BLACK HISTORY MONTH SHOULD BE PART OF MULTIPLE EFFORTS
 TO HELP GIFTED MINORITY STUDENTS, RESEARCH SHOWS

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 14 -- Many black youth may
deliberately underachieve to keep from being placed in gifted
programs that they view as the Òwhite man's world.Ó
	Their actions help to explain why black students are
severely underrepresented in 
gifted programs across the United States, says Donna Y. Ford-Harris,
an educator at the National Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented at the University of Virginia.
	Although black students comprise 16 percent of the school
population nationwide, only eight percent are in gifted programs,
said Ford-Harris, who observed that Black History Month is an ideal
time to examine the variety of reasons blacks are underrepresented.
	A major reason black students are not frequently chosen for
gifted programs is that schools rely heavily on standardized test
scores to identify ability and potential, Ford-Harris said.
Standardized tests, which are widely viewed as being biased against
minority children, 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.
	ÒSaying a child is gifted only if he or she has a certain IQ
level is unethical,Ó said Ford-Harris, an assistant professor in
U.Va.'s Curry School of Education.  ÒAmerica needs to move away from
the idea that tests are a one-size-fits-all indicator of
giftedness.Ó Her study on ÒNurturing and Fostering Resilience in
Gifted Black YouthÓ was published 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, Ford-Harris and other center researchers have
found.  Students who don't speak standard English or those from
disadvantaged backgrounds who dress and act differently may be
overlooked, their studies show.
	Yet another factor is that black students often don't want
to be recognized as having special school-sanctioned talents because
their peers accuse them of Òacting white,Ó Ford-Harris has found.
ÒThe anti-achievement message is an effort to maintain cultural
identity and to avoid social isolation,Ó said Ford-Harris, who has
studied factors contributing to underachievement in black gifted
students for six years.
	When black students are placed in gifted programs in which
they are the minority, they often face an irrelevant curriculum and
incompatible social, racial and cultural backgrounds of other
students, her studies show.  As a consequence, they experience a
sense of alienation from their culture and school that can destroy
self-confidence.  
	ÒGifted black students often feel they are being asked to
eliminate their cultural differences--to turn their backs on the
values, attitudes and behaviors espoused at home.  Such feelings can
build immense barriers to gifted students' academic potential,Ó said
Ford-Harris. 
	Parents can detect the cultural conflict and consequently
may not support students' participation in gifted programs.
ÒFinding themselves torn between the school's culture and the one at
home, parents may not want to lose their children to Ôthe other
side,ÕÓ Ford-Harris said.
	To protect their self-esteem, gifted black youth may rebel
against authority figures and adopt coping styles that alienate them
from school, the researcher has found. 
	Gifted black students who excel despite such odds have
developed Òresilience,Ó a term educators use to describe a child's
ability to succeed against social and psychological differences.  A
critical component of nurturing resilience in gifted black youth is
fostering strong family-school-community relations, Ford-Harris has
found.                   
	ÒSchools that involve parents in the learning process have
seen a rise in achievement scores of black learners,Ó she said.  The
educator encourages schools to ask parents to serve on committees,
present talks and be active in school organizations.
	Researchers at the U.Va. gifted center 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 children to retain a cultural identity.  
	They are also encouraging schools to seek opportunities for
gifted black youth to interact positively with older successful
minority students and adults.  ÒSeeing success in older black youth
positively affects the self-esteem, motivation and confidence of
younger gifted black students,Ó Ford-Harris said.
	To keep minority students in gifted programs after they have
been identified, educators must ensure that courses have a broad,
multicultural approach, center researchers have found. 	
	ÒBlack History Month is an insufficient time to instill a
sense of pride in studentsÕ racial and cultural heritage.  A
multicultural education for the gifted promotes mutual respect,
collegiality and the ability to succeed against tremendous odds,Ó
Ford-Harris said.
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February 13, 1995
	FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Harris at (804) 924-0843.  For
additional information on how schools and parents can help gifted
black students, contact Carol Tomlinson, an assistant professor of
education, at (804) 982-2963.