As the population of linguistically diverse students in schools increases, so should the representation of these students in gifted and talented programs. This is a struggle for many schools districts where the ethnic diversity in the district is not reflected in the students identified as gifted. The objective of this study was to examine teachers’ perspectives regarding students identified as gifted and talented through the addition of the Bilingual Verbal Abilities Test (BVAT) to the identification process. The researcher interviewed teachers to determine if they perceived the linguistically diverse students identified using the new measure to be gifted and talented, and what characteristics the teachers believed led to their being identified. In addition, the teachers were asked if they believed students should have been identified as gifted but were not despite the use of the new measure, and what the teachers believed were the barriers preventing identification. The use of the BVAT resulted in the identification of students the teachers perceived to be gifted; however, teachers described a number of students who were missed. Teachers overwhelmingly described the linguistically diverse students they perceived to be gifted as having advanced language skills, particularly in reading. The teachers rely on their experience in the classroom with students to help them determine which students to refer for testing, rather than training they have completed. The greatest barrier to identification that was identified by the teachers was language. They discussed the lack of students’ language development (despite their advanced abilities) and the unusually high level of language required on standardized assessments. Finally, teachers suggested using a test preparation approach to improve the identification process, and to test linguistically diverse students for the gifted program repeatedly.

Academic, general, and emotional self-concepts were measured among 140 gifted students at a residential academic summer program. The literature is conflicting concerning the positive (Humes & Campbell, 1980; Kolloff & Moore, 1989) and negative (Olszewski, Kulieke, & Willis, 1987) effects of the participation of gifted students in such programs. Three main hypotheses are posited: First, the academic, general self, and emotional self-concepts of gifted students would increase in the time spent at a summer program. Second, there would be no gender differences found in the areas of academic and general self-concept, but predicted gender differences for emotional self-concept. Third, previous participation in a summer program would result in differences between groups for academic, general, and emotional self-concept. Self-concept was measured using the Self-Description Questionnaire II (Marsh, 1990). Results were analyzed using a series of repeated measures ANOVAs. Application of the results, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

As the population of linguistically diverse students in schools increases, so should the representation of these students in gifted and talented programs. This is a struggle for many schools districts where the ethnic diversity in the district is not reflected in the students identified as gifted. The objective of this study was to examine teachers’ perspectives regarding students identified as gifted and talented through the addition of the Bilingual Verbal Abilities Test (BVAT) to the identification process. The researcher interviewed teachers to determine if they perceived the linguistically diverse students identified using the new measure to be gifted and talented, and what characteristics the teachers believed led to their being identified. In addition, the teachers were asked if they believed students should have been identified as gifted but were not despite the use of the new measure, and what the teachers believed were the barriers preventing identification. The use of the BVAT resulted in the identification of students the teachers perceived to be gifted; however, teachers described a number of students who were missed. Teachers overwhelmingly described the linguistically diverse students they perceived to be gifted as having advanced language skills, particularly in reading. The teachers rely on their experience in the classroom with students to help them determine which students to refer for testing, rather than training they have completed. The greatest barrier to identification that was identified by the teachers was language. They discussed the lack of students’ language development (despite their advanced abilities) and the unusually high level of language required on standardized assessments. Finally, teachers suggested using a test preparation approach to improve the identification process, and to test linguistically diverse students for the gifted program repeatedly.

The exponential growth of the Hispanic student population and the controversial educational issue surrounding the assessment of English language learners are the two fundamental topics of this study. Due to the uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding the assessment of the escalating Hispanic student population, the underrepresentation of Hispanics in gifted and talented (GT) programs has developed into a critical educational concern (Bernal, 2002; Irby & Lara-Alecio, 1996; Ortiz & Gonzalez, 1998). The research questions that guided this study focused on finding validated assessments for early identification of the gifted Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in kindergarten. The first research question aimed to determine the concurrent validity of the Hispanic Bilingual Gifted Screening Instrument (HBGSI) using the Naglieri Nonverbal Abilities Test (NNAT) and Wookcock Language Proficient Battery-Revised (WLPB-R) selected three subtests, administered in English and Spanish. This study found a positive statistically significant correlation between the HBGSI, the NNAT, and WLPB-R subtests. The second question focused on the correlation between language proficiency as measured by the WLPB-R subtests and nonverbal intelligence measured using the NNAT. This analysis found that there was a statistically significant correlation between the NNAT and the WLPB-R subtests. The third question concentrated on the difference in performance on the NNAT and WLPB-R subtests by two student groups, those identified and those not identified GT using the HBGSI. The study determined that the students identified GT performed statistically significantly different on the NNAT than those not identified GT. The fourth question centered on the difference in performance on the HBGSI of students enrolled in a transitional bilingual education (TBE) and those enrolled in an English as a second language (ESL) classroom. The results of my study showed that students in a TBE classroom performed statistically significantly different on five HBGSI clusters (Social & Academic Language, Familial, Collaboration, Imagery, and Creative Performance) than students in ESL classroom. The study’s results were analyzed, interpreted and discussed in this dissertation.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Jāmiʻat ʻAyn Shams, Cairo, 1972. / Cover title: Saykūlūjīyat al-mutafawwīqīn ʻaqlīyan. Title on p. [4] of cover: Psychology of talented students. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-193).

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Teachers College, Columbia University, 1962. / Typescript; issued also on microfilm. Sponsor: Alice M. Miel. Dissertation Committee: Dwayne Huebner. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-171).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on July 22, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--Kutztown State College, 1979. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2802. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-80).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.