Discretion and Disproportionality - Explaining the Underrepresentation of High-Achieving Students of Color in Gifted Programs

Oct 15, 2026

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Students of color are underrepresented in gifted programs relative to White students, and the causes remain insufficiently understood. This study examines predictors of gifted assignment using nationally representative longitudinal data from elementary students. Even with high standardized test scores, Black students are less likely to be assigned to gifted services in math and reading after controlling for background factors. The analysis further tests teacher discretion and finds lower referral rates for Black students when instruction comes from non-Black teachers, especially in reading.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Discretion and disproportionality

Underrepresentation in gifted programs

Predictors of gifted assignment and test scores

Role of teacher discretion and provider diversity

School context and racial disparities

Teacher referral as a gatekeeping mechanism

AERA Open January-March 2016, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1–25 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858415622175 © The Author(s) 2016. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com) Discretion and Disproportionality: Explaining the Underrepresentation of High-Achieving Students of Color in Gifted Programs Jason A. Grissom Christopher Redding Vanderbilt University Students of color are underrepresented in gifted programs relative to White students, but the reasons for this underrepresentation are poorly understood. We investigate the predictors of gifted assignment using nationally representative, longitudinal data on elementary students. We document that even among students with high standardized test scores, Black students are less likely to be assigned to gifted services in both math and reading, a pattern that persists when controlling for other background factors, such as health and socioeconomic status, and characteristics of classrooms and schools. We then investigate the role of teacher discretion, leveraging research from political science suggesting that clients of government services from traditionally underrepresented groups benefit from diversity in the providers of those services, including teachers. Even after conditioning on test scores and other factors, Black students indeed are referred to gifted programs, particularly in reading, at significantly lower rates when taught by non-Black teachers, a concerning result given the relatively low incidence of assignment to own-race teachers among Black students. Keywords: gifted education, equity, teachers, race, school context SubStantial race disparities exist in student receipt of gifted education services in American schools. Data from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education reveal that as of 2009, African American students constitute 16.7% of the student population but just 9.8% of students in gifted programs. Similarly, Hispanic students constitute 22.3% of students but only 15.4% of students receiving gifted services (U.S. Department of Education, 2010) . These disproportionalities have sparked concern among researchers and the media not only because they represent potentially unfair or inequitable treatment of minority students (Baker, 2013; Ford, 1998) but because studies have linked participation in gifted programs to positive future outcomes, including increased academic performance (Bhatt, 2009; Card & Giuliano, 2014; Delcourt, Cornell, & Goldberg, 2007; Goldring, 1990; C. Kulik & Kulik, 1982; Rogers, 2007) and improvements in such domains as motivation, self-efficacy, engagement with learning, nonacademic self-concept, and overall stress (e.g., C. Kulik & Kulik, 1982; J. Kulik & Kulik, 1984; Marsh, Chessor, Craven, & Roche, 1995; Rogers, 2007) .1 Furthermore, disparities in gifted identification may contribute to within-school segregation of students on the basis of race and ethnicity, with consequences for both nonWhite and White students (Darity & Jolla, 2009) . Scholars have attributed racial and ethnic disparities in gifted program participation to a variety offactors. Generally lower achievement among Black and Hispanic students, for example, might contribute to underrepresentation in gifted programs, particularly in systems with narrower, achievement-centered definitions of giftedness (Ford, 1998) . Lower social and financial capital can mean that racial-and ethnicminority families may have less access to information about identification processes or to private psychologists or others who can test them for giftedness outside the school (Mickelson, 2003) . Furthermore, Black students are less likely to attend schools with gifted programs. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten cohort (ECLS-K)—the data source for this study—show that 90% of White, 93% of Hispanic, and 91% of Asian elementary school students attend a school with a gifted program, compared to only 83% of African American students. Within

FAQs

What is the central problem addressed in this article?

Students of color, especially Black students, are underrepresented in gifted programs compared with White students, and the reasons for this gap are not well understood.

Do academic test scores fully explain gifted-program underassignment?

No. The article reports that even among students with high standardized test scores, Black students are still less likely to be assigned to gifted services in both math and reading.

How does teacher discretion affect referrals to gifted programs?

Teacher discretion is examined through patterns of referral rates, and the study finds that Black students are referred at significantly lower rates when taught by non-Black teachers, notably in reading.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher