Multicultural gifted education

Abstract

Multicultural Gifted Education, by Donna Y. Ford and J. John Harris, III. New York: Teachers College Press, 1999. 250 pp. $50.00, cloth; $23.95, paper. Reviewed by Tyrone C. Howard, The Ohio State University. In this informative and thought-provoking book, authors Ford and Harris provide a critical examination of the nexus between gifted and multicultural education. Their central thesis is that programs for gifted and talented students must become more responsive to the needs of students of color. They strongly assert that such programs must strive to create a multicultural schooling experience that helps to affirm the dignity and humanity of all of the students chosen to participate in them. Most importantly, they contend that all students must have equitable opportunity to participate in gifted and talented educational programs, regardless of their race/ethnicity, social class, or ability level. This book marks a significant contribution to the debate on reforming gifted education for many reasons. Ford and Harris offer a compelling argument that multicultural education plays a cogent role in academic achievement. Recognizing that multicultural education is often described by many of its critics as intellectually weak and as having no tangible positive influence on minority student achievement, they present a range of evidencefrom content, curricular, and instructional examples to assessment strategies-that confirms the intellectual rigor and value of this approach. Their thorough synthesis of multicultural and gifted educational practice is valuable because it discredits the dichotomous notion that teachers must choose between inclusiveness and academic rigor. One of Multicultural Gifted Education's strong points is its authors' acknowledgment of the contested view that many educators also have toward gifted education. To their credit, Ford and Harris note that although the society-at-large purports to value the talents and abilities of gifted students, the resources allocated for the creation and maintenance of high-quality gifted education programs have been minimal at best. They are also clear in their belief that giftedness is in all students and that the manifestations of it are contextually dependent. Their book thus offers multicultural education as a mechanism that may allow students of color to not only display their talents but also gain recognition and support for their special abilities and skills. While highlighting the critical cultural features that students of color bring to the classroom, it also offers recommendations for modifying teaching and assessment to allow greater numbers of students of color to flourish academically. The organization of Multicultural Gifted Education is relatively straightforward. The opening chapter highlights the increasing racial/ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation's student population. It also presents data illustrating the gross underrepresentation of minority students in gifted educational programs nationwide. Chapter 2 details historical and legal perspectives on educating gifted students. Most notable among these considerations is the authors' recounting of the numbers of legislative acts mandating the establishment of programs for gifted students. This chapter also does a nice job of highlighting the parallel legal and legislative courses advocates of gifted and multicultural education have taken in their efforts to ensure appropriate schooling for special populations. This includes a focus on the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas ruling and the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act of 1988. As Ford and Harris note, calls for more responsive gifted education programs, frequently neglected by many educators, are consistent with calls for improved education for students of color, thus contributing to the double neglect they argue minority gifted students too often experience. Chapters 3 and 4 provide sound theoretical frameworks for the authors' discussion of scholarly research in multicultural and gifted education. …