Recruiting and Retaining Gifted Students from Diverse Backgrounds

1. Recruiting and Retaining Gifted Students from Diverse Backgrounds Alabama Association for Gifted Children Friday, September 25, 2009 Birmingham, Alabama Dr. Jaime A. Castellano Principal & Director of Gifted Education Ganado Unified School District Ganado, AZ jaime.castellano@ganado.k12.az.us

2. Presentation Outcome • To understand the critical issues and best practices in identifying, recruiting, and retaining gifted students from diverse backgrounds.

3. Do We Have The "Ganas" to Identify & Serve Hispanic/Latino Students as Gifted & Advanced Learners “Ganas:” Desire-an expressed wish

4. Identifying and Serving Hispanic/Latino Students as Gifted & Advanced Learners • Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions.

5. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. • Have you thought about your own socioeconomic status, gender, racial, and ethnic identity and the various ways in which you are similar to, yet different from, the students and adults you work with?

6. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 2. Have you thought about how your own socioeconomic status, gender, race, and ethnic identity have influenced your desire to refer/nominate Hispanic/Latino students for a gifted education or advanced academic programming?

7. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 3. Have you talked about how your cultural background influences your relationships with Hispanic/Latino students and/or your working relationships with adult colleagues who are of a different socioeconomic status, race, gender, and ethnicity?

8. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 4. Have any people who are different from you with respect to socioeconomic status, race, gender, or ethnicity shared with you how they think these same factors influence how they interact with Hispanic/Latino students?

9. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 5. Do you know how Hispanic/Latino students, including those that are gifted or advanced learners, perceive you?

10. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 6. Do you think that your school or district’s most rigorous academic programs should reflect student demographics with respect to socioeconomic status, race, gender, and ethnicity?

11. Do YOU have the Ganas/Desire? Please answer "yes" or "no" to each of the self-awareness questions. 7. Are you willing to publicly advocate for the inclusion of students into your school or district’s gifted education program who are Hispanic/Latino or who are from other culturally and linguistically diverse student populations?

12. Self-Awareness Score Count one point for each "Yes" response to the self-awareness questions. 6-7 Points: This score would put you in the cultural competence stage. That is, in part, seeing the difference, understanding the difference that difference makes, and working with others to change.

13. Self-Awareness Score Count one point for each "Yes" response to the self-awareness questions. 4-5 Points: You are on your way! Understanding and acknowledging your own biases and prejudices paves the way for greater cross-cultural communication and understanding. Sharing your insights with others is important.

14. Self-Awareness Score Count one point for each "Yes" response to the self-awareness questions. 0-3 Points: OK, we have some work to do. Personal reflection about your own experiences with diversity may be a good starting point. It may be easier to first talk with an expert whose background is similar to yours.

15. Identifying and Serving Gifted Hispanic/Latino students Identifying and serving Hispanic/Latino students in gifted education programs continues to be a conundrum for educators across the United States.

16. Identifying and Serving Gifted Hispanic/Latino students However, instead of focusing on why this student subgroup continues to be under-represented in gifted education, this address will target critical issues and best practices.

17. Identifying and Serving Gifted Hispanic/Latino students In casting a wide net to identify gifted Hispanic/Latino students, best practices mandate that identification systems allow for schools to equitably engage in talent development for high potential learners and talent enhancement for high-achieving and performing students.

18. Identifying and Serving Gifted Hispanic/Latino students Any identification system should be based on the philosophy of inclusion-helping students to grow and achieve according to their demonstrated ability and potential-rather than exclusion, such as using a single cut score.

19. Identifying and Serving Gifted Hispanic/Latino students In addition, we must go beyond what we commonly know to be true about gifted behaviors and take into account the influences of culture and other related factors.

20. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz • Which of your students would MOST likely have "sofrito," a cooking sauce based on onions, green peppers, and garlic in their refrigerator? a. Spaniard b. Mexican c. Puerto Rican d. Dominican

21. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 2. Which of your students leave the spicy chiles to other nations, and often serve rice and black beans as a side dish? a. Guatemalan b. Honduran c. Cuban d. Spaniard

22. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 3. Which of your Hispanic/Latino students is MOST likely to dance merengue and eat sancocho? a. Dominican b. Venezuelan c. Colombian d. Peruvian

23. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 4. Which of your students would celebrate Spanish holidays such as the Conquest of the Moors? a. Spaniard b. Uruguayan c. Panamanian d. Cuban

24. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 5. Which of your students may speak Spanish and Konjobal? a. Puerto Rican b. Costa Rican c. Nicaraguan d. Guatemalan

25. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 6. Which of your students would serve tamales at a party, smash a piñata, and celebrate Cinco de Mayo? a. Mexican b. Chilean c. Argentinean d. Colombian

26. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 7. Which of your students may have ancestors who were the first largest group of South Americans to arrive to the United States between 1948-1962? a. Colombian b. El Salvadorian c. Panamanian d. Peruvian

27. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 8. Which of your students may have ancestors who fled their country because of the Sandinista and their reign of terror? a. Costa Rican b. Nicaraguan c. Chilean d. Dominican

28. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 9. Which of your students is MOST familiar with "pachuchos, low-riders, and zoot suits?" a. Puerto Ricans b. Mexican-Americans c. Uruguayan d. Bolivian

29. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz 10. Which of your students may speak with a Castilian accent and dance flamenco? a. Spaniard b. Cuban c. El Salvadorian d. Panamanian

30. What Do You Know About Your Hispanic/Latino Students? A 10-Item Quiz • How did you do? • What is the point of this quiz?

31. Characteristics of Gifted Hispanic/Latino Students There have been myriad studies on the characteristics of gifted students from historically under-represented groups, including those who are Hispanic/ Latino-many of whom are also English Language Learners.

32. Characteristics of Gifted Hispanic/Latino Students Researchers and scholars in the field have taken universal characteristics of gifted behavior and have studied how they are manifested in different cultural and ethnic groups.

33. Psychological Characteristics From a psychological perspective, the characteristics of gifted Hispanic/Latino students can add to the current ways in which schools and districts identify them for programming.

34. Resiliency Theory (high achievement despite obstacles, adversities, and challenges) *Strong psyche *Open to Help *Highly motivated *Developed self-esteem *Good peer relations *Advanced academic achievement *Commitment to education *Purposive life goals *Ability to thrive *Social Competence *Intellectual competence

35. Entity Theory (high achievement is the product of high ability and can be found in those experiencing adversity as well as in affluence) *Some social deviance *Easily bored *Does not identify with curriculum

36. Achievement Motivation Theory (the drive that seems to impel some individuals to heights of achievement *Achievement influenced by mother *Works with a mentor *Importance of literacy taught at an early age

37. Anthropological Theory (a socio-cultural context as a key variable in shaping attitudes, beliefs, and values) *Adapts easily *Bridges multiple cultures *No problem with accepting high standards *Presence of strong support system *Easily navigates multiple reference groups

38. Recruiting Hispanic/Latino Students for Gifted Education Once Hispanic/Latino students are identified as gifted, this does not insure that they will agree to be placed in a program designed to meet their advanced academic and cognitive needs through a curriculum that emphasizes pace, complexity, and depth.

39. Recruiting Hispanic/Latino Students for Gifted Education For that matter, their parents may also hesitate at placement if they do not fully understand the purpose of a gifted education.

40. Challenges in working with parents whose children were identified and deemed eligible for gifted education programming. *fear of being perceived as elitest *resistance to their children being bussed to another school outside their community *reluctance in having their children leave their friends and classmates *antipathy toward having children attending different schools with different schedules

41. Retention of Hispanic/Latino Students in Gifted Education Programs Once our most able Hispanic/Latino students gain access to gifted education programs, the greatest challenge to teachers and program administrators is to ensure their retention.

42. Retention of Hispanic/Latino Students in Gifted Education Programs Successful retention is often dependent on the supporting infrastructure of the school and district:  *inclusionary beliefs *attitudes *practices *procedures

43. Retention of Hispanic/Latino Students in Gifted Education Programs The retention of gifted Hispanic/Latino students takes into account the following best practices. *Curriculum: Hispanic/Latino students must see themselves reflected in the curriculum materials used in the gifted program. *Professional Development: Teachers must be trained to work with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

44. Retention of Hispanic/Latino Students in Gifted Education Programs The retention of gifted Hispanic/Latino students takes into account the following best practices. *Accountability: Teachers of gifted Hispanic/Latino students must prepare them to be successful in a global society that is becoming increasingly diverse. *Support Systems: School counseling must be designed to meet the affective, social-emotional, and psychological needs of culturally and linguistically diverse gifted students.

45. Perpetuating Myths of Promoting Fact: You Decide There are researchers and scholars who purport that our nation's best, brightest, most gifted Hispanic/Latino students need to be exposed to gifted white students in order to help them be better students and to better prepare them to compete in a society controlled by the white majority.

46. Perpetuating Myths of Promoting Fact: You Decide If these authors assertions were true, would not the inverse apply to gifted white students in order to prepare them for our increasingly diverse schools, pluralistic America, and multicultural global society?

47. Question Do gifted Hispanic/Latino students need to be exposed to gifted white students to fully actualize their potential? This is certainly a topic worth debating. What do you think?

48. In Summary Gifted Hispanic/Latino students should be viewed as intelligent, and as an asset, and as such, challenged to fly to their greatest heights through the programs, services, and opportunities available to them.

49. In Summary There is no other program best suited to represent diversity in terms of intelligence, language, and ethnicity than gifted education?

50. Choose Your Neighbor A doctor and nurse A minister and his wife A single mother of 5 children A rock band A retired police officer