What TIME is it? Part I

“Nowhere is the crossroad of race and privilege more striking than in education” 

– G.P. Collins, 2014

“The day starts in a middle school. The bell rings. Students scatter from homeroom to get to first period before the tardy bell. Some missed homeroom and are just leaving the office checking in. The hall from a distance looks like a rainbow of all shades of brown, black and white.  Students gather into groups as they walk, some going in one direction, others into classrooms in the opposite direction. As they gather into groups you begin to see students of the same ‘shade’ together and all of the ‘white’ students clustering together. Approaching the small cluster of white students are one or two black students kind of ‘bringing up the rear’ of the group. As students settle into classrooms, the shades of black and brown students are seated in large groups as many as 27-30 per class.. this course is General Math 8 /Algebra I. Many in the group are new to the school, others went here last year. Of those in the class, 5 or 6 are already preparing for a boring lesson repeating the same skills they learned two years ago. Some are attentive nonetheless, others go to sleep, some socialize, some daydream and wonder what am I here for?

Down the hall,  the cluster of white and two black students settle in. This is the higher level math class. The teacher is assigned to teach Algebra II, Problem Based Learning with Math, and some PreCalc if the time allows (the class is called Gifted Math II). The students are on task, some socializing but they appear to be ready to engage. Did I tell you that it’s a very small group..only 9 students in the class. They come and go each day believing themselves to be the only ones ready for this course so they dig in and start their studies. They feel special, unique, set apart. The two black students wonder why they are the only ones ‘like us’ in this small group and think about some of their friends who they know to be just as bright, some even smarter..but somehow, didn’t make the ‘cut’.

So I ask you - what TIME is it? Could be 1960 or 1970 when the country’s schools were in the throes of responding to the 1954 desegregation ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. White and black students are in school together, large class size is the rule of the day, limited resources are the norm. Few states responded immediately to Brown, and those the few who did, still had some of their school districts struggling with desegregating schools.

But to make a long story short.. because I know some of you know where I’m going to with this. It’s not 1960 or 1970, not even 1990, it could easily be  2012, 2013 or even 2014. This middle school could be anywhere in the country. Not just the Mid Atlantic (Maryland or Virginia) or Deep South (South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississsippi), but could just as well be in a district in the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts), Midwest (Illinois, Wisconsin), or Southwest (Texas, Arizona, California). The school could actually be anywhere in our great ‘fair democracy’. It could be in your community, actually may be the school your child attends.

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Each day students of color are relegated to some of the nation’s worst schools. They suffer, we suffer. In particular, each day bright students of color, those from limited economic backgrounds are relegated to classrooms with limited resources, schools that don’t offer high level coursework, teachers who are less qualified, administrators who are watching the clock to retirement. Each day that these students spend in these segregated, poorly funded environments is a day lost that can NEVER be REGAINED. A day of high level instruction, intellectual stimulation, creative engagement, opportunities to work with practicing professionals that these student lose simply because of the color of their skin or the holes in the parent’s pockets. These conditions in the 21^st century are UNETHICAL, IMMORAL, AND ABSOLUTELY ABOMINABLE!! Our students deserve better.

Of course, there are some schools that have allowed more students of color to enter, more students of color to be enrolled in gifted and advanced learner programs. There are some who have said ‘WE HAVE A PROBLEM, AND WE NEED TO ADDRESS IT’. In these more progressive environments student still suffer. Entrance into an academically advanced, culturally discriminatory environment is close to ‘cultural death’ for some of these students. They find themselves having to give up who they are internally and become someone else to fit the mold and the expectation of the teachers who rule the classrooms. And in most cases, there are so few within the school or classroom who share similar cultural backgrounds, ethnic legacies, that students feel lost, out of place, as if they don’t belong. Without culturally responsive teachers, support for their affective needs, mentors and role models- some will not survive the ‘high end’ environment.

In the past month, seemingly endless streams of articles, blog posting, videos have emerged speaking to these inequities and to this national embarrassment. I encourage everyone reading this- whether you are a parent, community leader, student, scholar, faith leader, policymaker, or concerned citizen to PLEASE DO SOMETHING WHERE YOU ARE TO CHANGE THESE CONDITIONS!!

All of our students deserve the best TEACHERS, the best ACCESS to opportunities, a fair chance to demonstrate THEIR ABILITY TO BE SUCCESSFUL in Gifted and Advanced learner programs, and a brighter future.

Do your part to put an end to DISCRIMINATORY IDENTIFICATION PRACTICES, BIASED TESTING, SELECTIVE COURSE ENROLLMENTS, INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM, SEGREGATED GIFTED CLASSROOMS WITHIN racially mixed schools in your communities!!

Together, we can do this!!!

MUST READ/SEE resources:

High school student builds ap for black students attending predominately white high schools

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhTJ89yT59w6N261ub

From PBS’s Rundown page- overview of recent Federal Report on Education Disparities

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/five-things-know-todays-report-unequal-education/#.UzY6m37ccno.facebook

2010 article from the Village Voice about a segregated ‘school-within-a-school’ model

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-02-23/news/inside-a-divided-nyc-public-school/6/

Next week for part II: one state’s efforts to bring equity to programming for their student population, and other programming initiated by compassionate educators & parents to change conditions for children in their own communities. 

Access and Advocacy are Keys to Change!!

It’s been a busy winter, weather challenges and traveling have kept me away from this page for a while now. I’ve also taken some time to rest a bit, but still paying close attention to issues and concerns related to educating children of color. 

Most recently, a scathing report about the conditions in our schools for Black students in particular has raised the eyebrows of many across the nation. This report, released by the U.S. Department of Education cites numerous inequities that persist in schools that are creating egregious inequities. (An overview of the report was published in the New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/school-data-finds-pattern-of-inequality-along-racial-lines.html?smid=fb-share )

These inequities are a major reason why so many bright and talented students are unable to succeed and are not reaching their highest potential. 

In reference to access and opportunities for high ability students of color, the report cites:

1.   Algebra II is not offered in 25% of schools  with the highest percentage of black and Latino students.  1/3 of these schools did not offer chemistry.

2.   Less than half of American Indian and Native-Alaskan high school students had access to the full range of math and science courses, which consists of Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics.

3.   Black and Latino students accounted for 40 percent of enrollment at schools with gifted programs, but only represented 26 percent of students in gifted programs.

This is the 21^st century, and over one half of our nation’s students attend schools each day where resources are limited, teachers are ill-trained, and access to the coursework and programming they need DOES NOT EXIST.

Until we have full access to equitable high end learning opportunities in this nation, our students will continue to suffer discrimination that is unjust, unfair, and simply abominable!!

I know that it seems sometimes that this ‘access and equity song’ is getting old and those of us who argue and advocate feverishly to change conditions should be pleased with the progress we’ve seen and be patient. This report is SCREAMING to us that the progress that has been made is not enough and thus, our being patient with slow change is insufficient.

Patience will not help the mathematically gifted student attending a high school where Algebra II is not available at all, being patient will not help the budding inventor and scientist who has NO access to professional scientists or competitive science programs, or teachers who have an interest or understanding of the full scope of services available that will nurture and develop innovation and ingenuity. Patience will not help the verbally gifted student without a mentor who can expose them to career options for their giftedness or the artist with no opportunities to visit museums, be in contact with professional artists on a daily basis. Patience with these egregious conditions will NOT change conditions!!

As Americans we should all be alarmed and upset with this report!! Upset enough to join forces with others to ADVOCATE AND FIGHT to improve conditions in EVERY SCHOOL ATTENDED BY CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS IN EVERY COMMUNITY IN AMERICA!!

The data is clear, the numbers don’t lie!! Without access and opportunity, infinite numbers of young people with intellectual genius, talents, dreams, ideas, will power and motivation will never reach their highest potential!!

Each person reading this can do SOMETHING!! If you are a parent, make sure you know the full range of coursework and programming offered in your child’s school; organize meetings with other parents and educators who are concerned and develop a plan of action to address inequities NOW! If you are a community leader, bring these reports to the attention of your churches, community organizations, arrange meetings to discuss and develop a plan of action in collaboration with families and city/county officials. Everyone can do SOMETHING!!

The challenge of change always appears impossible! That is, until we look back in history and are reminded of happened when a few committed people determined that the status quo was no longer good enough!! The data revealed in these reports is NOT GOOD ENOUGH!! We can and MUST do better!! Our children deserve so much more and are counting on us to make a difference!!  I encourage you to read the report, share it with others, and search deeply to determine what you can do! When you are called upon to join others, attend meetings, provide feedback, please don’t hesitate to act.

If you have been a part of a ‘change process’ that has effectively created better conditions in your community schools, please share your ideas here or email me at profjoy1022@gmail.com. I’d love to share positive, effective ideas to encourage others!!  

PLEASE JOIN ME AND OTHER ADVOCATES FOR EQUITY & ACCESS IN THIS FIGHT!  We won’t quit until conditions improve and access to high end learning opportunities, highly qualified teachers and advanced learning opportunities are available to ALL CHILDREN, REGARDLESS OF THEIR ETHNICITY, CULTURE, INCOME OR THEIR COMMUNITY!! 

TWO Books (2) MAKING a DIFFERENCE for Culturally Diverse Gifted Students!!!

Last month I promised that I would feature programs and people who are MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the lives of culturally diverse students. There are many. Scholars, Parents/Family Members, Policymakers, Teachers, Community Leaders who work hard everyday trying to open new doors for gifted children for whom access has been limited. 

We recognize ALL of these people and APPLAUD your work. There are so many books and programs that are available and are beginning to improve access & equity for diverse gifted learners. In the coming weeks, I will seek out stories of special programs to share via this blog. Your recommendations are appreciated!! 

This blog features two books that are truly MAKING A DIFFERENCE for diverse gifted students. 

#1- Retaining & Recruiting Culturally Different Students in Gifted Education  by Dr. Donna Y. Ford. This phenomenal book has recently been recognized by the nation's premier Civil Rights organization - the NAACP as it has been nominated for a prestigious 2014 NAACP IMAGE AWARD in the Literary Arts/Instructional category. This nomination is remarkable in that it places Dr. Ford's work in a Literary category that seldom recognizes the scholarly work of educational researchers. What is critical about Dr. Ford's nomination is that because of her work, a much wider audience of families, educators, philanthropists, policy makers, governmental officials, and civil right advocates will recognize (some for the first time) the critical problem of UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF BLACK & BROWN GIFTED CHILDREN IN GIFTED EDUCATION AND ADVANCED LEARNER PROGRAMS NATIONWIDE!!

See the link below to locate this book on Amazon.  

http://www.amazon.com/Recruiting-Retaining-Culturally-Different-Education/dp/1618210491

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#2- Young, Triumphant & Black: Overcoming the Tyranny of Segregated Minds in Desegregated Schools by Drs. Tarek Grantham, Michelle Frazier Trotman Scott, and Deborah Harmon. This trio of scholars has devoted their careers to examining the challenges of being young, gifted & black across a wide variety of publications, scholarly positions, and leadership roles. This unique book explores the experiences of African American students enrolled in predominately white schools where they are oftentimes looked upon as being 'less than' or 'not worthy' of being in gifted and advanced classrooms. While many know of these stories, very seldom do we hear the experiences from the 'voices' of the students. The book's chapters tell tragic, yet triumphant stories from the perspectives of the students and adults who work with them and their families. Highly recommended reading for educators, families, scholars, and policymakers. This book is clearly MAKING A DIFFERENCE for culturally diverse learners!! See the link below to locate this book on Amazon. 

http://www.amazon.com/Young-Triumphant-Black-Overcoming-Desegregated/dp/1618210297

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I encourage readers to share titles and descriptions of other books that you believe are also MAKING A DIFFERENCE for culturally diverse students by noting them below in a comment!! Your feedback and support of this blogspot is always appreciated!! Dr. Joy Lawson Davis 

~MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR UNDER-SERVED GIFTED CHILDREN~

Fifty two posts ago, in April of 2012- this blogspot was born. The idea and title for the site came to me one night while I was pondering, no worrying - about the state of gifted education in this nation and mostly about about what little progress had been made in the WAR on INEQUITIES in gifted education. I was so upset one night, when I kept seeing so much about gifted education and saw little or no representation of gifted children of color in the materials. So, in a 'fit' of disgust and anger- I shouted aloud- 'WE ARE GIFTED, TOO!!' ..thus, this site was born. Since then, this site has had over 26,000 pageviews. The great interest in these children and the issues that concern them is evidence that there are many people around the world who want to do more to MAKE A DIFFERENCE for under-served gifted children. 

It was in 1982 or so that I first learned of this discipline, this distinct field. I fell in love.  I realized that I had found a place (in gifted education) that I could really dig into and contribute to so that I could help MAKE A DIFFERENCE particularly for a group of students whose needs were seldom attended to in regular educational settings - gifted children from culturally diverse groups including those from low income, rural & urban communities. These students were bright, creative, and very intuitive. At the time, I was working in a small rural school district in Virginia. The community was isolated, yet, there in that place I came to love and dedicate myself to MAKING A DIFFERENCE to address inequities in the lives of very bright children who were under-challenged and under-served every day! Even with limited exposure to a wider cultural arena that existed in urban and suburban communities, these children were extremely smart, they were funny, compassionate, many were excellent artists, had remarkable leadership skills, had persistence, and caught on easily to complex concepts. The schools, while limited in resources, were staffed with educators who were committed to their work, cared about the children, and did very well with very little to MAKE A DIFFERENCE and nurture the best in the students, doing what they could to help them reach their highest potential.

For the past thirty plus years, I have worked with educators, scholars, researchers and families in urban areas, suburban communities and rural communities across the nation. My commitment to MAKING A DIFFERENCE is greater now than ever! What has changed in my quest to do this work is that I've learned that I'm not in this alone. Over the years, I have met hundreds of people who are deeply dedicated to addressing the inequities in gifted education, deeply passionate about sharing their own resources and gifts, deeply committed to working hard at almost any cost to ensure that the gifts and talents of ALL children and youth are challenged and that they are given their fair and equitable share of resources in schools and programs across the nation!!

This work is not the work of a few, but the work of many. This is also not for the 'faint of heart'...sometimes we have to fight and draw attention to the needs of the under-served gifted child in ways that others may be offended by. But, being courageous does not mean that we are always going to be liked by everyone. This is a battle! 

There is so much to be done, at any given time, there are thousands of culturally diverse gifted children in classrooms with ill-trained teachers who see little if any potential in them. These same children may possess the potential that can change the life outcomes for themselves and their families, communities through discoveries in the sciences, creations in the arts, or systemic theories across many disciplines. There is so much work to be done. We need everyone's hands and hearts in this together.

My networking across the nation has been very powerful and effective. I have been  fortunate enough to have met many people who are doing great work for children and MAKING A DIFFERENCE everyday. So, I have decided that I will dedicate  the first six blogs of 2014 to profiling  individuals and programs that are MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR UNDER-SERVED GIFTED CHILDREN. 

Some of these individuals whose work has great impact are NOT educators...they are from many different fields. Most recently, through a connection with a good friend and literary agent (Patrick Oliver), I came in contact with a multi-talented artist who began her career as a gifted child actress/vocalist. This young woman has had the ingenuity to continuously re-invent herself so that now she is not only performing to entertain but is now sharing her gifts to motivate and inspire other young people. I was so excited to make her acquaintance and to talk with her. I asked if she'd like to share some of her work and rationale for MAKING A DIFFERENCE and she generously agreed to do so. She shares in this brief testimony below and her website just how passionate she is about MAKING A DIFFERENCE by sharing her gifts to help others. She has lived the life of a child prodigy in one of the toughest fields of all- the entertainment industry and  survived!! 

Please read and share Rhona Bennett's story below, go to her website, and share her story with others. Many thanks to you Rhona for MAKING A DIFFERENCE!:

"Well, I must say that I feel it is a pleasure and a privilege to be given the opportunity by Dr. Lawson Davis to write something for this blog. When I first spoke with her, the passion for what she does just oozed through the phone. Her enthusiasm to try something new with me, and to explore the potential of the current cutting edge of how our children are supported in their uniqueness and abilities was refreshing. Aside from the great energy being exchanged, we connected in that we both hold a strong desire to make a difference.

As a professional entertainer in the industry of the fine arts for over 25 years now, I've definitely had to reinvent myself due to some of the discouraging changes my business has gone through; and I have been willing to stretch into something greater in order to thrive and support more of my purpose on the planet. Since this stretching, I've discovered that I want to also motivate and inspire others by sharing my story of challenges and successes, and also some of the tools I've picked up along the way to help someone else maximize what their capable of. I am a student of life, and for life.

There are several pathways to learning; and embracing the arts as a way to continue tapping into the creative minds of the “gifted” for self development is something I look forward to building on with Dr. Lawson Davis.

I welcome you to visit my website www.rhonabennett.com, which is home for the brand of Rhona Bennett 'Where Entertainment and Inspiration Meet'.

Readers: If you have a story to share or know of someone whose work should be featured here who is MAKING A DIFFERENCE for under-served gifted children in any capacity, please contact me!  I want to share their stories and programs here. 

Your support of this blogsite is deeply appreciated by all the gifted learners, educators, and families whose  lives have been positively impacted by your reading and all of your hard work to MAKE A DIFFERENCE for under-served gifted children everywhere!! Dr. Joy 

Why GIFTED Students STILL need GIFTED Education!!

by Joy Lawson Davis

(with Donna Y. Ford & Josh Shaine)

Yesterday I read with dismay and irritation a commentary published in the Washington Post entitled: ‘Why Geniuses Don’t Need Gifted Education’.  After reading I immediately thought of all the gifted children in schools and communities across the nation who may be placed at an even greater disadvantage simply because of the publication of that brief and poorly justified commentary. I also thought of the thousands of times I have in my thirty year career heard a parent, school administrator or teacher say that gifted services were in jeopardy of being dismantled, cut from the budget or reduced to almost nothing all because new leadership were of the mindset that is perpetrated by articles like the one in the Post – that gifted students or ‘geniuses’ as Mathews specified would make it anyway without specially funded, specially designed, specially set-aside services just for them!

My head was spinning after I read the article and I shared feed back with two colleagues (Donna Y. Ford and Josh Shaine) whom I greatly respect and the three of us decided that together we would share our ‘retort’ to the Post article here on this blog hoping that a wide audience would read and respond sharing their feedback as we will do here. We were especially concerned that this article which was written to speak specifically to one type of genius or gifted child- the one who is born in circumstances where it may be likely that parents or school resources (without special services) would be sufficient to nurture and help them develop their high intellectual capacity. The article made absolutely NO MENTION of the genius child who through no fault of his or her own would be born in a household where parents are working day to day to make ends meet, where resources are limited, where the nearest university campus is an hour away, where they may sit in classrooms idling away their genius because ill-trained teachers don’t recognize or respect the gifts they have. Worse, there are some children & youth in communities whose teachers don’t believe that they can even BE GIFTED or PERFORM AT A GENIUS LEVEL.

What about gifted services for those types of geniuses? Those children still need and will probably always NEED GIFTED SERVICES. I will take my position even further to suggest that ALL GIFTED CHILDREN WILL ALWAYS NEED GIFTED SERVICES. Why?

The gifted education classroom for many will be the first and only place that they actually find a set of peers who think like they do, enjoy and have passions like theirs, where they can find a friend and in doing so – find themselves.

And what about Black geniuses? It was obvious that Post article was not making reference to those students. Black geniuses are being discovered and increasingly spoken about. It was Dr. Martin D. Jenkins in the early 20^th century who noted that Black gifted students would continuously have difficulties accessing services that are more freely provided their White peers. In his early work, Jenkins and his mentor, Paul Witty studied a black female genius with an IQ of 200. When Mathews mentioned the Termites studied by Lewis Terman in his article, he was certainly not speaking of Black geniuses or even females for that matter!! It is well known that Terman’s study group were white , middle - upper income males (Davis, 2013).

In my work with Black gifted students over the past three decades, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been told personally by someone that the gifted program ‘saved me’ or from a parent – the gifted program or the summer enrichment program ‘saved my child’ turned his/her life around…

The gifted education program, well designed and well implemented is the only place a bright, creative student with high energy, and a voracious mind can have opportunities to experiment with ideas, be challenged to think beyond the norm and  be challenged to create new knowledge.

The gifted program, well implemented and accessible to all geniuses, regardless of their ethnicity, can provide a global think tank for gifted children from other cultures, other neighborhoods, and provide opportunities for them to be compete at a level that cannot be provided for in the regular school environment.

I believe there are thousands of genius children and youth who are Black, Brown, some poor, some rural, urban, who are craving Gifted education programming. These young people need more advocates, more attention, more programming- not LESS. As we compete globally and recognize that our students in the U.S. are not performing to up to par with their foreign neighbors, this is hardly the time to say: GENIUSES DON’T NEED GIFTED EDUCATION!

Josh Shaine provides key pluses and minuses in the Mathews commentary here: https://www.facebook.com/joshshaine/posts/10100181937811968?notif_t=like

While there may be some geniuses who may fare well independently, we believe that for most - special programs in public schools, support programming funded by private entities like the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Oliver Scholars Programs, SEED program, University programming (summer, after school, early college, etc), State and regional Governor’s schools (like those in VA and NC) are GREATLY NEEDED.

From where we sit, gifted children need more!! We are under-serving students of color, poor students, rural students, urban students at astronomical rates (Ford, 2013). We MUST DO BETTER! WE MUST SERVE THESE CHILDREN AND MEET THEIR NEEDS FOR INTELLECTUAL, ACADEMIC, AND CREATIVE CHALLENGE. Less programming, less attention to the geniuses in America’s communities is definitely NOT the answer!!

For more reading:

Davis, J.L. (2013). Martin D. Jenkins: A Voice to be Heard. In A. Robinson & J. Jolly (Eds), Illuminating Lives: A century of contributions to gifted education. New York: Routledge Press.

Ford, D.Y. (2013). Recruiting and retaining culturally different students in gifted education. Waco: Prufrock Press. 

To read Mathews’ commentary, go to: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/why-geniuses-dont-need-gifted-education/2013/12/01/4dbd2342-56e0-11e3-835d-e7173847c7cc_story.html

  

Facing Race in Gifted Education

”Adding the element of race to a discussion makes people uncomfortable.  It is as if some illusive, powerful force has entered and takes up all the air. For all the hope we hold as our national image, we can be a hard place” Berkowicz & Myers, Education Week, Nov 2013 

I returned exhausted and exhilarated last Sunday afternoon from the 60^th Anniversary Convention of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). My sole purpose in continuing my involvement with organizational politics is to ensure that I do my part to help ‘disenfranchised groups’ get the attention they so justly deserve in Gifted Education programming, research, policy development, and educational practice.

Just before I left for the convention, I read a post in Education Week entitled ‘Facing Racism’. It was right on time!! It reassured me that working so hard to ‘face race in gifted education’ with the goal of eventually combating racism in this field is the right thing to do and that do any less is immoral and unethical.

Fighting this ‘race’ battle can sometimes be draining! My energies are always restored, however, when I come into direct contact with other scholars and advocates whose passions are as intense as my own. It is exciting for me to sit with them, have lively and intense conversations about their experiences, successes/victories, and the continuing barriers we all face in this race towards equity. (Upcoming blogs will feature a few stories from professionals in the field of gifted education..if you have one to share, please contact me).

The NAGC convention provided many avenues to discuss race and its impact on culturally and linguistically diverse students and their families and the educators who advocate for them! For me, it was probably the most exciting convention that I have ever attended! I presented at my first NAGC Convention over twenty years ago. But, twenty years ago, among the participants there were only a few educators of color. Going to the NAGC convention back then was a very lonesome experience. It was quite disheartening at times.

Twenty years later, the group of scholars of color in our field has grown. The number of sessions reflecting scholarship and practice related to Culturally Diverse learners has also increased. It was very affirming to walk among the group in Indianapolis. BUT, even with the increase in participants, we are still a long way from fairly and equitably addressing the needs of racially diverse gifted students in schools across the nation.

At the convention,  we had several opportunities to engage in dialogue to move forward with ‘Facing Race in Gifted Education’. A new initiative of the Diversity & Equity committee holds great promise for getting materials out to local leaders to address these issues. Dr. Tracy Cross, our new president is a strong advocate for equity. His leadership will be important as the organization moves forward.

Most impressive, however, was a panel discussion hosted by the Special Populations Network.  The session was ‘standing room only’ as Dr. Tarek Grantham of the University of Georgia, masterfully moderated a panel of five leaders as we responded to implications of a recent court case in Elgin, Illinois. In this case, it was determined that the district discriminated against Hispanic gifted students by sponsoring separate gifted programs. Other implications from the case included the use of culturally biased testing materials and unequal access to information about gifted programs.  The questions below were posed to the panelists and may be helpful in your school districts to help close ‘race gaps’ in gifted programs:

• What do successful approaches/models for addressing racial disparities in gifted program student enrollment look like?
• How do you address biased attitudes and behaviors of people to improve the climate and culture for Black and Brown students in gifted and advanced programs?
• In what ways can you collaborate with students, families, community members, school personnel, organizational leaders, and policy makers to confront racial disparities in gifted and advanced programs?
• How can policies and procedures be changed to improve screening, referral, identification, assessment, eligibility determination, placement, and retention of under-represented groups in gifted education?

Another historic presentation was a session on Black Geniuses, co-presented by Dr. Donna Y. Ford of Vanderbilt University and myself. To my knowledge, this was the very first session on record to focus on the legacy of one of the early pioneers in our field, Dr. Martin D. Jenkins, Father of the Study of Black Giftedness. This session shared Dr. Jenkins' legacy and featured profiles of black prodigies from across the nation. Our plan is to continue honoring Dr. Jenkins annually at NAGC and honoring contemporary Black Geniuses at future Conventions.

While these sessions and others were well received, there is still so much work yet to be done!!

I continue to appeal to parents, community leaders, educators and other advocates of ALL students to do your part to ensure that we ERADICATE UNDER-REPRESENTATION of racially diverse students in gifted programs. To advocate, we must do more to pull the ‘cover off’ of discriminatory policies, and stand united until all high ability and gifted students have equitable access to challenging and nurturing educational environments, elementary through secondary school and beyond.

In a nation which is without a doubt the most racially diverse of any developed nation in the world, it is a travesty that we continue to waste the intelligence, creativity, psychosocial gifts of so many children and youth and judging them more on the color of their skin, the neighborhood they originate from THAN the power of their intellectual capabilities.

WE MUST DO BETTER!! OUR CHILDREN ARE COUNTING ON US AND THE FUTURE OF OUR NATION IS DEPENDENT ON A CHANGE IN POLICY AND PRACTICE TO ENSURE THAT ALL HIGH ABILITY & GIFTED LEARNERS ARE ABLE TO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL!!  

Resources: 

Education Week: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2013/11/facing_racism.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreGifted2JLDavis

NAGC Position Paper on Identifying and Serving Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Gifted Learners: http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=9430 

Why We Homeschooled Our Gifted Black Boys

by Paula Penn-Nabrit, Parent & Author of:  Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League

Usually my answer to Why references Aristotle, All men by nature desire knowledge. As parents, we knew black boys were at the bottom of every measurement standard other than athletics and given Aristotle’s statement, we concluded the problem was 'process based'.  We were interested in how the process of institutionalized education shaped the psycho-social development of gifted black boys and the cultural implications of institutionalized racism on all inhabitants.

We began homeschooling after much prayer and the formulation of mission and vision statements derived from our Allegory of the Blue Cars. In our allegory everyone’s actively involved in automobile production, yet somehow many of the blue cars come off the line missing a wheel.  Some community members are convinced the missing wheels are evidence of a conspiracy to destroy blue cars, while others are convinced it’s evidence of a lack of commitment by the blue car segment of the community. Both are wrong. The missing wheel is evidence of a design flaw and emotionally charged accusations and problem repetitions will not fix it. Instead the design process must be re-tested and all cars, including the blue cars must be dis-assembled, re-examined, re-designed, re-engineered and then re-assembled.

Transferring Allegory of the Blue Cars to institutionalized education we determined Aristotle’s premise meant the absence of seeking must be a reaction to an external design flaw. Our homeschooling vision was our gifted black sons emerging as holistically healthy adults, contributing rather than merely consumptive citizens. Our mission was to create a space where holistic health would be nurtured and promoted as the telos or highest good.

The vision and mission were supported by three constructs with cultural components, namely that holistic health requires: i) acknowledgement and validation of the child as a spiritual, intellectual and physical being; ii) the study, growth and development of each aspect of the child; and iii) the child surrounded by adult versions of himself.

  

In traditional educational institutions 85% of teachers in K-12 are Caucasian/white women. This is part of the design flaw. It inhibits the ability of the gifted black male child to see himself mirrored in his exploration of the life of the mind.  We hired African and African-American graduate students, mostly male to teach Mathematics, Biology and French.  The history of global education speaks to the viability of single-sex education as an option.  As Caucasian/white women have benefited generationally from institutions designed for them, deductive reasoning indicates an equally specific environment designed for them would be beneficial for gifted black boys.

Our school year was expanded to a 12 month calendar to develop life-long learners committed to interdisciplinary, subject matter mastery and expertise rather than mere testing competence. Our curriculum was repetitive, deep and narrow with limited extracurricular options. Each year they studied Ancient & Global Literature; Biology; Global History & Geography; Mathematics; Philosophy & World Religions; and Politics, Governments & Current Events. Athletics including fencing, football, golf, swimming, tae kwan do and tennis were experienced through Columbus Parks and Rec Centers because gifted black boys must develop social skills to interact across broad economic sectors. Community service and participation in the arts also included. Our sons were active (if not always willing) participants in The Church of Christ of the Apostolic Faith’s Bible Bowl teams, choirs, camps and VBS. (They are 5^th generation members of this 100 year old congregation!) By “graduation” each had over 2,500 hours of volunteer service at Columbus’ COSI (Center of Science and Industry) where Charles and Evan developed operant conditioning techniques training rodents for Rat Basketball and Damon created an independent exhibit, The Physics of Juggling. Until his voice changed, Charles was a member of OperaColumbus’ Children’s Chorus performing in Puccini’s Turandot while Damon performed in Mozart’s The Magic Flute as a member of the Opera Guild. From age 7 Evan attended Saturday School at Columbus College of Art & Design and by 13 was working as a protégé with the acclaimed African-American artist Roman Johnson. They attended YMCA Camp, Space Camp, Engineering Camp and Oceanography Camp, traveled through 40 states, much of Canada, and parts of the Caribbean, Asia and Europe.

Our experiment spoke to Erickson’s 4^th and 5^th stages of psychosocial development with a specific emphasis on culture. The 4^th stage, psychosocial conflicts around personal competence, was met by an environment designed for them, populated with adult versions of them and premised upon a quest for holistic health where their spiritual, intellectual and physical selves were nurtured. Each came to a deep knowledge of himself, his competence and capacity to determine, define, do and be good as a prime mover rather than a reactor.

Their movement through Erickson’s 5^th stage, identity and confusion, also was enhanced by homeschooling.  One of the greatest challenges for gifted black children is moving beyond what I’ve coined The Myth of the Exceptional Negro.  This myth takes the normative status of institutionalized racism and creates a neurological pathway internalizing it-convincing the gifted black child there are no others. When a black boy is identified as gifted, he’s relegated to conspicuous other status, standing alone as he’s told You’re not like them, I don’t even think of you as black.  Coming on the heels of the ever-present, I don’t see color, this requirement to stand alone is poignantly conflicting. This stage also presents challenges for non-black children affected and infected by institutionalized racism. How is an Asian or Caucasian/white child (or their parents!) to process the results when a black boy excels beyond the group? How do teachers and administrators cope with such an outcome? Too often the gifted black child is expected to navigate that complex maze while acting as spirit guide for classmates, teachers and administrators. Homeschooling allowed us to deduct this variation of the so-called black tax from our sons’ educational revenue stream.

It was not always a particularly pleasant experience, but I am very thankful we had the opportunity to homeschool our gifted black sons.

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Guest Writer's Bio: Recently widowed after 36 years, 8 months and 24 days, Paula Penn-Nabrit is 58 and still challenged by the struggle between power and submission. She married Charles Madison Nabrit in 1976 and after law school helped raise and homeschool their sons, Charles, Damon and Evan. Paula’s written several books, including Morning by Morning: How We Home-Schooled Our African-American Sons to the Ivy League and The Power of a Virtuous Woman, lectured extensively around the world with her consulting firm, PN&A, Inc. www.nabrit.com/pna, teaches Sunday School at the church where her family has worshipped for over 100 years and is passionate about her501(c)(3), Telos Training, Inc. Visit Paula and Telos Training, Inc. @ www.telosinc.org and on Facebook.