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Gifted learners are diverse. They come from all cultural, socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups. While gifted programs exist to ensure all students with outstanding talent have the opportunity to reach their full potential, learners with diverse backgrounds and experiences have historically been under-represented in gifted programs. It is the obligation of gifted services to address the needs of all gifted learners, including those from diverse backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to present issues and make recommendations about the identification and education of the diverse gifted learner, and to encourage open dialogue about the needs of these learners.

The most significant educational challenge facing the United States is the tragically low academic achievement of many students of color. TDSi helps educators meet the challenge with a collection of research-based tools and resources designed to improve the teaching of racially and ethnically diverse students.

ABSTRACT: The field of gifted education has faced criticism about the underrepresentation of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) in its programs. This article proposes that efforts targeting both recruitment and retention barriers are essential to remedying this disparity. Educators' deficit thinking about CLD students underlies both areas (recruitment and retention) and contributes to underrepresentation in significant, meaningful ways. The authors examine factors hindering the recruitment and retention of CLD students in gifted education, attending in particular to definitions and theories, testing, and referral issues, and offer recommendations for improving the representation of CLD students in gifted education. A persistent dilemma at all levels of education is the underrepresentation of African American, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino students in gifted education and advanced placement (AP) classes. Research on the topic of underrepresentation has tended to focus on African American students, starting with Jenkins's (1936) study, which found that despite high intelligence test scores African American students were not formally identified as gifted. For over 70 years, then, educators have been concerned about the paucity of Black students being identified as gifted. During this timeframe, little progress has been made in reversing underrepresentation. This lack of progress may be due in part to the scant database on gifted students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). In 1998, Ford reviewed trends in reports on underrepresentation spanning 2 decades and found that African American, Hispanic/Latino American, and American Indian students have always been underrepresented in gifted education, with underrepresentation increasing over the years for African American students. (Unlike African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian students, Asian American

Few school districts in the United States have successfully recruited and retained culturally diverse students in programs for gifted students. Black, Hispanic, and Native American students are underrepresented in gifted education programs nationally, with underrepresentation ranging from 50-70%. This article addresses two questions that are at least as old as gifted education itself" Why are diverse students underrepresented, and how can we recruit and retain more diverse students in our gifted programs? Factors contributing to the persistent underrepresentation of Black students in gifted education are presented, along with suggestions for changes. The central premise of this article is that deficit thinking held by educators about diverse students hinders access to gifted programs for them.

With so many unanswered questions and controversies regarding intelligence, testing in general, and testing diverse students in particular, what can educators in gifted education do to ensure that these students have access to and are represented in gifted education programs and services? In this monograph, the author examines test bias by first reviewing seminal publications and research. This discussion provides the historical context for the monograph. Next, a discussion of intelligence tests is presented, paying specific attention to interpretations of and explanations for the comparatively low performance of racially and culturally diverse students on cognitive ability tests. Most of the research has targeted Black students' test performance and Black-White IQ differences. Definitions of and strategies for determining the nature and extent of test bias are then explored. Finally, the findings are summarized and implications for the field of gifted education are discussed.

Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds comprise a large percentage of public school students. Diversity is increasing, and one of the most troublesome issues associated with its growth is the overrepresentation of minority children in special education--that is, more minority children are served in special education than we would expect based on their percentage in the general school population.

"Multicultural education means different things to different people. However, the differences are not as great, confusing, or contradictory as some critics and analysts claim. Many of these differences are more semantic than substantive, a reflection of the developmental level in the field and the disciplinary orientation of advocates. One should expect people who have been involved in a discipline or educational movement for a long time to understand and talk about it differently from those who are new to it. Similarly, educators who look at schooling from the vantage point of sociology, psychology, or economics will have differing views of the key concerns of schooling. Yet, these disparate analysts may agree on which issues are the most critical ones. Such differences over means coupled with widespread agreement on substance are naturally found in discussions of multicultural education. But this diversity should not be a problem, especially when we consider that multicultural education is all about plurality. The field includes educational scholars, researchers, and practitioners from a wide variety of personal, professional, philosophical, political, and pedagogical backgrounds. Therefore, we should expect that they will use different points of reference in discussing ethnic diversity and cultural pluralism. Yet, when allowances are made for these differences, a consensus on the substantive components of multicultural education quickly emerges. Such agreement is evident in areas such as the key content dimensions, value priorities, the justification for multicultural education, and its expected outcomes. Only when these fundamentals are articulated do variations emerge. Some advocates talk about expected outcomes, while others consider the major determining factor to be the group being studied; the arena of school action is the primary focus for one set of advocates, and still others are most concerned with distinctions between theory and practice. Some people

Two major premises are developed in this discussion. One is that many students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education because educators lack knowledge about or appreciation for their cultural values and socialization, and how these a€ ect learning behaviors. The other premise is that the educational quality of students of color in both special and regular education can be improved signi®cantly by using instructional programs and practices that re¯ect their cultural heritages, experiences, and perspectives. Several components of this ``culturally responsive teaching'' are explained, along with some research ®ndings about its e€ ects on student achievement. These include critical cultural consciousness of teachers; culturally pluralistic classroom climates; diverse communities of learners; and multicultural curriculum and instruction. The author concludes that without culturally responsive teaching education can never be the best it should be for students who are not part of the majority and mainstream of schools and society.

When cultural expectations collide with classroom expectations, the result can be misunderstanding. Discussion among teachers, parents, and administrators can increase sensitivity to students from diverse backgrounds.

This online toolkit provides an introduction to the multiple facets of diversity. It offers basic information, a short list of strategies and tools, and suggestions for how to find out more. Neither the short list of topics in this toolkit nor the content within each topic is meant to be exhaustive. For more in-depth information, please visit the Web links listed under each topic.

Founded in 1990, GCIR provides resources that foundations need to address the challenges facing newcomers and their host communities and to strengthen society as a whole. Its mission is to influence the philanthropic field to advance the contributions and address the needs of the country's growing and increasingly diverse immigrant and refugee populations.

Two major premises are developed in this discussion. One is that many students of color are disproportionately assigned to special education because educators lack knowledge about or appreciation for their cultural values and socialization, and how these affect learning behaviors. The other premise is that the educational quality of students of color in both special and regular education can be improved significantly by using instructional programs and practices that reflect their cultural heritages, experiences, and perspectives. Several components of this ``culturally responsive teaching'' are explained, along with some research findings about its effects on student achievement. These include critical cultural consciousness of teachers; culturally pluralistic classroom climates; diverse communities of learners; and multicultural curriculum and instruction. The author concludes that without culturally responsive teaching education can never be the best it should be for students who are not part of the majority and mainstream of schools and society.

A consensus panel of interdisciplinary scholars worked over a four-year period to determine what we know from research and experience about education and diversity. The panel was cosponsored by the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington and the Common Destiny Alliance at the University of Maryland. The panel was supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and chaired by James A. Banks. The 12 major findings of the panel, which are called essential principles, constitute this publication. They are presented in this Executive Summary. This publication also contains a checklist designed to be used by educational practitioners to determine the extent to which their institutions and environments are consistent with the essential principles.

EdChange is a team of passionate, experienced, established, educators dedicated to equity, diversity, multiculturalism, and social justice. With this shared vision, we have joined to collaborate in order to develop resources, workshops, and projects that contribute to progressive change--change in ourselves, our schools, and our society.

A must see for those concerned with the protection of cultural diversity. This site provides information on the many faceted projects related to world culture conducted by UNESCO. It also includes a link to the Web site for the historic UNESCO "World Heritage" site.

A place for educators to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools.

GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes to creating a more vibrant and diverse community.

"Schools that experience rapid demographic shifts can meet the challenge by implementing five phases of professional development."

MMEP is a multi-sector collaborative, dedicated to having educators, public officials, philanthropists, business people, nonprofits, students and parents at the table. MMEP focuses its work on kindergarten through postsecondary education and promotes a continuum of support at all levels. MMEP is a multicultural organization dedicated to having the diversity of Minnesota communities represented in all components of the organization. MMEP's financing structure requires that one third of its core operating budget come from membership fees, one third come from a state appropriation and one third come from grants. The Implementation Working Group has the ability to adjust the work plan of the organization whenever it is necessary to assure appropriate advocacy and programming on behalf of Minnesota communities of color. The work of MMEP is as dedicated to the process of collaboration as it is to its programs/products.

This resource is the web site for the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). NCCRESt provides technical assistance and professional development to close the achievement gap between students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their peers, and reduce inappropriate referrals to special education.