Date of Award
1-1-1992
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Child and Youth Care Administration
Advisor
June Delano
Committee Member
Linda D. Benware
Keywords
African American preschool gifted identification, early childhood at risk gifted, early childhood gifted identification, early childhood minority gifted, economically disadvantaged gifted preschool identification, ESOL gifted preschool identification, gifted program referrals, gifted youth at risk, minority student identification, parent involvement, preschool gifted, preschool teacher training, referral matrix, teacher awareness, teacher checklists
Abstract
The goal of this practicum was to increase the number of minority students referred for the gifted program. Three broad objectives were designed to achieve this goal: (1) to increase the number of minority students classroom teachers refer for the gifted program; (2) to develop a greater sensitivity among the teachers and staff to Identify potentially gifted minority students; (3) to develop a matrix which can be used by gifted program teachers for referral of minority students to the gifted program.
During the three month practicum period a teacher checklist was designed for identifying potentially gifted minority students. Training sessions were held at preschool centers to increase teacher awareness of not only the characteristics of potentially gifted minority students but also the need to refer these students at the preschool level. A matrix was developed for the collection of various sources of information about the minority student. Included in the matrix was the teacher checklist, parent checklist an evaluation for learning and thinking abilities, and a developmental evaluation. This matrix compared to standard referral procedures, provided a broader source of information, thus increasing the number of minority students referred.
The outcomes of the practicum were positive. In addition, the inclusion of the parent checklist in the matrix led to a parent meeting which brought about more open communication between the public school gifted education program and the preschool program parents. One serendipitous result was that many of the parents were surprised at the realization that their child demonstrated this potential for giftedness.