Education Bias

Gaps in achievement between minority and non-minority students of all ages, especially in gifted programs have become a central problem in the field of education, especially in South Carolina and have been growing steadily over the past decades. Policies, practices and even bias factor into the selection or identifying of gifted students. The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) defines giftedness as a student whose intellectual abilities, creativity, and the potential for achievement is outstanding that the student’s needs exceed differentiated general education programs and requires specifically designed instruction or support services (NAGC, 2018). Federal laws like No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002) mandated that all

The historical precedent of discrimination within any education system and should come as no surprise and that bias plays an important role in developing of policies and procedures in identifying students for their gifted programs. Bias plays an important role in both assessment and identification of minority or culturally gifted students. Also, it is no surprise that educators and researchers have asked for these changes for several years, but not every district has the same policies or procedures.

The classroom teachers are the ones that observe students in a variety of situations and under a variety of conditions, and their unique perspective is valuable in selecting students for their gifted and talented programs. Most districts use the standardized tests and intelligence test and then the teachers' recommendations. Often, ratings are created to form a pool of students to be tested for these programs and included in the decision-making process and whether or not teachers' expectations, biases, stereotypes and beliefs influence their selection of students into their gifted and talented