Underrepresented Learners and Excellence Gaps
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| Martin, A. (2018). Mind the Gap. [image] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/railway-platform-mind-gap-1758208/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2018]. Creative Commons CC0 |
Katherine Sprengelmeyer (middle school teacher)
Excellence Gaps and Why They Matter
It has been found over the years, according to Hardesty, McWilliams & Plucker (2014), that there are achievement gaps amongst our top gifted and talented learners. These gaps or differences with the advanced are referred to as excellence gaps. The gaps have been increasing over the years between white and non-white gifted learners. A greater percentage of white learners are found to be more advanced academically, while non-white gifted students often fall below the gap.
The excellence gap is occurring due to several factors. The gifted students at the bottom of the gap are considered underrepresented learners. These are students that sometimes come from lower income families and communities with little access to support. Many of the underrepresented learners come from families that did not have the opportunity to go to college or graduate from high school. They are often Black and Hispanic minorities. With a lack of resources and support, it makes it hard for these underrepresented learners to get the education they need to be successful. The schools some attend do not have as many resources or opportunities and tend to focus on minimum requirements, rather than meeting the needs of gifted learners.
These gaps need to be acknowledged for our future. We need smart, competent leaders that can make good decisions for our communities, states, and country. Many of these leaders come from our gifted and talented learners. According to Wikipedia (2018), the demographics in the United States are changing with minorities having the greatest population growth. We need our underrepresented learners getting the education and opportunities they need to be successful. We will need them as our future leaders. This is why we should all be aware of the excellence gap and learn what we can do to close the gap.
Closing the Gap through TAG Identification Processes
In order to close the excellence gap and cultivate smart, competent leaders, as educators, we need to examine the way we identify gifted minority students in K-12 schools. Our gifted programs, in which minority populations are often underrepresented, may widen the excellence gap and deprive some of our most capable students of an appropriate education. Psychologist David F. Lohman (2005) makes a distinction between high-potential students and high accomplishment students when identifying gifted students. High accomplishment students are those who have achieved significantly in a particular domain and are the students that might immediately come to mind when placing students in TAG programs. For many minority students, however, placement by high potential is critical. Students with high potential possess the ability for high achievement but may not have yet demonstrated that ability because of factors such as age or circumstance. These students need programming opportunities to cultivate their talents and meet their immediate academic needs. Lohman also criticizes the common practice of comparing all students to their norm peers on standardized tests. Such a comparison assumes that all students share the same circumstances and educational exposure. In selecting students for gifted programming, comparing students to other students with similar exposure and circumstances is critical (Lohman, 2005). According to the David Kent Cooke Foundation (2018), by the time students reach 5th grade, only 56% of high achievers identified in first grade remain high achievers. Perhaps, through careful selection processes, we can lessen the number of students who fall off the gifted trajectory. (For more statistics and easy-to-read summaries of the excellence gap, follow the link to the David Kent Cooke Foundation.)
Elementary School Applications (Marcy)
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| Prawny (2018). World Diversity. [image] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/people-kids-children-group-2129933/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2018]. Creative Commons CC0 |
So how can I use this information in my own teaching with first graders? I need to look at all my students as unique individuals and find the way they learn best. I’ve learned through my reading that it is so important to give support to both students at school as well as their parents at home. Many parents do not know how to help their child and do not have books or other items to help their child learn at home. It is our job as educators to help them be more prepared by giving them useful information and tools to use. In my own classroom I have sent home math tools, such as number charts and flash cards to help my students practice their math facts at home. I often send home sight words and books as well that can be read with their parents. These are some examples of what I can do to support our underrepresented learners.
Middle School Applications (Katherine)
So . . . how do excellence gaps apply to my life as an 8th grade English teacher at a small parochial school in Iowa where our diversity numbers hover around 20%? Aren’t parochial schools homogeneous? Aren’t all the students affluent? Well . . .NO!!! Although we may have smaller percentages of minority students than neighboring public schools, we have an increasing number of minority students and students from varied economic backgrounds. Like many schools, our demographic is changing, and we are trying to adapt. Unfortunately, like many schools across the country, we incorrectly use standardized test scores to sort students into TAG programs. This practice obviously needs further review if we want to provide a fair, just, and welcoming educational environment for all students. I, however, also have a role as a classroom teacher.
Like Marcy sending home materials with her gifted students, I also regularly provide
differentiated activities in my classroom for gifted learners through enrichment reading groups, compacted curriculum, and tiered assignments. What I find exciting, though, is viewing students through the lens of high-potential. What I need to add to my classroom is programming for these students. High potential students are often the kids on the cusp of having the skills to work with the high accomplishment group but, through various circumstances, fall short of keeping pace with such a group. These students, though, could clearly benefit from differentiated work and peer collaboration that would help them bridge the gap.
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| Altmann, G. (2018). New Skills Traffic Sign. [image] Available at: https://pixabay.com/en/traffic-sign-directory-skills-can-809006/ [Accessed 21 Jul. 2018]. Creative Commons CC0 |
References
Demography of the United States. (2018, July 15). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved from July 17, 2018, from
Hardesty, J., McWilliams, J., & Plucker, J. A. (2014). Excellence gaps: What they are, why they are bad, and how smart contexts can address them … or make them worse. High Ability Studies, 25(1), 71-80. doi:10.1080/13598139.2014.907646
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. (2018). What is the Excellence Gap? Retrieved July 18, 18, from https://www.jkcf.org/our-research/what-is-the-excellence-gap/
Lohman, D. F. (2005). An Aptitude Perspective on Talent: Implications for Identification of Academically Gifted Minority Students. Journal For The Education Of The Gifted, 28(3), 333-360
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