Linguistically gifted and talented students often do not receive appropriate instruction in the classroom. Little research has been conducted about how teachers of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses provide instruction to students who demonstrate advanced proficiency in a second language. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how teachers of these courses provided instruction for students who demonstrate advanced proficiency in Spanish. The conceptual framework was based on Krashen's second language acquisition theory and Gardner's multiple intelligences theory. Participants included 2 teachers from 2 high schools in 1 county in a western state. Data were collected from individual teacher interviews, reflective journals, and documents such as course standards and course descriptions. Single case analysis involved coding and category construction, using the constant comparative method for interview and journal data, and a content analysis for documents. Cross case analysis involved an examination of all data sources and cases to determine themes and discrepant data. A key finding was that, in addition to course rigor, teachers used a variety of instructional strategies, such as flexible grouping, choice, higher order thinking skills, and formative assessments to meet the needs of all students, including advanced proficiency students. Recommendations are to improve the identification of linguistically gifted and talented students and to provide professional development in differentiated instruction. This study contributes to positive social change by providing educators with a deeper understanding that students who are proficient in languages will be invaluable in building a strong global community.

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This quantitative survey design study examined whether children’s ethnicity makes a difference in teachers’ referral and placement decisions in gifted and talented (G/T) programs. A total of 524 teachers from all over the United States who have taught or currently teach pre-kindergarten through 5th grade participated. The participants were randomly given one of six vignettes adapted from a previous similar study (Elhoweris et al., 2005). Participants answered whether the child described should be referred and placed into gifted and talented programs. All six vignettes described gifted and talented characteristics; the only differences were the children's ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Data was collected via an online survey powered by Qualtrics® XM distributed via social media sites. A nonparametric test was conducted. Results showed no significant difference in preK-5th grade teachers’ referral and placement decisions for G/T educational programs based on children’s ethnicity. Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U tests were computed among the dependent variables and teachers’ school SES, Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, specialization, years of experience, and highest level of education. Teachers’ level of education, years of experience, and their schools’ SES were found to be significant. Findings are discussed in terms of limitations, future research, and application to the gifted and talented field.

Given the many school choices available to parents, there is a need to understand the reasons parents of a child who is gifted choose to keep their child in his/her current school. Parents* satisfaction with their child*s school and their academic growth is essential to continued enrollment of the child in that school (Abdulkadiroglu, Angrist, & Pathak, 2011; Van Tassel-Baska, 2006). The parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school may be influenced by factors within the school as well as those factors outside of the school. The purpose of this study was to research factors that may influence the parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school. The research studied parental perceptions of academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education for their child who is gifted and the parents* willingness to keep their child who is gifted enrolled at their current school. The target group in the study was parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in a very large urban school district but did not include parents of children who are gifted and also have a disability. The research included the analysis of a survey and follow-up interview questions with parents of a child who is gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. There were 683 survey responses out of 4,401 total parents surveyed with a return rate of 16%. The low return rate is considered a limitation of the study and it is recommended to conduct additional research on the majority of parents who did not participate in the survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. The survey and interview data was coded and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. There were two research questions that guided the development of the research process and the analysis of data. The first question focused on indicators of parent satisfaction that included academic needs met, social and emotional needs met, and principal support for gifted education. The survey and interview data yielded mixed results with parents split between the belief that their child*s academic needs were met, social and emotional needs were met, and that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The second research question considered the relationship between the three indicators of parent satisfaction and the parents* willingness to consider enrolling their child in a school solely for students who are gifted. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the parents* belief that their child*s academic needs were met and the parents* consideration to send their child to a school solely for students who are gifted. However, there was a lack of evidence to establish a relationship between parent*s belief about their child*s social and emotional needs or the parents belief that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The implications of the study are numerous. There are enough parents willing to consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted to support opening the school. The majority of the survey participants had elementary school children; therefore, consideration should be focused on opening an elementary school for students who are gifted. Long range planning is needed to determine how to support the school for students who are gifted as well as the impact of transferring the students from one school zone to the school for students who are gifted. The literature reflected the diverse nature of the parents* satisfaction with academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education and revealed that when the parents* are satisfied it does not guarantee that the parent will keep their child enrolled in their current school. The need for on-going communication between the school and the parents are critical to keeping the student enrolled in their current school. Further research is needed to determine the beliefs of parents with children who are gifted and identify themselves as Black, Hispanic, Asian, or another race since the majority of the survey participants were White. More research is also needed to determine the reasons why large numbers of parents would consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted regardless of their satisfaction levels with school support. In addition, further research needs to be conducted to determine why parents would choose to keep their child enrolled in their current school when the parents believed their academic or social and emotional needs were not met or their principal was not supportive of gifted education.

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Gifted programs, designed to enhance engagement and rigor for students exhibiting talent or potential beyond their peers in the general education classroom, are not equitably identifying and serving Hispanic/Latino students. This qualitative study explored gifted programming at a Title I elementary school located in a largely Hispanic/Latino community. Very few students received gifted services at the school, despite equity measures in place. Using a framework of educational capital, this study highlighted the cultural capital and community cultural wealth of gifted Hispanic/Latino students and provided suggestions for enhancing programming for this historically underidentified population of learners. Data were collected through semistructured interviews of parents and teachers of students receiving gifted services. Questions were aligned with concepts of capital, and a priori codes were used to analyze participant perspectives. Findings identified embodied cultural capital as the dominant gifted paradigm, but inequitable opportunities to learn hinder students’ ability to embody giftedness. Also, the linguistic capital of other cultures has been unrecognized by gifted testing, impacting access for gifted emergent bilingual students. Finally, barriers to success (e.g., low levels of rigor and engagement at the school, lack of opportunity to test for the gifted program, and lack of navigational capital for parents and teachers) threaten the vibrant hopes and dreams parents and teachers have for these students. Findings support the need for increased gifted programming in Title I schools and updated gifted policy to reflect culturally inclusive values.