Ethical Considerations for Gifted Assessment and Identification of Children who are Culturally and Linguistically Divers

1. Ethical Considerations for Gifted Assessment and Identification of Children who are Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Nanda Mitra-Itle

2. Essential Questions • What is the problem? • What are the ethical considerations? • What factors comprise the problem? • What are the solutions? • What is the role of school psychologists?

3. What is the Problem?

4. The Problem • The percentage of students of diversity in gifted programs is not proportional to their percentage of representation in the school. Consequently-under-representation in gifted programs. • Ethical violations in daily practice of educators that has perpetuated this problem.

5. The Problem: Show me the numbers (Ford & Whiting, 2007) (Pierce et al, 2007)

6. The Problem: Show me the numbers (US Dept of Educ, 2004)

7. The Problem: Show me the numbers (US Dept of Educ, 2004)

8. The Problem: Show me the numbers (US Dept of Educ, 2004)

9. The Problem: Show me the numbers (Rose, 2001)

10. What are the ethical considerations?

11. What does Ethics have to do with it? (NASP Code of Ethics) (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • “Formal principals that guide conduct of a professional school psychologist.” • Mandates school psychologists to protect the rights and welfare of the student while promoting improvement in the quality of their lives.

12. What does Ethics have to do with it cont… (NASP Code of Ethics) (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • Based on assumptions that we will act as advocates for our students/client and at the least, do no harm. • Welfare of psychological patrons and maintaining public trust

13. Ethical Considerations (NASP Code of Ethics) (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • Professionals Competence • Professional Relationships and Responsibilities to client • Client Advocacy • Responsibilities in assessment/intervention • School based research/evaluation

14. Professional Competence (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • Being acquainted with ones own limitations and strengths in training and experience and engaging in activities consistent with ones competencies. • Upon recognition of limitations, one should seek out continuing professional development and remain progressive in research, training, professional practice.

15. Professional Relationships and Responsibilities to client (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • Practice to encourage improvement in the quality of life for client while maintaining sensitivity to mental, emotional, political, economic, social, racial, ethnic, etc characteristics. • Resolve conflicting interests in a method that protects rights of all individuals involved.

16. Client Advocacy (Jacob-Trimm & Harshorne, 1994) • Concerns for protecting the rights and welfare of students is communicated to school administration and staff and is the top priority in determining services. • When acting as advocates school psychologists must take into account rights of each individual involved and the duties of the school personnel.

17. Responsibilities in assessment/intervention (Jacob-Trimm et al, 1994) • Obligation to understand the nuances of assessment/intervention and maintain dignity/integrity of clients while acting as advocates for their welfare. • Must be conversant in various variables involved in place of employment and establish clear roles • Promote change in work place/society that will benefit client/community

18. School based research/evaluation (Jacob-Trimm et al, 1994) • Take responsibility for all facets of their research from topic to reporting. • Communicate findings in a manner that is easily understood by audience.

19. What factors comprise the problem?

20. Factors to ponder • Definitional disagreements of intelligence • Statistical disparities in school population (staff vs. students). • Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors • Break between Research and Practice

21. Definitional disagreements of intelligence (Plucker, 2001); NAGC, 2007 p. 2) • Spearman-Two factor theory and “g” • Thurstone-7 Primary Mental abilities • Cattell-Fluid vs. Crystallized • Guildford-Divergent thinking and Structure of the Intellect Model • Gardner-Multiple Intelligence • Sternberg-Triarchic Theory

22. Definitional disagreements of giftedness(NAGC, 2007 p. 2) • Gagne-uses untrained/spontaneous natural ability in at least one domain that’s in top 10% for his/her age. • Renzulli-interaction among AA general and/or specific abilities, high levels of task commitment and high levels of creativity. • Sternberg & Wagner- mental management of life in a constructive, purposeful way using adaptation to ones environment, selection of new environment and shaping of an environment

23. Definitional disagreements of giftedness by state/political • PA-A child with an outstanding intellectual or creative ability that requires specially designed programs and/or support services not ordinarily provided in the regular education program(22 Pa. Code16.1) • MA-no gifted definition(NAGC, 2007 p. 2)

24. Definitional disagreements of giftedness by state/political cont.. • …Identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance (Former U.S. commissioner of Education Sidney Marland) (NAGC, 2007 p. 2) • Outstanding talent perform/shows potential for performing at remarkably high levels when compared to same age, experience, envir…exhibit high performance in intellect, creative, artistic.. Gubbins, 2005)

25. Definitional disagreements of giftedness by culture (Sternberg, 2007) • Taiwanese Chinese-add inter/intra personal skills. • Africa-emphasize on skills that maintain harmony of intergroup relations • Chewa in Zamiba-emphasize social responsibilities, cooperativeness and obedience • Zimbabwe-word intelligence means prudent/cautious

26. Statistical disparities in school population (National Center for Education and Statistics, 2004)

27. Statistical disparities in school population (National Center for Education and Statistics, 2004)

28. Statistical disparities in school population (Lopez)

29. Implications of this population disparity • Most districts rely on educator referrals before formally assessing for gifted program(McBee, 2006) • Educators who make referrals find it difficult to determine minority student’s potential since they are of a different ethnic group.(Matthews & Matthews, 2006) • Deficit Thinking-having negative and stereotypic views about students who are culturally diverse(Ford et al, 2003)

30. Implications of this population disparity cont… • In fact, a study concluded that teacher referral was a poor manner for gifted screening. (Matthews & Matthews, 2006) • A study found that teacher judgment was only 27% efficient in identifying gifted students. (McBee, 2006) • A study found that teachers rated Hispanic students lower. (McBee, 2006)

31. Implications of this population disparity cont… • A study found that 2nd grade teachers were still hesitant, in some cases, to refer even after they had all answer correct on a CBM. (Pierce et al,, 2006) • A study found that teachers in Alaska thought Eskimo children to not be as bright(Sternberg, 2007) • Few teachers exposed to a multicultural curriculum or have experience with students of diversity in their training so they are ignorant of cultural nuances regarding learning styles, communication patterns, behavioral approaches, etc Sternberg, 2007)

32. Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors • “The body is the hardware and culture is the software.”(Ford et al, 2005) • Manifestations of giftedness reflect the interaction of culture, language, world-view, conceptual style, values, personality(Harris et al, 1991)

33. Native Americans Interdependence Community Slower/delayed responses Nonverbal communication/direct verbal comm. Present orientation Participate after observation European Americans Independence Competition Faster/immediate responses Verbal Communication/indirect verbal comm Future orientation Initiative Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors(Knutson et al, 2005)

34. Keresan Pueblo Giftedness-global quality that shows by contributing to society Inter-relationships cooperation European Americans Giftedness-Superior abilities Competition Self-promotion Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors(Knutson et al, 2005)

35. Hispanic Americans Work together with family to solve problem Speak after spoken to Collateral (extended family) Obedience to authority Harmony with nature Direct verbal comm. European Americans Competition, self-direction, Initiative in speaking first Individual (nuclear family-bio necessity) Independence and questions Subjection of Nature Indirect verbal comm. Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors(Cohen, p2)(Sue & Sue, 2003)

36. African Americans Present orientation Collateral (extended family) Collective orientation Harmony with nature European Americans Future orientation Individual (nuclear family-bio necessity) Individualistic orientation Master of nature Conflicts of cultural values/behaviors(Sue & Sue, 2003)

37. Other Conflicts Involved (Morris, 2002) • Some schools African Americans experience second-generation discrimination • In order to succeed may African Americans feel pressure to acculturate into European culture instead maintaining both. • Self sabotage success b/c friends not in gifted program. • Language minority students are disadvantaged b/c of background.

38. Break between Research and Practice (Cohen p2) • Divergence in intellectual assessment practices(Cohen p2) • Practice often reflects misconceptions, budget, habit, etc instead of research based theories. • Cognitive expression often tempered by context(Sternberg, 2007). • Minorities do better on performance based assessments(Ascher, 1990)

39. Break between Research and Practice cont… • Identification process varies even within the same district. • Identification often consists of only a standardized test or weights it heavily. • Context and SES affect expression of intelligence. (Sternberg, 2007)

40. What are the solutions?

41. Solutions to Consider • Adopting a pluralistic perspective(Harris et al, 1991) • Educating all staff members and seeking professional development on diversity issues related to gifted identification(Romero, 1994) • Using a multiple-criteria method

42. Adopting a pluralistic perspective (Harris et al, 1991) • Means assimilating the definitional disagreements into one cohesive perspective that uses a multimodal/multidimensional view that accounts for the variability in gifted expression. • This allows for definition based on strengths and research instead of relative to European American middle class students. • Allows for more flexibility • This perspective forces us to see both the individual and environmental factors of each student.

43. Characteristics of giftedness Breath of information Strong Memory High Verbal Proficiency High Abstract thinking Creativity Diverse interests, abilities Cultural Expression in Keresan People Geographic knowledge about environment, cultural history, storytelling Remembering songs, speeches, traditions, legends Native speech, song composition, etc Adopting a pluralistic perspective- Example (Romero, 1994)

44. Educating all staff members and ourselves (Romero, 1994) • Educating staff members/yourself so they/you are sensitive to a variety of gifted characteristics related to culture, race, etc • School staff members should encourage attitudes, practices and polices in school consistent with a multicultural classroom. • All students profit from an integrated culturally responsive setting not just diverse learners. • Attend minority events and collaborate with diverse communities(Grantham et al--)

45. Being Supportive • Encourage students to balance b/w both cultures via education and sensitivity (Romero, 1994) • Acknowledge value of being competent in both cultures (Romero, 1994) • Understand nature and needs of diverse learners in your school (Romero, 1994) • Clarify educational goals and practices Romero, 1994) • Re-examine educational paradigms (Grantham et al--)

46. Being Supportive cont…. • Encourage diverse learners and their families to collaborate with their school in educating staff members about cultural considerations. (Daniels, 1998) • Encourage parents to advocate for their right and for a multicultural curricula and policy(Daniels, 1998) • Encourage diverse learner’s parents to volunteer

47. Being Supportive cont…. • Encourage communication b/w home and school regarding diverse issues(Grantham et al--) • Let parents know of the gifted program

48. Using a multiple-criteria method (Flanagan et al,--) • Student interview • Permanent products • GATES (Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scales) • Sociometric questionnaire • Parent Interview • Teacher interview • Observations • Performance based assessments

49. Using a multiple-criteria method (Thomas & Grimes, 2002) • Cognitive Assessments • CHC cross battery approach • Dynamic assessment (pretest-intervention-posttest for acquisition of skills)(Lidz & Macrine, 2001) • DISCOVER (Discovering Intellectual Strengths and Capabilities through Observation while allowing for Varied Ethnic Responses) (Sarouphim, 2004) • Project CLUE (Clustering Learners Unlocks Equity)(Pierce et al, 2007)

50. Before using a cognitive assessment remember… • Administration of intelligence tests in English are appropriate when used with students who are English dominant(Bainter et al, 2003) • Bilingual-Assessment should measure task performance across two languages(Ascher, 1990) • Minorities perform better on performance based assessment than on standardized assessments.(Sarouphim, 2004)