An Alternative Approach to the Identification of Gifted Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners

Abstract

This study explores the utility of an alternative approach that incorporates dynamic assessment in the identification of gifted culturally and linguistically diverse learners in first to fifth grades (approximate age ranges from six to eleven) in a school with a majority of culturally diverse students. From a total population of 473 students in a Pennsylvania (USA) school, 60 percent of whom come from either immigrant or ethnic minority backgrounds, this study identified 25 (5 percent) who qualified for inclusion in the school district’s special program for academically gifted students. The distribution of cultural backgrounds of the students who qualified for the classes for gifted students paralled the proportion of representation of students from these backgrounds in the school. Previously, the number of children identified from this school ranged between two to four students (< 1 percent). The total percentage of gifted children identified within the entire district within which this school is located is typically 5 percent and the number of children identified within this school by this study matches this proportion. The study demonstrates the contribution of dynamic assessment to the identification of gifted minority children. The study also offers evidence of construct and concurrent validity of the dynamic assessment procedure based on the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test.