STUDY PROPOSES REASONS FOR BLACK
 STUDENTS' UNDERACHIEVEMENT AND 
UNDERREPRESENTATION IN GIFTED PROGRAMS

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., April 26 -- African-American students
continue to be underrepresented in gifted programs and are less
likely to achieve their academic potential in school due to problems
in the identification process, according to research conducted by a
University of Virginia educator.
	"The study shows that we still have much work to do in
education in terms of serving black students and improving their
achievement," said Donna Y. Ford, an assistant professor in U.Va.'s
Curry School of Education.  
	African-American students comprise 16 percent of the school
population nationwide.  However, they comprise only 8 percent of
gifted programs, according to a 1993 report by the U.S. Department
of Education.
	Ford's research revealed that qualified African-American
students in five Virginia school districts were overlooked for
placement in gifted educational programs and services.  A total of
152 black students in grades 6 through 9 from three Virginia cities
and two counties participated in the study.
	The students were categorized into two groups:  gifted and
non-gifted.  Only 28 percent of the students used in the study were
formally identified as gifted in their school districts.  Due to the
significant lack of representation of black children currently
enrolled in gifted programs, Ford created another group of
"potentially gifted" black students from the sample of non-gifted
students.  She thought they should be further considered for gifted
programs or for some type of support or transitional services.
	About 60 students involved in the study offered comparable
qualifications for the gifted programs based on their grade point
average (GPA) and achievement test scores, according to Ford's
analyses.  However, heavy reliance on these two modes of identifying
gifted students attribute to the problem of underrepresentation, she
believes.
	Standardized tests, which are widely viewed as being biased
against minority students, are not always able to identify the
talents of students who are unusually creative, have different
learning styles, have strong leadership potential or suffer from
test anxiety or other barriers to demonstrating their potential,
according to Ford, author of "Nurturing and Fostering Resilience in
Gifted Black Youth" in the December, 1994 Roper Review, a national
publication for teachers and parents of children with special
talents.
	Another factor contributing to underrepresentation is that
teachers lack training in recognizing talented children of diverse
cultural backgrounds, according to Ford and others at the National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, located at U.Va.
	"The primary factors attributed to black students'
underrepresentation are identification practices, namely concerns
regarding standardized achievement and intelligence tests, and lack
of teacher referral.  Test scores and teachers should not be
gatekeepers that block the entrance of black students into gifted
programs and services.  The use of tests in this manner is unethical
and discriminatory," said Ford.  Her study is expected to be
published next month by U.Va.'s National Research Center of the
Gifted and Talented, one of five research sites located throughout
the United States.
	The study in Virginia school systems, funded by a grant from
the research center, also revealed underachievement among black
students.  Forty-two percent of the students sampled, both gifted
and non-gifted, were considered underachieving.  Based on
indications in their achievement scores and GPAs, these students
were not reaching their academic potential, Ford found.
	"Much can be done to increase the participation of black
students in gifted education, as well as increase their
achievement," Ford said.
	She recommends that school districts and teachers place high
priority on recognizing "the heterogenous, multifaceted nature of
giftedness.  The school districts must focus on both talent
development and the nurturance of abilities.  School personnel must
be trained to recognize potential among students traditionally
underrepresented in gifted education programs."
	She and other center researchers are encouraging schools to
stop relying on test scores as the primary means of identifying
gifted children and to develop more culturally sensitive tests.
They are training teachers who instruct gifted minority students,
and they are helping schools design gifted programs that allow
minority students to retain a cultural diversity.
###
April 25, 1996
	For a copy of the study, contact Donna Y. Ford at (804)
924-0843 or U.Va.'s National Research Center for the Gifted and
Talented at (804) 982-2849.  Television reporters should contact our
TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.