Multi-Cultural Gifted

Francis A. Karnes and Kristen R. Stephens. Achieving Excellence. Educating the Gifted and Talented. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson

This text is a comprehensive presentation of the major issues in gifted education including theoretical stances on giftedness, creativity and talent, identification of gifted and talented learners, special populations including twice exceptional, culturally and linguistically diverse students, curriculum for gifted learners, program models, parenting issues, program evaluation and assessment and teachers of the gifted. Many of the chapters are written by leading researchers and practitioners in the field and because of that they deal with issue at a complex level, but present material in a very readable style appropriate for those new to the field of gifted education. Some chapters that are not typically seen in textbooks of this nature include ones on theories of intelligence, legal issues in the field, program evaluation, teachers of the gifted and talented and parenting.

In the Eyes of the Beholder. Critical Issues for Diversity in Gifted Education by Diane Boothe and Julian C Stanley, Prufrock Press, 2003.
This book focuses on a broad spectrum of issues concerning diversity in gifted education including special populations of learners, different domains of giftedness, different approaches to meeting the needs of gifted students, and research on programs designed to increase diversity in gifted programs. There are many interesting chapters but some notable ones include: Sethna's chapter on the views of parents of Indian descent on giftedness; Gottfredson's chapter on the relative contribution of IQ and other standardized tests for entrance into gifted programs on the under-representation of minority children; Kornhaber's chapter on the effects of multiple intelligence approaches to the identification of gifted children on diversity in such programs; and Lerner and Nagai's chapter on racial and ethnic preferences in admissions policies of institutions of higher education. This book is a must for anyone working to institute programs for gifted children within a racially and culturally diverse community.

Multicultural Gifted Education. Donna Y. Ford and J. John Harris III, Teachers College Press , New York, 1999.
This book includes a comprehensive look at many issues surrounding the identification and instruction of minority gifted children. Ford is a leading expert on minority gifted education in the field. Chapters cover historical and legal perspectives on the education of gifted minority children, multicultural education and gifted education, multicultural curriculum and instruction, assessment and identification of gifted children, characteristics of minority families, and issues surrounding teacher preparation. Throughout significant research is cited. Appendices include a selected bibliography of multicultural and gifted resources as well as a checklist of assess programs for multicultural content and instructional methods.

Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students. Promising Practices and Programs. Donna Y. Ford. 1996 Teachers College Press, NY.
Ford begins her book with an examination of definitions. The first chapter looks at definitions of giftedness and their implication for the identification of gifted Black students. The second chapter similarly explores definitions of underachievement. Subsequent chapters addresses many facet of underachievement in gifted Black students including motivation, beliefs about achievement, school factors, cultural issues, psychological factors and family factors. Ford devotes the last two chapters to potential solutions to the problem of underachievement among Black students including a review of promising practices gleaned from the Javits projects and directors for future research.

Jaime A. Castellano. Special Populations in Gifted Education. Working with Diverse Gifted Learners.
This book provides a comprehensive look at various special populations of gifted learners including females, biracial and bicultural students, Native American students, AFrican-American students, Hispanic students, learning disabled students, gay students, and rural students. A strength of the book is its breadth in terms of the number of special populations dealt with in the various chapters and the depth of the discussion of issues relevant to each group of gifted learners.