A new report indicates that Black students do not have access to advanced courses. For some readers, this is new news, as in unfamiliar. For others, like myself, my contemporaries, and those whose shoulders I, figuratively, stand on and lean on, this is very old and frustrating news—the kind that makes me grind my teeth to the point of getting a migraine. Upon viewing the title, my reaction is often ‘Here we go again’.
Before sharing my thoughts, I need to set a few things straight with a poignant brief story and pay homage to two of my heroes. Several years ago, a colleague and I finally met with a Hispanic superintendent of an urban school district of mainly Black students (approximately 60%). Our purpose was to encourage him to be equity-minded and unapologetically bold about desegregating gifted education, particularly given how severely underrepresented Black students were (and still are) in the district years later. We came armed with recommendations and resources tailored to the district. Surely, as a person of color, this leader would want to correct access problems with Black students under his tutelage. #wrong.
We sat stunned and outraged as he stated, “I could get away with some things and keep my job. But I would lose it if I allowed more Black students in gifted education.”
Little has changed in that district, in spite of efforts from some who have tried. That is the short tale of one district; multiply this by thousands.
I have followed the Office for Civil Rights Data, Civil Rights Data Collection (OCR CRDC) since 2000 and reported national, state, and district, and building patterns more than I can recall, with the most recent state-by-state analysis being in 2018 (Ford, D.Y., Wright, B.L., Sewell, C., Whiting, G.W., & Moore III, J.L. (2018). “The Nouveau Talented Tenth: Envisioning W. E. B. Dubois in the context of contemporary gifted and talented education,” published in the Journal of Negro Education, 87(3), 294-310). Every wave of OCR CRDC data show that Black students are always the most under-represented students in gifted and advanced courses. The average is approximately 40-60%, depending on the year. The percentages equate to over 250,000 not having seats in gifted education each year.
Why does this matter? The answer is simple: students who go under-challenged can become underachievers and exhibit behavioral problems due to boredom and disengagement. Denied access to gifted education also contributes to the Black-White achievement gap crisis. Underachievers and low achievers are less competitive than high achievers, They have a lower probability of getting into advanced high school courses and academies, eventually, elite colleges and universities and STEM majors. In a nutshell, their career goals and potential are compromised due to denied access to gifted education initially and advanced courses in middle and high school. Consider this in connection to the college scandal.
Now to a few reality checks.
