Demographic characteristics of families of children placed in programs for the gifted in a large multicultural school district.

Abstract

Children from divergent populations are not equitably represented in programs for the gifted. A commonly cited cause is over-reliance on standardized test scores. An equally important cause may be that children, who do not fit the profile of a "typical" gifted child created by Terman (1925), seldom are referred for assessment. Terman's research has been sharply criticized for bias in selection procedures, but his conclusions are still generalized to all gifted children. In traditional identification procedures, nomination is based, consciously or subconsciously, on a definition of giftedness and "typical" characteristics described by Terman. Expanded assessment procedures were implemented in targeted schools in a large southwestern school district to increase representation of children from minority populations. As other schools in the district continued to use traditional procedures, a unique opportunity arose to compare characteristics of families of gifted children from targeted and nontargeted schools. Data were collected from families (N = 150) of children placed in first or second grade classes for the gifted during the past two years. Questions were designed to elicit information in categories similar to those used by Terman in 1921-22 and compatible with statistics reported in the U.S. census. Four groups of variables were investigated and comparisons made (a) between the families of gifted children in Targeted and Nontargeted Groups, (b) between Targeted, Nontargeted, and Terman Groups, and (c) between families in Targeted and Nontargeted Groups and families in the community population. Results show the Targeted Group differs significantly from the Nontargeted Group in economic, ethnic/cultural, and educational experience variables. The groups do not differ in family constellation variables. Clear differences exist between the Targeted and Terman Groups in all variables; the Nontargeted and Terman Groups are similar in economic and educational attainment variables. With the exception of higher minority representation in the Targeted Group, that group and the community population are similar. The Nontargeted Group differs from the community population in all economic variables and educational attainment, a result that supports charges of bias in traditional identification procedures. Expanded assessment procedures are recommended for more equitable representation of children from all populations in programs for the gifted.