1. Welcome!  Please take a moment to complete the myths and realities of gifted education survey you received at the door.  Presenter: Ms. Christina Allred Gifted and Talented Facilitator Nathan Hale Magnet Middle School for Leadership and Social Justice

2. UNDERACHIEVEMENT OF GIFTED MINORITY STUDENTS NAG 2011 Ms. Christina Allred

3. Cultural Conflict Statistics  Although 68% of pupils in the nation’s 100 largest school districts are youths of color, approximately 87% of all teachers are white (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997, 2001).  Many researchers have speculated that cultural conflict precipitates school failure for students of color, particularly youths from low-income backgrounds (Byers & Byers,1972; Nieto, 1999, 2000; Gay, 2000).

4. Other People’s Children -Lisa Delpit  We live in a world where our nation is consistently becoming more diverse.  Minority students represent the majority in all but two of the twenty-five major cities in the U.S.  40% of the students in today’s classrooms are nonwhite students.  Think about communicating across racial, social, cultural, or lines of unequal power.

5. Coping in the Classroom  Students’ behavioral success is closely linked with their ability to decode implicit teacher expectations and cues. Code Switching  Disciplinary practices and understanding of those practices = success. Kagan  Lack of motivation looks like: Laziness, Defiance, Distraction/Disengagement, Procrastination, Passive aggression

6. Impact of Student Behavior  Prior Achievement  Prior Behavior  Prior Placement  SES  Language Ability  Physical Attributes  Gender  Race/Ethnicity

7. Gagne – DMGT (differentiated model of giftedness and talent)

8. Epistemology  How we know what we know  What we bring to the table  Introduction to the Innocent Classroom: Alexs Pate Introduction to the Innocent Classroom: Alexs Pate

9. Identification  Media/Societal messages  Stereotypical racial identity  Mentoring programs i.e. 100 Black Men of Omaha

10. Motivation  By 1999 one out of every four students dropped out of high school before graduation.  The drop out rate for Hispanic and African American students 16 and over is 50%.  Real world application is the key, raising the bar in all classes, not just honors classes. Low expectations breed minimal performance.  Honors by Contract-OPS pilot program

11. Ten Successful Tips for Student Achievement  Develop strong bonds with diverse students  Identify and build on the strengths of all students  Help students overcome their fear of failure  Help students overcome their rejection of success  Set short-term and long-term goals with and for your students  Develop teaching styles that are more congruent with the learning styles of minority students

12. Tips Continued  Use homework and television to your advantage  Communicate to see that your real intentions are understood  Establish a good school and classroom climate of support and encouragement  Strengthen relations between home and school

13. White-Black Achievement Gap Ten Theories  The deficit-deprivation theory  The theory of structural inequality  Tracking  The theory of cultural discontinuity  The “fourth grade failure system”  The “acting white” theory  The “peer pressure” and “lure of street life” theory  The “parents are at fault” theory  Unprepared teachers  Low teacher expectations

14. Motivating the Gifted Child  Challenge  Commitment  Control  Compassion  Love and Learning Dr. Carol Strip Whitney

15. Challenge  Raise the bar  Critical thinking skills  Blooms taxonomy Edupress  Depth and Complexity  Differentiated Instruction  Ability grouping  Acceleration

16. Commitment  Motivation: a desire for and a movement to a specific goal  Attribution Theory  Goal Theory  Self-determination Theory

17. Control  Choice in learning  Creating a state of flow  Including enough teacher guidance  Gaining a sense of responsibility and ownership for student learning

18. Compassion  60-90% of gifted children have admitted being bullied.  Gifted students are already stressed about others and their own expectations.  They struggle to make sense of cruelty and aggression.  Social/Emotional traits of gifted students

19. Myths and Realities  Revisit the myths and realities survey.  What can we do as educators to dispel the myths and implement the realities?  Email me with comments or questions at christina.allred@ops.org

20. Sources  A Love of Learning Dr. Carol Whitney  Other People’s Children Lisa Delpit  http://www.humanitieslearning.org/