The Identification of Giftedness: A Comparison of White,Hispanic and Black Families

Abstract

A survey was sent to White, Hispanic and Black parents of children in the gifted and talented program of a large urban school district. The results indicated that there were few differences among the three parent groups in either the characteristics that had indicated to them that their child might be gifted, or in the attributes which they believed were current descriptors of their gifted child. Large group differences were present, however, between the White sample and the two minority group samples in the percentage of families who requested an evaluation of their child for possible placement in the gifted and talented program. Fewer of the minority parents made such a request. This factor could contribute to the underrepresentation of minority students in gifted programs.

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