Strategies for Identifying the Talents of Diverse Students

The number of programs for gifted students is increasing nationwide, largely the result of Federal grants from the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act of 1988. Students of color and those who are poor and limited in their English proficiency continue to be severely under represented in these programs, however. The reason is not that they are less talented than their middle-class white classmates; rather, their different experiences, values, and beliefs have prevented them from fully demonstrating their abilities through commonly used assessment instruments, and in traditional gifted education programs.

To assess the abilities of all students more accurately, educators are now using criteria for giftedness that give equal attention to academic and non-academic abilities. Identification strategies, consisting of both traditional and non-traditional methods, often include a review of student behaviors as well as standardized test scores (Frasier, 1992; Clasen, 1993). To better develop the talents of all students, teachers are being prepared to recognize diversity in giftedness. To ensure that children receive early enrichment in school if their family cannot provide it, many educators are also beginning the gifted identification process at the preschool level. Finally, to redress the past inequities in student selection for gifted programs, school districts are beginning to reach out to diverse communities to increase the access of all students to such programs.

Thus, the goal of education for the gifted has become inclusivity, not exclusivity (Frasier, 1992), although the debate over the value of gifted programs, particularly as they are thought to perpetuate student tracking practices, continues.

Defining Intelligence and Talent

Traditionally, a student's intelligence was considered in very narrow terms, defined by only those abilities measured by an IQ test. Now, educators are more likely to use the term "talent" instead of "intelligence," and to describe it as an indication of future achievement and a potential to be nurtured and developed, not a demonstrated, immutable ability. Emphasis is shifting from what a child knows to how a child learns (Hiatt, 1991; Clasen, 1993). There is a recognition that a great diversity exists among the gifted and their expression of talent, and, particularly, that different cultures express themselves differently. The result is that evidence of giftedness may be overlooked by evaluators unfamiliar with a child's native culture (Frasier, 1992).

Using Gardner's (1983) concept of multiple intelligences, many indicators of talent can be found in all children, regardless of ethnicity or poverty status. In fact, gifted people may manifest their abilities through just a single talent, such as music or mathematics. Also, evidence of giftedness, particularly in children of diverse cultures, is often non-traditional. Indicators of superior intelligence include the following (Griffin, 1992; Clasen, 1993; Coleman & Gallagher, 1995):