Identifying Gifted Children from Diverse Populations

There has long been concern that high-ability students from underserved populations -- those who are limited English proficient, disabled, or from minority or low-income backgrounds -- are persistently underrepresented in advanced classes and in programs for students identified as gifted.  While many districts and states have made improvements in identifying and serving a broader range of advanced students, there remains much to be done to ensure that all high-ability students receive appropriate gifted education services to meet their needs.

Assessment Strategies

Researchers and practitioners have examined the obstacles to identifying students from diverse backgrounds as gifted and talented and have developed numerous strategies focused on improving our identification and assessment practices.  All high quality assessment practices related to identifying students for gifted education programs and services, which also ensures equitable participation, depends on the following:

1. the identification process and the assessments used are aligned with the program’s definition of giftedness;
2. the process includes the use of multiple assessments that are combined in a reasoned way that is not biased against any particular subgroup of students;
3. the types of assessments used have sufficient psychometric evidence supportive of decisions about students’ readiness for gifted programming;
4. all individuals involved in the assessment process have sufficient training in the administration and use of the assessments;
5. they themselves are fully informed about best practices in the field of testing as well as the latest research regarding the identification of gifted students; and
6. there is a process in place whereby the identification process is periodically evaluated to ensure it is reflective of best practices in the identification of gifted students.

Read Standard 2 (Assessment) from the NAGC Pre-K to Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards

Download the following NAGC position statements related to identifying diverse students for gifted education

• Role of assessments in the identification process
• Identifying and serving culturally and linguistically diverse gifted students
• Comprehensive assessment to ensure twice-exceptional students receive services
• Use of the WISC-V for gifted identification