrepresented or impoverished groups within the gifted student population (Gentry et al, 2022;Kaplan & Mora-Flores, 2020;O'Brien, 2021;Ricciardi et al, 2020;Worley & Hines, 2023). Another development studied is the partnerships among organizations and urban and central schools to create innovative programs for gifted students (Boyle & Carpenter, 2023).…”

Interdisciplinary approach to the study of giftedness

“…• mismatch between the learners' perception of their potential for creativity, imagination and innovation, their appreciation of creative personality, with the perception of teachers -specialists in "gifted education"; related under-representation of gifted children in groups with improved learning conditions [37][38][39][40]; • differences between gifted underachievers and other gifted learners in terms of perfectionism and ability to overcome difficulties (41); • specification of giftedness against retaining the basic models [42];…”