Underrepresentation of Black Children in Gifted Education Programs: Examining Ethnocentric Monoculturalism

Background

For decades, scholars have examined the use of standardized tests in connection with Black children. William (1972) wrote that test bias and standardized testing have adverse effects on the self-esteem of Black children. There have also been concerns raised about the fairness of the entire standardized testing process. More specifically, Ford & Grantham 2003; Kauffmann, 1994 have stated that attention must be paid to the inherent bias used in the development of testing instruments. Many testing instruments were developed and normed on the White middle class. Thus, it is inequitable to assume a universal reality when administering these instruments to children of color

To address the issue of underrepresentation, some districts are using additional nonbiased measures to test for gifted and talented programs. For example, exams such as the Raven’s Matrices, the Nagileri, which is a non-verbal ability test, and the Cog-At, or cognitive ability test, are all used as alternative measures to test for gifted students. However, a standard uniformed nonbiased way to test students for gifted and talented programs has not been developed.