Of gifted students, there are many subgroups that fall under the category gifted. The entire group of gifted students may be underserved as a whole, but the different subgroups of gifted students each have their own reasons as to why they are underserved in education. These different groups are:
- Minorities
- Twice Exceptional
- Females
- Underachievers
- Poverty Stricken
Let's now explore why each one of these groups are underserved in education.
Minorities
In the gifted community, minorities tend to be widely underrepresented. In many gifted classes, Asian and American students make up the vast majority of the classroom. Other ethnic groups tend to lack in their numbers in these gifted classes. According to an article found on Scientific American, Hispanic students are underrepresented by 42 percent in gifted programs and African American students by 51 percent. This gap is huge and could be a result of numerous factors, such as:
- lack of access to technology
- poor quality schools
- lower teacher expectations
- low levels of parental education and involvement
- negative peer influences
- lack of expectations for higher education (Wickelgren, 2012).
Since many of these minority students fall victim to several of these factors, their numbers in education programs are underrepresented.
Twice Exceptional
Earlier I was talking about students with special needs who require extra attention in the classroom. Well, twice exceptional students are almost like students who need twice the amount of attention, that is, because they are both academically gifted and have some sort of learning disability.
Twice exceptional students almost seem like a rare type of student because you don't typically hear too often about students with both types of learning habits; it is most common to hear about a student with AD/HD or a student who performs far above grade level. Most often you do not hear about a student who performs above average while also dealing with AD/HD or some other form of learning disability.
These students are tricky to deal with because the learning disability will typically take the forefront, causing the exceptional learning giftedness to go unnoticed.
Females
When I was in grade school, I was part of this group of students. I represented the small number of females in the Gifted & Talented program at my elementary school, in fact, in the first year, I was the only female in my class of 4 gifted students in the third grade.
Right away I felt like the minority in my class. Each day I would be pulled out of class to go work separately with my G&T class where I was the only female in the room. I was very shy to begin with, so putting me in a class where I had no other girls to lean on was challenging.
As the only female in a class setting like that one, you constantly question what put me in this room? What makes me different from all of the other girls? I was so young when I was put into this class that I did not realize what my gifts and talents even were. According to an article on the Davidson Institute Database, gifted girls "know they're different and, for many, they perceive that this difference is somehow strange or wrong" (Smutney, 1999).
I never felt like it was wrong for me to be in the gifted program, but I always thought it was strange that there was such a limited number of females. Many of the projects and activities we did in class involved building things or problem solving, and most of the time the boys would take the lead. Many females don't have role models in these certain situations which makes their needs underserved.
Underachievers
Underachievers certainly go unnoticed in the gifted community because their talents may not ever be identified due to their lack of motivation in the classroom. These students could feel like they are not being challenged enough, therefore underperform in the class setting because of boredom of classroom material. Other factors as to why gifted students underachieve include:
- Un-nurturing environments that discourage high achievement
- Low self-esteem
- Negative attitude toward school and learning
- Failure to take risks/apply one's self
- Lack of perseverance
- Lack of goal-directed behavior
- Social isolation
- Disruptiveness in class (Smutney, 2004).
Many teachers will think of these students as lazy because they do not apply themselves in the classroom. In reality, the teachers are not giving these students challenging enough material to meet the academic needs.
Poverty Stricken
Poverty stricken students may seem like an obvious group to be underserved in the gifted community. Gifted students coming from low-income families do not have the funds or resources typically to meet their child's needs. Not only do impoverished children not have the means for an advanced education at their home life, many schools can't even reach their needs.According to an article on Education Week, "only two states require teachers to have any training in educating gifted students, and none requires educators to learn about how poverty may affect giftedness" (Sparks, 2015). So if a poverty stricken student isn't getting their needs met at home or at school, how are they supposed to express their academically giftedness?
Which group is most underserved?
After researching the five categories of underserved gifted students, I came to a conclusion of which group I felt was most underserved in the education system. My answer is: Twice Exceptional.
First off, I was a gifted student and I had never heard of twice exceptional students. I did not know such a category existed, which is part of the reason why I believe they are most underserved. I feel like twice exceptionality is such a rare category that most teachers do not know how to handle it.
While researching twice exceptional students, I came across a twice exceptional newsletter, where accounts of twice exceptional students are posted. The story that stuck out to me most was about a boy named Cameron.
Cameron performs above grade level and causes no disruptions in the classroom. His teachers see him as a model student, but his AD/HD makes it hard for him to focus in class all day. Cameron has superior-level intelligence for abstract thinking and problem solving, but he uses all of his physical and mental energy to survive the school day, so his academic gifts went unnoticed in the classroom.His teachers started to feel like he wasn't trying hard enough so he received a lack of encouragement in the classroom. Cameron would go home from school and break down and cry and tell himself that he was stupid. By age 8, he dreaded school and did not ever want to return to that environment. Cameron's parents had to begin homeschooling him because they simply had no other option (Bracamonte, 2010).
Cameron's story shows how underserved the twice exceptional community is. Teachers simply do not know how to handle students like Cameron because their situation is so rare.
Why should they receive more attention?
Twice exceptional students are going unnoticed, and at this rate the problem will only continue to grow. School systems need to pay closer attention to these students and make sure they are getting the proper care they deserve.
Teachers need to go through proper training so they know how to handle these students. They must be aware that it's not the student's fault and that they're not being lazy, when in actuality they just may not be getting challenged enough.
Parents need to be aware of the gifts and talents their child possesses, so they know how to accommodate. Parents must play an active role in their child's education in order for them to reach their fullest potential.
And finally, the twice exceptional student needs to know that it is OK to speak up to a parent or a teacher when they feel they are not being challenged enough. A student should not have to sit idly to their education if they feel the content is below their learning capabilities. These students are gifted for a reason, and it is important that the school system provides them with all the attention that they deserve.
References
Bracamonte, M. (2010, March). Twice-Exceptional Students: Who Are They and What Do They Need? Retrieved from
http://www.2enewsletter.com/article_2e_what_are_they.html
Smutney, J. F. (1999). Gifted Girls. Retrieved from
http://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/entry/A10171
Smutney, J. F. (2004). Meeting the needs of gifted underachievers - individually! Retrieved from http://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/entry/A10442
Sparks, S. (2015, May 20). Poorest Students Often Miss Out on Gifted Classes. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/20/poorest-students-often-miss-out-on-gifted.html
[Untitled image of Student]. Retrieved October 3, 2016 from http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Twice-Exceptional-Students.jpeg
[Untitled image of Classroom]. Retrieved October 3, 2016 from http://www.specialeducationguide.com/wp-content/uploads/22_classroom-students-hands-up.jpg
Wickelgren, I. (2012, Nov. 2). Where are the Gifted Minorities? Retrieved from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/where-are-the-gifted-minorities/
[Untitled image of Student]. Retrieved October 3, 2016 from http://www.brainbalancecenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Twice-Exceptional-Students.jpeg
[Untitled image of Classroom]. Retrieved October 3, 2016 from http://www.specialeducationguide.com/wp-content/uploads/22_classroom-students-hands-up.jpg
Wickelgren, I. (2012, Nov. 2). Where are the Gifted Minorities? Retrieved from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/where-are-the-gifted-minorities/
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