Defense Date

12-8-2023

Graduation Date

Spring 5-15-2024

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

Department

Educational Studies (General Education)

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Gretchen Generett

Committee Member

Amy Olson

Committee Member

Gibbs Kanyango

Keywords

giftedness, equity, identification, disproportionality, Black students, IQ, schoolwide enrichment

Abstract

Giftedness is a particular trait giving designation to a specific group of people in a school population. While identification methods vary from state to state, the status of being gifted is granted to some students, creating a dichotomy of those who receive gifted services and subsequent privileges and those who remain left out. Historically, Black students and other marginalized populations have had less participation in gifted programs. The literature highlights several factors connected to inequity in giftedness including lack of a cohesive definition of the term (or even if the concept of giftedness is real or socially constructed), nomination and recruitment issues, teacher bias, lack of enrichment exposure for marginalized communities, issues with self-efficacy, and poverty.

This work seeks to understand the issues creating inequitable opportunities for students in the realm of gifted education and ways of providing enriched learning opportunities to all students to expand the academic possibilities for underrepresented groups. Reviewing the literature indicates the myriad of inhibiting factors to Gifted and Talented Educational (GATE) programming for students and, successful strategies to dually promote inclusion and enhanced participation.

The local contextual focus of the problem of practice highlights the disproportional representation in one local public school. By examining the underrepresentation of Black students in one local school, the work highlights the issues of equity as they affect students daily and could serve as an example that is common nationally as well.

Utilizing Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy (1977), Renzulli’s Three Ring Conception of Giftedness/School Wide Enrichment Model (1978), and improvement science tools, the work melds the theories to create an original framework to form a cohesive perspective on gifted potential and the crucial impact that enrichment work can have for Black students. A systems- wide analysis highlights the innate disparities in gifted delineation as a stark issue of disproportionality with Black students woefully underrepresented in the realm of gifted-type enrichment learning.

Language

English

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