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Factors contributing to the academic achievements of Hispanic gifted children

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Factors contributing to the academic achievements of Hispanic gifted children

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Content FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
OF HISPANIC GIFTED CHILDREN
by
Alfredo Ponce
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2006
Copyright 2006 Alfredo Ponce
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UMI Number: 3236538
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my dissertation committee: Dr. Colbert,
Dr. McComas and especially Dr. Kaplan. Dr. Kaplan, thank you for all of your
kindness and dedication. You are an inspiration and a pleasure to work with.
Thank you for making such a task pleasant and manageable. Dr. Jennifer Kang-
Moon, thank you for all of your support. You have been very instrumental in
getting to this point. It feels great to get to this point and even more joyous to
know that you have traveled such a journey with a great classmate and friend, thank
you Jenny. I would like to extend my gratitude to all of the students, parents and
especially Mrs. Olga Lentine at X Elementary School. Without your help, this
project would not have come to its fruition. May you dream big, and may you have
the fortitude and the dedication to fulfill your dreams. This accomplishment is an
achievement of many people, CoCo, and LiLi. I want to thank all of you who have
inspired me. To all of my friends who were patient with me. Sorry for not calling
as much this year. I was a bit busy. To my twin brother Angel who has allowed
me to share in his triumphs growing up. I hope to share this accomplishment with
you like you shared with me. Your presence since birth has made me who I am.
You are a huge part of me and my life. You have been my reflection and it has
always been a pleasure to see what stares back. You have always been my Angel
who has guided me through thick and thin. I Love you. To my family: especially
my older brothers whom we played with sticks and literally stones as children in
the ranch. I truly believe that learning to be creative opened my mind to things I
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never imagined. To my beautiful sisters whom I owe so much to, you have been so
instrumental in my journey. I never said it but I am extremely grateful for those
years you cared for us in Yahualica. I have great memories and some not so great
by my mischief o f course. You hold a dear place in my heart. Thank you.
Para mis padres que sin ninguna palabra nos han ensenado su amor
incondicional y dedicacion a nuestra familia. Ustedes son unas de las personas mas
inteligentes que e conocido. A ti mama, gracias por darnos tu amor y paciencia.
Tu has sido el pegamento que nos ha mantenido juntos y humildes. Lo que has
hecho por todos nosotros solo lo hacen los santos. Tu lo haces sin pedir nada de
regreso. Por eso, y todo lo demas este proyecto es tanto mio como tuyo. Espero
que lo disfrutes tanto o mas que yo. Te amo mamita. Papa, gracias por darnos todo
de ti. Nos has ensenado a ser hombres de provecho y de familia. Tu gran ejemplo
espero ser la mitad de hombre que lo que tu eres. Te respeto tremendamente y te
amo. Algun dia dije que no queria ser como tu, ahora cada cosa que hago o digo
como tu me llena de alegria. Espero se la mitad de hombre y la mitad de padre que
lo que tu eres. En mis ojos tu eres el doctor. El doctor de humildad. GRACIAS.
To all of my nieces and nephews, I hope that this achievement will inspire
you to dreams that we never imagined. I hope that you dream of being doctors,
lawyers, teachers or what ever you desire. Just remember that what predicts what
you will be tomorrow is only predicted by what you are doing today. I love each
and every one of you.
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iv
This was a long and tedious journey. One thing was constant, my beautiful
wife’s fortitude, encouragement, patience and the expectation of our beloved
“Sirenita.” This journey was inspired by you Jackie. It did it out of my curiosity
and honor to your young years. Those years in which you were developing that
gifted mind and heart of yours. I did it in order to try to understand you a bit better,
to try to understand how I came to love you so much. Jackie thank you for
showing me things I would have never imagined. I thank God for putting you in
my path. I am truly blessed to be a part of you and our Marquez family who have
been angles ever since we met. I LOVE YOU ALL.
I also did it thinking of our beautiful and at this time anticipated baby. I did
it in order to be a better father, to be a better tutor and a better guide into your
greatly anticipated journey of life. I hope than one day I will read this dedication
with a great sense of love and pride as you walk down the stage as you receive your
degree as what ever you wish to become.
To all of you and who may read this dissertation, Cesar Chavez said
“Si Se Puede!”
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................ ii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................vi
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................. viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................... 1
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................12
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ..............................................................41
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ...........................................................................58
CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.....................................119
REFERENCES .............................................................................................140
APPENDICES ..............................................................................................147
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Perceptions of Language(s) Spoken and Perceptions
of Mixing Languages...................................................................................... 64
Table 2: Perceptions of multilingualism .................................................... 65
Table 3: Identification of Giftedness as Perceived by Parents
and Students .................................................................................................... 68
Table 4: Perceptions of differences between gifted and non gifted
children ............................................................................................................. 70
Table 5: Perceptions of Sibling Relationships ............................................ 71
Table 6: Parent and Child Perceptions of academic achievement
and program involvem ent.......................... 72
Table 7: Challenges as Perceived by Parents and Students ..................... 74
Table 8: Time spent with child and activities ............................................ 76
Table 9: Parent and Child’s Perceptions of the Importance
of Education ....................................................................................................79
Table 10: Parents and Gifted Student’s Perceptions of
College Attendance .........................................................................................82
Table 11: Parent and Student Perceptions of Family Support
for Gifted Children .........................................................................................84
Table 12: Parents and Gifted Children’s perceptions of Confidence
Development among Gifted Children........................................................... 89
Table 13: Parent and Gifted Student’s Perceptions of
Future Success ................................................................................................. 91
Table 14: Perceptions of hard work, dedication and future
outcom es................................................................ 93
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Table 15: Perceptions of Reactions to Academic Success, Failures
and Challenges from Parents and Gifted Children .................................. 97
Table 16: Parent and Gifted Children Perceptions of factors
that Contribute or Inhibit Participation in the Child’s Education ........99
Table 17: Types of Family Trips taken by Families of Gifted
Children .........................................................................................................101
Table 18: Perceptions of feelings when parents can’t help with
academics ......................................................................................................103
Table 19: Perceptions of Impact Regarding Parental Support of
Gifted Students .............................................................................................105
Table 20: Parents and Gifted Children’s Perceptions of extended
family support and reactions .....................................................................107
Table 21: Perceptions of Cultural Differences from Parents and
Gifted Children’s Perspective ....................................................................I l l
Table 22: Parents and Gifted Student’s Perceptions of Community
Resources ...................................................................................................... 113
Table 23: Parents and Gifted Student’s Perceptions of Community
Resources ..................................................................................................... 114
Table 24: Types of Materials available at the Homes for the Gifted
Students .........................................................................................................116
Table 25: Perceptions of Responsibility in Ensuring Academic
Achievement of the Gifted .......................................................................117
Table 26: Response Patterns ....................,................................................ 121
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viii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research study was to examine familial and community
factors that contributed to the academic outcomes of fourth and fifth grade gifted
Hispanic students in an urban Los Angeles Unified School. This study was guided
by a qualitative design. Focus group interviews were the sole method utilized for
gathering the data. Eleven gifted students, four Spanish speaking parents and five
English speaking parents made up the sample for this study. The data were
analyzed with the constant comparative method of open and general coding. These
two techniques were utilized to develop patterns of responses and categories. This
study included the development of a questionnaire consisting of 25 questions which
aimed to understand the perceptions of familial and community factors from the
participants.
Pattern responses indicated that parents perceived themselves to be vested
in their gifted child’s education. These responses also indicated that the gifted
students perceived their parents involvement as invaluable in determining their
academic achievement. The benefits of being multilingual were recognized by all
three groups. They all acknowledged the future benefits of speaking more than one
language such as more employment opportunities and increased ability to
communicate.
Another set of findings revolved around mixing English and Spanish during
casual conversation. Mixing the languages in conversation was common among all
three groups however, perceptions of such mixing differed across the groups.
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English speaking parents indicated that such mixing was not problematic.
Although Spanish speaking parents encouraged multilingualism, they did not
encourage the mixing of more than one language in conversation. They preferred
their children speak one language at a time during casual conversation. The gifted
students indicated that although they mixed the languages, their parents did not
encourage it. Response patterns also indicted that all three groups recognized the
connections between working hard and future successes. The gifted student’s
responses reflected their understanding of said connections. Ultimately, all three
groups assumed responsibility for the gifted children’s academic achievements by
agreeing that the responsibility rested most heavily upon the parents of these gifted
children.
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1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
Research suggests that parental involvement holds tremendous promise for
increasing student achievement in public schools (Henderson & Berla, 1995;
Kreider & Lopez, 1999). This concept has been evidenced in the literature as early
as the 1940’s and 1950’s (McLaughlin cited in the California Educator November
2005). McLaughlin observed that in the 1960’s, policy makers began to
conceptualize parent involvement as a crucial component to children’s educational
success primarily for poor and underachieving students. In the 1980’s parent
participation drastically shifted in direction. Parents took the role of “watchdogs”
in their children’s classrooms. In the 1990’s parental involvement became crucial,
due to the budget cuts; the parents filled the gaps that were left a result of financial
cuts. Regardless of the need, parents have assumed the different roles needed to
ensure their children’s academic success.
Parents can support their children in a variety of ways. Dopkins Stright,
Neitzel, Garza Sears, and Hoke-Sinex (2001 ) provide the following examples of such
parental stimulation. Their study demonstrates that the metacognitive content of
parents' instructions to their children is related significantly to children's
monitoring, involvement in class discussion, and metacognitive talk. Both the
parents' manner of instruction and emotional support of children's problem solving
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were related to each of the five academic self-regulatory behaviors in
school: attention to instructions, seeking help, monitoring progress, involvement in
class discussions, and metacognitive talk.
Hine (1994) writes that it is no secret that parents want their children to
enjoy school and do their best academically. Still the majority of parents do not
play a strong role in their child’s education (The California Educator 2006).
Several studies (Henderson & Mapp, 2002 Liontos, 1992) found that low-income,
minority parents tend to be less involved at school. Although gifted children from
Hispanic-inner city schools present more of a challenge, the intent of this study is
to challenge such views by exploring the perceptions about the non-school factors
from the views of parents and gifted students form Hispanic inner city schools.
Background of the Study
Hine (1994) noted of concern to educators are indicators that Hispanics may
be the most undereducated group in America. Hayes-Bautista (2004) writes that
Latino students are capable of tremendous increases in educational attainment over
their parents. They simply don’t start out with many parental supports.
For teachers, parent involvement can be viewed as a “partnership” and
valuable resource that can increase student achievement and build a sense of
community in school. Hine (1994) supports this notion by stating that parents
should become involved in their child’s school and extracurricular activities. By
encouraging a “social bond” with the school and community, they will help their
children grow in confidence. Such social bonds may serve to enrich a child’s
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educational development. In order to develop such bonds, schools must
overcome the challenges. Hispanic parents from inner-city schools have greater
difficulties in meeting their gifted child’s needs. Hayes-Bautista points out that
(2004) that since the mid 1980’s Latino’s had a higher percentage of people living
in poverty than African Americans. He also notes that whether measured in
percentages living in poverty, household income, or per capita-income there is no
question that Latino’s have accessed the smallest portion of the state’s economic
pie.
A common concern among Hispanic parents is the limitation of time they
have available to interact with their gifted children. Parents from inner city schools
cite working long hours, or holding extra jobs as reasons for their lack of
involvement in their children’s education (California Educator, 2006). With such
limitations, Hispanic gifted students from inners city schools may be at a
disadvantage. Although resources are available for parents for dealing with gifted
children, the lack of access to such resources and/or knowledge creates huge gaps
in their attainment of such resources. Bautista-Hayes (2004) points out that Latino
adults have the lowest educational levels of any group of Americans. Studies have
shown that educated parents of gifted children can enrich the experiences of their
children. Many strategies exist which can aid parents in fostering positive
educational experiences for their gifted children yet they man not be aware that
such resources are available to them or they may not understand the material due to
language difficulties.
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4
The literature provides an array of resources parents can access to
fulfill their children’s educational needs. Rimm (1995) emphasized the importance
of parenting styles and parental influence on the development of children's
achievement and underachievement behaviors and found that inconsistent parenting
techniques appeared to occur more frequently in the homes of underachieving
children (Rimm & Lowe, 1988). Renzulli and Sunghee (2002) showed that many
gifted students who drop out of school were from low SES families and ethnic
groups. They also had parents with low levels of education, and participated less in
extracurricular activities. The literature elaborates on the need o f parents to instill
high expectations and elevated levels of engagement. A study in The California
Educator (2006) notes that many factors contribute to a child’s academic success.
Studies show that when parents are involved in a child’s education, students are
more likely to earn higher grades, do better on tests, complete homework, attend
class regularly, show more motivation, maintain better self-esteem, demonstrate
fewer behavior problems, resist substance abuse, graduate from high school and
earn a high school degree. Yet the daily challenges that Hispanic families from
inner city schools encounter may make such goals difficult to achieve.
Assisting gifted children with appropriate and effective strategies at home
would greatly benefit the gifted children and their impoverished parents as well.
There are many other issues that must be explored as to why such parents are not
accessing such resources. Understanding why parents of gifted children are not
accessing such resources will provide insight that could inform both the parents of
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gifted children and educators. Although much research has been done to
determine how the family environment affects achievement, few researchers have
directly analyzed minority populations in this area. This study will closely examine
the familial and environmental factors which affect the educational experiences of
gifted students from predominantly Hispanic communities in elementary inner-city
schools, from the parent’s and student’s point of view. It should be clear that more
light should be shed on the perceptions of non-school factors which contribute to
the academic achievement of gifted Hispanic students.
Purpose of the Study
This investigation seeks to understand the non-school factors such as
familial and community perceptions; and how these factors contribute to the
academic achievement of gifted Hispanic children. These perceptions will be
drawn from the family members and the gifted children themselves who are from
Hispanic backgrounds.
Familial factors are defined as behaviors and attitudes that parents hold and
perform which affect their gifted children’s education. By identifying such factors
we may obtain a better understanding of how parents perceive their involvement in
their gifted children’s educational experiences; and the effects of community
factors on their gifted children. This information may serve to inform educational
institutions as to how to better provide appropriate resources and materials for
Hispanic families with gifted children attending inner city schools.
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There are many assumptions as to why non-school factors become
prevalent in the education of Hispanic gifted children in inner city schools.
Identifying the factors from such families and students might help explain the
parent’s perceptions and behaviors that appear to have a significant impact on their
children’s educational experience. By identifying common themes of parent
behaviors and their effects on their children’s education, education agencies can
better diagnose and design strategies and resources for Hispanic gifted students in
inner-city schools. Detailed conversations of parents of gifted children might also
provide additional support for these approaches. Even more, their input might shed
light on what the parent’s experiences look like, and how they can potentially
influence future student experiences.
Significance of the Study
Parental involvement is a primordial piece that contributes to a gifted
child’s educational outcome, but it is greatly recognized that among Hispanic
families with gifted children, extraneous variables greatly influence parental
participation in their children’s educational careers. This study intends to identify
the factors which lead to productive educational achievement of Hispanic children.
This goal will be achieved by examining the perceptions that contribute to their
parent’s involvement in their educational experiences. By identifying these factors
it was hoped that the areas of need could be targeted by educational institutions and
the identification and development of resources could be encouraged by the
findings of this study.
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Questions
1. What perceptions do adult family members hold about familial and
community factors that influence academic achievement among
gifted students from Hispanic populations in urban elementary
schools?
2. What perceptions do gifted children hold about familial and
community factors that influence academic achievement among
gifted students from Hispanic populations in urban elementary
schools?
Theoretical Framework
This study was guided by a qualitative design framework. The framework
is a case study with a series of focus group interviews of Hispanic families of
fourth and fifth grade gifted students in the Los Angeles area. One focus group
interview was conducted in Spanish. This group will consist of parents of gifted
children who only speak Spanish. The process for conducting the study was a
multi-faceted and multi-step process. The first step of the process was to acquire
permission from the Assessment and Research Department in the Los Angeles
Unified School District (Sub-district #5). The next task was to gather a list of the
local elementary schools in the identified area and contact the school principals.
Subsequently, the researcher gained permission and participation from the school
principals was the next task. The following undertaking was to identify
approximately one hundred families who meet the criteria for the study, and send
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out the letters (English/Spanish) requesting their participation in the study.
From the returned letters, participating families were identified and contacted for
the study and the focus group interviews. At this point, the families were briefed
and asked for their formal participation by signing a formal consent form informing
them of their rights. The next step was to identify the location for the interviews,
and conduct the interviews. Upon completion of the interviews, the recorded
information was transcribed for analysis of the data. The interviews conducted in
Spanish were translated by the primary investigator. The primary investigator is a
native speaker. He also received the bilingual certificate from LAUSD in June of
2000. Once the interviews were translated, they were analyzed in the same manner
as the interviews conducted in English.
Assumptions
This study addressed the non-school factors that influence the academic
achievement of Gifted Hispanic students. This study was conducted with the
premise that the participants provided honest and genuine information about their
experiences. Another assumption of this study was that it would shed light on the
aspects whether negative or positive in this matter. The findings would be used to
inform teachers and parents about ways to improve the quality of education for the
targeted population. It also assumed that the findings would be beneficial in
addressing the needs of other populations as well. Ultimately, the study was
conducted with the purpose of understanding and responding more appropriately to
such populations which will aid in the development of their full potential.
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9
Limitations
This is a qualitative case study which included focus group interviews. The
focus group interviews have a variety of limitations. One limitation was the
openness of participants to share sensitive information about their personal lives.
Another limitation was the ability to gather a random sample of willing schools and
participants for the study.
Delimitations
Initially this study restricted itself to focus interviews of family members of
gifted children and the gifted children themselves from Hispanic populations in 4th
and 5th grades from inner city schools within the Los Angeles Unified School
District. A second issue was that since the study was conducted in the Los Angeles
Unified School District with Hispanic gifted students from inner city schools, this
study may not be generalizable to other settings.
Definition of Terms
Gifted and talented pupil," as used in this chapter, means a pupil enrolled in
a public elementary or secondary school of this state that is identified as possessing
demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of high performance
capability as defined pursuant to Section 52202. (b) "Highly gifted pupil" means a
gifted and talented pupil who has achieved a measured intelligence quotient of 150
or more points on an assessment of intelligence administered by qualified personnel
or has demonstrated extraordinary aptitude and achievement in language arts,
mathematics, science, or other academic subjects, as evaluated and confirmed by
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10
both the pupil's teacher and principal. For the purpose of this study, gifted
and talented children were defined as students who have participated or are
currently participating in their school’s gifted and talented programs.
Organization of Dissertation
This dissertation is composed of five chapters. Chapter one is the
introduction to the study. This section begins with a statement of the problem. The
purpose of the study will follow. The next subsection describes the significance of
the study followed by the research questions. The additional subsections include
the Methodological overview, Subjects, assumptions of the study, limitations and in
closing the delimitations of this dissertation.
Chapter two includes a comprehensive literature review. Within the
literature of the study are included the following subsections: Definitions of
giftedness, underachievement of gifted students, the under representation of
minority students in gifted and talented programs, parental awareness and
knowledge of giftedness, cultural and community factors and how their relationship
affects giftedness, individual characteristics of giftedness, peer relationships and
their relationship to giftedness, school intervention, and the conclusion.
Chapter three provides a detailed description of the methodology of the
study. This section is further divided into subsections. The subsections are
composed of the introduction to the chapter, the research questions, the nature of
the study, subjects and sampling, instruments and research procedures, data
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analysis and reduction, a time line, data reduction information, validity
and reliability of the instruments, and a pilot study.
Chapter four includes the findings of the study. The final Chapter includes
the analysis, discussion, the significance of the study, implications for practice, as
well as conclusions and recommendations.
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CHAPTER2
LITERATURE REVIEW
The concept of giftedness varies across different countries. Upon detailed
examination, the concept may also vary across states within the Unites States. This
section will provide a number of definitions of giftedness and demonstrate how
such definitions are interpreted within the field of gifted education.
Underachievement of gifted students assists us in determining the practices which
fall short of the intended purpose of educating gifted students. This may lead us to
the answers as to why there is an under representation of minority students in gifted
and talented programs. The following segment provides information on parental
awareness and knowledge of giftedness. In addition, cultural and community
factors are explored and how such factors interact and affect gifted children and
their education. This section seeks to understand individual characteristics of
giftedness. This part investigates the dynamics of peer relationships and the
relationship to giftedness. The final piece seeks to explore the types of interactions
parents of gifted students sustain with their children’s school teachers and other
personnel.
Definitions o f Giftedness
Many definitions of Gifted exist in literature. According to the Guide for
the Perplex (2005) exceptionally bright students are called "gifted" in most
countries. In England they sometime use the phrase "very able" and in Nebraska
they use the phrase "high ability learners." Some states use the phrase "gifted and
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talented" to indicate that they are including students with exceptional
abilities outside core academics, such as visual and performing arts, and leadership.
The United States Office of Education legislated the following definition of
giftedness: Gifted and talented are those identified by professionally qualified
persons, who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance.
These children require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond
those normally provided by “regular programs” in order to realize their
contributions to self and society. These are children with “demonstrated” and/or
“potential” high performance in the following areas: (a) general intellectual ability;
(b) specific academic aptitude; (c) creative or productive thinking; (d) leadership
ability; and (e) psychomotor ability. The California EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 52200-52212, 52201 describes it in this manner, (a) "Gifted and
talented pupil," as used in this chapter, means a pupil enrolled in a public
elementary or secondary school of this state who is identified as possessing
demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of high performance
capability as defined pursuant to Section 52202. (b) "Highly gifted pupil" means a
gifted and talented pupil who has achieved a measured intelligence quotient of 150
or more points on an assessment of intelligence administered by qualified personnel
or has demonstrated extraordinary aptitude and achievement in language arts,
mathematics, science, or other academic subjects, as evaluated and confirmed by
both the pupil's teacher and principal. Highly gifted pupils shall generally
constitute not more than one percent of the pupil population.
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14
An array of theories is evidenced throughout the literature. They
all provide their unique interpretations of giftedness. Sternberg (1998), and
Tannenbaum (1983) proposed a "psychological" approach to giftedness, in which
there are four kinds of giftedness: scarcity, surplus, quota, and anomalous.
Renzulli (1978) suggested a "three-ring" model of giftedness, which conceptualizes
giftedness as including three elements: above-average but not necessarily
exceptional ability, creativity, and task commitment. Feldhusen (1986) proposed
that there are four components to giftedness: general intellectual ability, positive
self-concept, achievement motivation, and special talents. Sternberg and Zhang
(1995) proposed a pentagonal implicit theory of giftedness in which there are five
criteria that are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for a person to be
identified as gifted.
The first criterion is excellence— the individual is superior in some
dimension or set of dimensions. The second criterion is rarity— the excellence must
be relative to peers, not just to a comparison group. If everyone in a peer group
were to be judged to do superior work (criterion 1), no one would stand out as
gifted. The third criterion is demonstrability— the superiority of the individual on
the dimension(s) that determine(s) giftedness must be demonstrable through some
kind of performance. The fourth criterion is productivity— the dimension(s) along
which the individual is evaluated as superior must lead to or potentially lead to
productivity. In other words, the individual must be able to repeat a gifted
performance more than once. The last criterion for a person to be labeled as gifted
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15
is value, in which the superior performance shown by a person must be
along a dimension that is valued for that person by his or her society.
The literature notes that gifted students manifest their gifts and talents in a
variety of ways; consequently schools must respond accordingly to the variety of
theories. Sternberg adds to the challenges to achieving such goals. Sternberg's
(1985) Triarchic Theory of Intelligence proposes that intelligence reveals itself in at
least three ways: (a) componentially, (b) experientially, and (c) contextually.
Componential learners are analytical and abstract thinkers who do well on
standardized tests and in school. They are more likely than other students to be
recruited and retained in gifted programs. Experiential learners value creativity and
enjoy novelty. They dislike rules and follow few of their own, seeing rules as
inconveniences meant to be broken. Contextual learners readily adapt to their
environment, a skill that IQ tests fail to measure. They are street-smart survivors,
socially competent and practical, but they may do poorly in school. They perform
poorly because of the narrow definition of giftedness in main stream schools.
Some states use the phrase "gifted and talented" to indicate that they are
including students with exceptional abilities outside core academics, such as visual
and performing arts and leadership, (as noted in Guide for the Perplexed.htm).
Sternberg (1998) also addresses two categories of giftedness which derive from
different conceptualizations of the phenomenon. These are explicit theories of
giftedness-theories proposed by experts in a field that typically are based or tested
on data requiring people to demonstrate their performance with respect to the
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16
construct at hand, in this case, giftedness. For example, a battery of tests
involving intellectual skills might be administered to a large group of people and
the data collected from these tests then analyzed to evaluate the constructs proposed
to underlie exceptionally high intelligence.
In contrast, implicit theories of giftedness are conceptions of giftedness
reside in the minds of theorists, who can be either experts or lay persons. The
implicit theorists not only define giftedness but also articulate the implications of
their definitions. Theories of this type deal with people's conceptions of a
phenomenon rather than dealing directly with the phenomenon itself. They are
tested not by looking at the performance of people who are gifted, but by asking
people what they mean by giftedness (or some other construct) as cited in
(Sternberg, Conway, Ketron, & Bernstein, 1981).
Although different cultures have a definition of giftedness, they may not fit
very well with the definitions utilized by the schools their children attend. The
difference within the definitions of giftedness between schools and cultures can
exclude some students from gifted programs and services. Thus, Ford and
Grantham (2003) emphasize that it may be culturally inappropriate when protocols
for identifying gifted children are exported from one culture to another, particularly
when implicit theories of giftedness were to differ cross-culturally. Gardner as
cited in Birkley (2005) defines Giftedness in a different fashion. He noted that
intelligences (or talents) of "spatial ability (such as those used by the pilot, the
architect, and the chess player); musical intelligence, which allows people to sing,
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17
play, and appreciate music; bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, which
involves using the various body components in such diverse activities as athletics
or surgery; and interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences, which involves
knowing others and ourselves and can form the basis for both human service
careers and for personal understanding and satisfaction,"
Under-identification of Hispanic gifted students from inner city schools in
the United States appears to prevail in spite of the efforts taken to redeem the
problem. Vanderslice (1998) writes that data from several research studies show
that disadvantaged minority children are frequently underserved by gifted and
talented programs. Recognizing that there are many definitions of giftedness; this
fact complicates things for Hispanic families. Hispanic families, many times, are
not informed of the gifted programs or the gifts of their children thus stand less of a
chance in facilitating their children’s identification. One possible consequence may
be that Hispanic student’s needs are not met appropriately and may underachieve.
If these needs are not recognized, then appropriate educational programming is
seriously hampered, writes Vanderslice (1998).
JJnderachievement o f Gifted Students
Reis and McCoach (2000) note that due to the difficulty in defining
underachievement, it appears that the concept maybe regarded as a subjective,
rather than an objective, classification. Despite the discrepancies, many definitions
of underachievement have been postulated. Early researchers such as (Raph,
Goldberg, & Passow, 1966) and some recent authors (Davis & Rimm, 1989) have
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18
defined underachievement in terms of a discrepancy between a child's
school performance and some ability index such as an IQ score. Delisle and Berger
(2000) write that these definitions, although seemingly clear and succinct, provide
little insight to parents and teachers who wish to address this problem with
individual students. Another way to define underachievement is to consider the
various components of intelligence. The components include the student’s
behaviors, the content and situation specifics; other individual’s perceptions, and
the student’s self concept development. McCall, Evahn, and Kratzer (1992) define
underachievement as "discrepancy between actual and expected performance" (p.
2). Hunter-Braden (1998) poses an earlier definition. The underachiever with
superior ability is one whose performance, as judged by either grades or
achievement test scores, is significantly below his high measured or demonstrated
aptitudes or potential for academic achievement.
When underachievement was addressed as a behavior, it was more
observable and measurable thus easier to manipulate. Delisle & Berger (1990)
noted that underachievement is a manifestation of school behavior and as such, it
can be perceived differently over time. Often, underachievement is seen as a
problem of attitude or work habits. However, neither habits nor attitude can be
modified as directly as behaviors. Thus, referring to "underachieving behaviors"
pinpoints those aspects of children's lives which they are most able to alter.
Underachievement is content and situation specific. Gifted children who do
not succeed in school are often successful in outside activities such as sports, social
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19
occasions, and after-school jobs. Even a child who does poorly in most
school subjects may display a talent or interest in at least one school subject. Thus,
labeling a child as an "underachiever" disregards any positive outcomes or
behaviors that child displays. It is better to label the behaviors rather than the child
(Delisle & SandraBerger 1990). The concept o f underachievement is interpreted
differently by individuals. For some students (as well as teachers and parents), as
long as a passing grade is attained, there is no underachievement. "After all," this
group would say, "A mark of a C is an average grade." To others, a grade of B+
could constitute underachievement if the student in question were expected to get
an “A.” Sward (2002) points out children must learn early that there is a
relationship between their effort and the outcome. This connection creates the
sense of internal control that differentiates achievers from underachievers. It is
from accepting and conquering challenge that one builds self-confidence. It is from
actual achievement that one develops a strong self-concept. Recognizing the
idiosyncratic nature of what constitutes success and failure is the first step toward
understanding underachieving behaviors in students. (Delisle & Berger 1990).
Rand (1995) postulated that Gifted underachievers manifest three patterns
of behavioral responses to the school setting: (a) non-communicative and
withdrawn, (b) passively complying to "get by," and (c) aggressive/disruptive
"problem" students. Behavior patterns of all three groups tend to reflect feelings of
low self-esteem, a lack of belief in their ability to influence outcomes in school, an
unrealistic self-concept, and negative attitudes toward school. Delisle and Berger
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20
(1990) note any academic successes are written off as "flukes," while low
grades serve to reinforce negative self- perceptions.
The California Education Code specifies that the aforementioned challenges
be considered by schools to ensure access to all gifted students regardless of
economic and cultural backgrounds. The EDUCATION CODE SECTION 52200-
52212, 52200 notes (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the public
interest to support unique opportunities for high-achieving and underachieving
pupils in the public elementary and secondary schools of California who are
identified as gifted and talented, (b) The Legislature further declares its intent that
special efforts be made to ensure that pupils from economically disadvantaged and
varying cultural backgrounds be provided with full participation in these unique
opportunities. Schools face many challenges in trying to achieve such participation
and the consequences are detrimental.
When parents and school personnel fail to recognize and rectify factors
attributing to underachievement, the students often drop out of school altogether.
Students who drop out of school or out of the gifted and talented programs display
certain common characteristics. From an article from CBS Action, Stay-in-School
Tool Box (1995), a profile of dropouts includes personal risk factors such as low
self-esteem and difficulty with long-range goals and rewards. This profile included
the group to which underachievers would most likely belong. The last third are
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often non-conformists Hunter-Braden (1998):
they are disruptive, mouthy, hyper;
they exhibit problematic behavior;
they can't sit still;
they learn differently from the norm;
they have lots of energy;
they are often innovative;
they are often gifted.
Failure to recognize these behaviors yields consequences for all students
especially for gifted and talented students.
Under-representation o f Minority Students in gifted and talented programs
It is important to consider the outcomes for underrepresented populations of
all students. Such information sheds light on the dynamics and outcomes of gifted
and talented underrepresented student populations. The LA Times newspaper
(2005, March 24) reported that in California just 57 percent of African Americans
and 60 percent of Latinos graduated in 2002, compared to 78 percent of whites and
87 percent of Asians. In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the situation is as
follow only 39 percent of Latinos, 46.5 percent of African Americans graduated
during the same year. In comparison this district graduated 66.7 percent of White
students and 76.7 percent of Asian students the same year. Students with academic
talents or special gifts from underrepresented groups such as Latinos, African
Americans and Native Americans; compose a smaller pool when compared to other
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students such as Caucasian American student populations. The research
on minority students has been rather consistent indicating that minorities (except
for Asian-Americans) are underrepresented in gifted programs (Colangelo, 2001; &
McWorther, 2000). Three percent is a conservative estimate of the percentage of
the population considered gifted (Chan & Kitano, 1986). However, Children from
culturally /linguistically diverse and/or economically disadvantaged families, and
gifted children with disabilities, have been dramatically underrepresented in
programs for gifted students (Castellano, 2003 & National Research Council,
2002). Resnick and Goodman (1994) note: among the most underserved students
are those who are economically disadvantaged. Kids from the bottom quartile in
family income made up less than 10 percent of students in gifted programs, the
longitudinal study found. In contrast, almost 50 percent of program participants
were from the top income quartile. Zappia (1989) and Machado (1987) shows that
71.2 percent of Caucasian students make up the general enrollment, yet 81.4
percent of such students make up the enrollment in gifted programs. In the case of
African American students, they make up 16.2 percent of the general enrollment
but only 8.4 percent of the enrollment in gifted programs. Hispanics make up 9.1
percent of the general enrollment and 4.7 percent are enrolled in gifted programs.
Lastly, 2.5 percent of Asian students make up the general enrollment and five
percent of the gifted enrollment. This information show that within the Caucasian
student population, the percentage of the gifted enrollment is higher that the general
enrollment; a characteristic unique to this group. The other groups with exception
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23
to Asian Americans demonstrate the adverse effect. The general
enrollment percentages for these groups are higher that the gifted enrollment
percentages. The United States Department of Education (1993) &Maker, (1987)
yielded similar results across the state. In Arizona, for example, only 0.14 percent
of the students in gifted and talented programs come from language minority
backgrounds. Using the three percent criterion, one would estimate that 2,900
limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in Arizona could be receiving some type
of services for giftedness. An assessment of needs, however, revealed that only
143 LEP children were participating in gifted programs, despite the fact that
minority language students represent 16.17 percent (96,674) of the school-age
population. Other studies indicate that the proportion of Blacks, Hispanics, and
American Indians identified as gifted represents only half that expected.
In California, the statistical characteristics are parallel to Arizona schools.
The California Department of education’s records indicates that the total state
enrollment for the 2003/2004 school year was 6,298,744. The total GATE
enrollment for the same year was 471,976. Out of these totals Caucasian students
made up about 32.5 percent of the student enrollment and 49 percent of the GATE
enrollment. Hispanics total enrollment was 46 percent of the total student
population in the state yet entail 0.24 percent of the GATE enrollment. Asian
American students make up 8 percent of the general student body and 16.5 percent
of the GATE student population. African American students total 23 percent of the
student enrollment and 4.7 percent of the GATE enrollment. The American
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24
Indian/Alaskan student population made up a total of .08 percent of the
population and .60 percent of the GATE student population. Lastly, Pacific
Islanders make up .6 percent of the state’s total enrollment and .52 percent of the
GATE enrollees. Attrition rates go beyond race however. Renzulli’s (2002)
findings denote that almost half the gifted students who dropped out of school (48.2
percent) were in the lowest quartile SES level, while only 2.3 percent of them were
in the highest quartile SES level. By comparison, of the number of gifted students
who completed high school, 20 percent were in the lowest quartile level of SES,
while 33.8 percent of them were in the highest quartile levels of SES. Among 5
categories of race /ethnicity in the NELS:88,42.9 percent of gifted students who
dropped out of school in the sample were White, 17.9 percent were Hispanics, 27
percent were Black, 10.5 percent were Native American, and 1.8 percent were
Asian/Pacific Islanders. The literature notes that the attrition rates for under
represented students with academic gifts follow a parallel path to their non-gifted
counterparts.
Ford and Grantham (1998) state that a deficit frame of thought towards
minority gifted students might be one factor. They explain that deficit thinking
exists when educators hold negative, stereotypic, and counterproductive views
about culturally diverse students and lower their expectations of these, students
accordingly. Research in gifted education and in bilingual education has indicated
that, in general, the education system has focused attention on the weaknesses
rather than the cognitive strengths of linguistically and culturally diverse students
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25
(Barkan & Bernal, 1991; Davidson, 1992; Hakuta & Gould, 1987;
Kolesinski & Leroux, 1992). (Valentina I. Kloosterman University of Connecticut
Storrs).
Causes o f Under Representation o f Gifted Students
Bloom, (1982) reported that many aspects of the home environment, and the
quality of teaching appear to account for the individual’s progress in the talent
field. The perceptions that parents’ hold of school consequently affect the child’s
perceptions of school. The literature notes that parents of Hispanic gifted students
might view schools with suspicion and doubt the school's commitment to their
children. Such parents are unlikely to participate in school settings because of the
belief that they are not valued as a resource and member of the school community.
(Ford & Grantham 1998) "Hidden" factors such as illegal immigrant status,
limited knowledge about accessing social and health care services, neglect of basic
health needs (Clark, 1988) and physical and psychological problems caused by the
political environment in their native country impede or compete with the
educational progress findings according to the National Coalition of Advocates for
Students (1988). When they do participate, Colangelo (2002) points out that one of
the important roles that parents assume is a relationship with their child's school.
Parents of gifted children do not always have the skills to advocate effectively for
their children, nor do the have the interpersonal skills to work well with school
personnel. Parents are not always prepared to take on the challenge of a child who
has different needs.
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26
A factor that contributes to the academic outcome of the gifted
students is lack of parent education; for minority gifted students the problem is
exacerbated. Renzulli (2002) points out that for fathers, 40 percent did not
graduate from high school. 23 percent graduated from high school but did not
pursue a higher education. The results for mothers were parallel. 25.6 percent of
mothers did not complete high school. 35.9 percent graduated from high school.
75 percent of parents discouraged their children from dropping out. 73 percent of
students reported never using a computer. Only 5.9 percent reported that they used
a computer daily. 51 percent of students spent time with their friends. 31 percent
spent time talking to their friends. 40 percent of dropout reported that they talk to
their parents less than once a week or never.
Rimm (1986) noted that underachievement derives from the family’s
inability to adequately support the child or is considered an indicator of family
distress.
Research on the family characteristics of Hispanic gifted students suggests
that certain types of home environments may be related to the development of
students' underachievement patterns (Baker, Bridger, & Evans, 1998; Brown,
Mounts, Lambom, & Steinberg, 1993; Rimm & Lowe, 1988; Zilli, 1971). Families
with underachieving children tend to exhibit less positive emotional affect (Mandel
& Marcus, 1988). Whereas parental emphasis on achievement tends to inspire
higher academic achievement (Brown et al., 1993), parents of underachievers may
exhibit disinterested attitudes towards education (Jeon & Feldhusen, 1993). Rimm
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27
(1995) emphasized the importance of parenting styles and parental
influence on the development of children's achievement or underachievement
behaviors and found that inconsistent parenting techniques appeared to occur more
frequently in the homes of underachieving children (Rimm & Lowe, 1988). They
further add that parents frequently oppose each other when disciplining their
children. "In 95% of the families, one parent played the role of the parent that
challenges and disciplines, and the other took the role of the protector. There was
an increasing opposition between parents as the challenger became more
authoritarian and the rescuer became increasingly protective" ( Rimm and & Lowe
p. 355). They further concluded that particular styles of parenting appear to be less
important than maintaining consistency within a parenting approach.
Parental interpretations of their child’s high potential were important
influences in setting expectations and motivating him/her to higher levels of
capability an interest in the talent area. Other factors that had a positive effect on a
child’s achievement were high levels of parental involvement with the child at
home (Child Development Institute, 1976 cited from Colangelo, & Dettman, 1976).
Parents of high-achieving students seem to utilize an authoritative parenting
style more often than parents of low-achieving students (Taylor, 1994). Parents of
underachievers often tend to be overly lenient or overly strict (Pendarvis, Howley,
& Howley, 1990; Weiner, 1992). By contrast, families of underachieving students
may tend to be more restrictive and punishment-oriented (Clark, 1983). In addition,
bestowing adult status on a child at too young an age may contribute to the
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28
development of underachievement (Fine & Pitts, 1980; Rimm & Lowe,
1988). High-achieving parents often provide positive role-modeling of
achievement-oriented behavior; (Rimm & Lowe; Zilli, 1971). In contrast, Rimm
and Lowe (1988) state that although the parents of underachieving gifted children
may verbally espouse the values of achievement, they may have lives characterized
by frustration and lack of fulfillment. Families of high-achieving students seem to
encourage self-motivation, environmental engagement, and autonomy more than
families of low-achieving students (Taylor, 1994). Underachieving students may
not want to identify with their parents (Clark, 1983; Weiner, 1992). Fine and Pitts
speculated that more family conflicts occur in underachievers' homes, and recent
research (Reis, Hebert, Diaz, Maxfield, & Ratley, 1995) has supported this view.
In their recent study of gifted urban underachievers, the family dysfunction that
characterized the lives of the gifted underachievers contrasted with the happier
home lives of the gifted achievers (Reis et ah, 1995). It is impossible to establish a
causal relationship from case study reports of family conflict and
underachievement. Reis (1995) asked if students underachieve because (a) they
come from families in conflict; (b) does the underachievement of the child create
problems in the family unit; or (c), is there a dynamic interaction between the
underachiever and the family?
In different studies comparing the families of underachievers to those of
achievers, families with underachieving gifted students were not classified as
dysfunctional any more frequently than families with achieving gifted students
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29
(Green, Fine, & Tollefson, 1988). However, dysfunctional families with
achieving gifted students reported greater satisfaction with their family lives than
did dysfunctional families of underachieving students. Perhaps the family discord
is a result of rather than a cause of, the child's underachievement (Reiss &
McCoach, 2000)
Parent Awareness and Knowledge o f Gifted Children
A primary challenge is the lack knowledge about the gifts and talents their
children possess. Although the literature provides ample services and strategies for
parents, it is important to note that that the research relating to minority families
and students is limited. This creates challenges at every step of the process for
parents for all parties involved. Such challenges range from identification if their
children, to participation, to advocacy and retention of their children in the gifted
and talented programs. The challenges that parents encounter with their gifted
children at home and at school are many. Colangelo (2002) notes that the
identification of one child in a family as gifted changes the dynamics with other
siblings who are not identified. Research has indicated that labeling a child gifted
can have negative effects on siblings (Colangelo & Brower, 1987; Cornell &
Grossberg, 1986; Grenier, 1985).
When informed, parents may facilitate the identification process for their
gifted children. The Guide to the perplex (2005) notes that many factors contribute
to the identification and retention of gifted students from minority backgrounds.
Parents knowledgeable of such characteristics increase the likelihood of
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30
identification and retention in gifted programs for their children. The
characteristics (See Appendix D for complete list) may be observed in babies and
young children (Guide for the Perplexed retrieved September, 2005).
Cultural/Community Factors and Giftedness
According to Hine (1994) many factors exist which can guide gifted
students to succeed in school and in life. Such factors may be synthesized to
instilling values of hard work, the benefits of delayed gratification, family support,
not conforming to cultural bias and parental support and involvement (for a full
description see Appendix E). In addition to the aforementioned issues, cultural and
community factors contribute to the attitudes and subsequent actions that students
display at school and in the classroom. The obstacles gifted students encounter
may cause more difficulty relating to their peers, “fitting in” or being accepted by
their peers. Racial or ethnic conflict, concern for personal safety, or conflicting
peer expectations may cause tension and interfere with or redirect the child's
natural curiosity and innate love of learning (Reis & McCoach 2000). The
individual student’s interests and personal/cultural characteristics also contribute to
the outcome of the gifted child. Cohen (1990) explains that Native Americans are
often caught between the schools' value of independence and the home and
community value of interdependence. Such conflicts can be more prevalent with
gifted Native American Students.
In mainstream school, students generally sit in rows and face the teacher,
whereas in Native American culture, everyone would be seated in a circle and
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31
decisions would be made collectively. Among many Hispanics, cultural
differences may also produce manifestations of giftedness that differ from the
traditional manifestations in the majority culture. In Puerto Rico, for example,
children learn to seek the advice of their family rather than act independently
(Perrone & Aleman, 1983). Cohen, (1990) found that respect for elders is often
valued more than precociousness, which can be seen as disrespectful. Similarly, the
Mexican-American child who respects elders, the law, and authority becomes
vulnerable in a school system that values individual competition, initiative, and
self-direction.
Sternberg’s research supports the importance of cultural congruence with
the school’s values. In one study, Sternberg and his colleagues looked at groups of
Latinos, Asians, and Anglos in California and found very different conceptions of
intelligence between the three groups. The higher the congruency between the
parents’ notion of intelligence and that of the teachers, the better the children do in
school (Sternberg, 1998). The aforementioned characteristics may cause turmoil
within families from minority backgrounds and with education institutions. Parents
may lack the knowledge of such issues which may generate conflict within the
family. For example some children exhibit signs of perfectionism; express strong
opinions; and question rules, customs and opinions. These characteristics may be in
direct conflict with some cultural values. For example, some cultures frown on
non-complacency exhibited by children towards adults. Furthermore, the
economic limitations of minority families add an additional obstacle to accessing
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the resources that their gifted children need. An investigation conducted
by the National Coalition of Advocates for Students (1988) notes that recent
immigrants may be economically poor; parents may be supporting households both
here and in their native country. Families may be large; older school age children
may need to work after school or miss school to earn money. Due to the lack of
income, parents have to work longer hours, are at times dissatisfied with their jobs,
have limited means to purchase the necessary items and at times the even purchase
the minimum requirements needed by their gifted child; furthermore, they are
exposed to less enriching experiences such as field trips, museums and computers
in the home. The literature corroborates such challenges by noting that there are
significant numbers of economically disadvantaged students who do not meet
traditional criteria for gifted programs. The literature finds that only ten percent of
students from the poorest populations are identified for such programs. These
students sometimes lack the home support and educational enrichment - and in
extreme cases adequate nutrition, sleep, and housing - to perform as well as
advantaged students in school and on tests as noted by the investigation conducted
by the National Coalition of advocates for Students (1988). Other challenges
include but are not limited to linguistic issues, parent’s limited education and
attitudinal issues. Aside from not being informed about such factors, these parents
may have limited educational experiences themselves and/or may have limited
access to the dominant language. Furthermore, the literature finds that traditional
customs and sex-role behaviors are likely to differ greatly from those encountered
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33
in the U. S. (Sheehy, 1986; Goffin, 1988). Cultural differences in
learning styles, listening behaviors (Trueba, 1983), and response patterns (Harris,
1988; Cohen, 1988) often lie beneath misinterpreted messages. These issues
further handicap a parent’s abilities to guide their gifted child’s as they navigate
through the education system.
(Gratz & Pulley, 1984; Portes, McLeod & Parker, 1978; Vasquez, 1988),
add that aside from the overt obstacles, hidden challenges persist for immigrant
families with gifted children: Immigrants may demonstrate a very positive attitude
towards schools and learning; however, they may experience feelings of guilt for
family members who had to remain behind, or who were hurt or killed in their
native country. A gifted child's heightened awareness may increase vulnerability
when such circumstances exist. Furthermore, when a parent or relative is an illegal
immigrant the child may fear authority figures thereby preventing them from
forming close relationships with teachers and other potentially helpful adults.
Harris (1988) indicated that immigrant children often serve as "interpreters" for the
family, and as the children become Americanized, they may begin to resent this
responsibility, subsequently seen by elders as disassociating with tradition.
Resultant coping strategies have a negative effect on self-concept and family
relationships. Linguistic and cross-cultural issues affect all aspects of the student’s
life including school.
Wei (1983) explains that the process of second language acquisition is
long, complex, and developmental. Therefore, attempting to determine a child's
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34
intellectual potential by using English-based assessment instruments can
lead to erroneous conclusions. In addition, assessment in English is more likely to
reflect knowledge of English and interpretation of grammatical structure than
general intellectual potential. Cross-cultural challenges are confusing and may
delay the development of a child's sense of self-identity. Continuing cross-cultural
stress is often difficult for immigrants to articulate. A student may have little,
sporadic, or possibly no schooling prior to arriving in the United States. Wei (1983)
reported the frequency of wrong dates of birth in school records, used as a face
saving scheme to hide facts about lack of schooling (Center for Educational
Research and Innovation, 1987; Vuong, 1988). Wei (1993) write once the gifted
students has been enrolled in school, additional challenges arise. The challenges
include crowded classrooms, staff opposition to special programs, and use of
standardized tests may preclude entrance of recent immigrant children into gifted
programs. Steinberg and Halsted as cited in the National Coalition of Advocates for
Students (1988) reported that immigrant children have often been tracked into
English as a Second Language programs, then steered towards vocational courses.
Parents of immigrant children may distrust any "special" classes, including classes
for gifted and talented (Wei, 1983).
Individual Characteristics o f Gifted Students
Individual characteristics of the gifted child also contribute to their
academic outcomes. They too need to be empowered in the why and how to deal
with their gifts. The literature notes that due to the students special talents, at times
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35
is difficult to deal with their peers, teachers and their parents. Different
students tend to deal with such challenges differently. For some gifted children, it
is their self esteem which suffers most. Low self esteem, if not remedied, may lead
to decreased academic progress, and in many cases dropping out of school
altogether.
Other gifted students manifest their frustrations in more creative ways.
Sometimes they try to fit in with their age peers and "dumb themselves down" in
order to fit in. These gifted children tend to perform below their expected potential
on purpose. Subsequently they tend to decrease their efforts in the classrooms and
during exams. This is done with the preconceived notion that if they perform
below their levels and up to par with their peers; it will bring them more
acceptances within the subgroup. Reis (2000) emphasize that underachieving
students frequently report peer influence as the strongest force impeding their
achievement. Clasen & Clasen, (1995) indicated that Sixty-six percent of the
students named peer pressure or attitude of the other kids, including friends, as the
primary force against getting good grades. An examination of the NELS: (1988)
data revealed that students with friends who cared about learning demonstrated
better educational outcomes than those with less educationally interested or
involved friends (Chen, 1997)
A significant drawback which can have long lasting effects to ‘dumbing’
themselves down is that “sometimes they "coast" for too many years and lose their
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36
study habits” as indicated in the Guide for the Perplexed retrieved
September, (2005).
Giftedness is a complex attribute which encroaches on other aspects of the
student’s life. “Academic potential is not the only aspect of being exceptionally
bright; there are social and emotional aspects, including those associated with
fitting in with peers and experiencing life in different ways. These aspects can be
a direct result of the asynchrony of the student’s individual development. To
capture these aspects, Dr. Martha Morelock, a psychologist in Tennessee, co
developed the following definition of giftedness: "Giftedness is asynchronous
development in which highly developed cognitive abilities and heightened intensity
combine to create inner experiences and consciousness that are qualitatively
different from the standard. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual
ability. The individuality of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and
requires modifications in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to
develop optimally (Guide for the Perplexed, retrieved September 2005).
Colangelo (2002) adds that the reasons and sources for underachievement are
varied and complex. They include social isolation, pressure to conform, under
curriculum, family dynamics, rebelliousness, learning/behavioral disabilities,
attention-seeking, trauma, deliberate underachievement, and lack of goals and
direction (Colangelo, Kerr, Christensen, & Maxey, 1993; Neihart et al., 2002;
Peterson & Colangelo, 1996; Reis, 1998; Rimm, 1997).
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37
African-Americans, Latinos, and Native-Americans are well
aware of their minority presence in gifted programs and are conflicted about their
participation in such programs. A most unfortunate phenomenon afflicts minority
students, that is the association of academic excellence (e.g., gifted program) with
"acting White" (Colangelo, 2001; McWorther, 2000). They further add that gifted
minority students deal with all the issues that other gifted students deal with and
additionally, the ethnic issues of whether they belong in such programs and how
they will be viewed by their ethnic group if they participate. We are missing highly
capable minority students because they are conflicted about wanting to be found or
identified. One of the reasons involves fitting in with their peer groups.
Gifted Students and Peer Relationships
Peer relationships impact adolescent behavior (Brown, 1982; Clasen &
Brown, 1985; Reis, Hebert, Diaz, Maxfield, & Ratley 1995) found that high-
achieving peers had a positive influence on gifted students who began to
underachieve in high school. Positive peer interaction contributed to some students'
reversal of underachievement. Likewise, negative peer attitudes can often account
for underachievement (Clasen & Clasen, 1995; Weiner, 1992). Underachieving
students frequently report peer influence as the strongest force impeding their
achievement (Clasen & Clasen, 1995). Sixty-six percent of the students named
peer pressure or attitude of the other kids, including friends, as the primary force
against getting good grades. An examination of the NELS: data revealed that
students with friends who cared about learning demonstrated better educational
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38
outcomes than those with less educationally interested or involved friends
(Chen, 1997). A more recent study of peer influence on students' adjustment to
school (Berndt, 1999) measured students' grades and behavior in the fall and spring
of one academic year. Berndt found that students seemed to resemble more closely
their friends at the end of the school year than they did at the beginning of the
school year. Students' grades decreased between fall and spring if their friends had
lower grades in the fall. This finding does not imply causality, since students often
select peers whose uniqueness are already analogous to theirs (Bemdt, 1999).
However, these findings support the notion that there is a correlation between a
student's achievement and the achievement of his or her closest peer group (Reiss
& McCoach, 2000).
Families o f Gifted Students and Schools
Ample literature exists on involving parents of gifted children at school. In
theory, school districts consider family involvement central to student achievement.
In practice, few schools consistently and aggressively build partnerships with Black
families (Ford, 1996). According to Bermudez and Rakow (1993), there is an
absence of specialized programs or instructional models focusing on gifted LEP
students in gifted education. In order to close the gap between theory and practice,
school districts must put into practice, interventions to get parents involved; and the
approach must be multi-faceted. Some examples are as follow: teachers and
administrators must be proactive and aggressive in building trust, dialogue, and
relationships with diverse families; they must make sure that minority families
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39
know that the school district offers gifted education services; they need to
understand referral and screening measures and procedures; and know how the
placement decisions are made. Just as important, minority families must
understand the purposes and benefits of gifted education. School personnel must
avoid "drive-through teaching"; they must go into the community (e.g., visit
homes), attend minority-sponsored events, and seek the support of minority
churches, organizations, and businesses in order to build home-school- community
partnerships. Furthermore, schools will need to examine how much families are
involved in the formal learning process. Diverse families need to be encouraged to
become and remain involved (Ford, 1996). As per Resnick and Goodman, Donna
Ford of the University of Virginia offers the following guidelines for finding and
serving gifted African American students— (guidelines that hold promise for other
underserved gifted students as well). The guidelines are found in The Recruitment
and Retention of African American Students in Gifted Education Programs:
Implications and Recommendations published by the National Research Center on
the Gifted and Talented in September (1994). (See Appendix C for additional
information). Although the previous information is specific to African American
Gifted and talented students, it may serve or be useful to other underrepresented
groups as well.
Conclusions
The concept of giftedness varies across different countries. An examination
of the literature finds that the concept varies across the Unites States. It is evident
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that a number of definitions of giftedness exist. It becomes clear that
such definitions have different interpretations within the field of gifted education.
The analysis of underachievement of gifted students may shed insight and provide
valuable Best Practices Approaches for educating and retaining such students.
These findings may lead us to answers as to the under representation of minority
students in gifted and talented programs. Information on parental awareness and
their knowledge of giftedness may also contribute to best practices approaches in
the education of their gifted children. In addition, the exploration of cultural and
community factors may shed some light on the interaction and effects gifted
children and their education. Becoming aware of the individual characteristics of
gifted children will provide feedback on the effects of the practices applied in this
field. Peer relationships as evidenced by the literature, play a vital role on the
success and retention of students in the gifted programs. The interactions that the
parents of the gifted students hold with their children are a crucial component of
the values they hold as the student’s progress throughout their educational careers.
This study intends to explore the aforementioned issues in the form of non-school
factors that contribute to the academic achievements of gifted Hispanic students.
This study will utilize a qualitative case study approach consisting of focus group
interviews to shed light on this matter. The focus group interviews will explore
their perceptions by querying into their beliefs, attitudes and behaviors about the
non-school factors affecting academic achievement of gifted Hispanic students.
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41
Chapter 3:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The first subsection of the research and methodology section was composed
of the research questions which guided this study. The nature of the study
explained the reasons underlying the intent of the investigation. The subjects and
sampling subsections provided a detailed explanation of the characteristics of the
participants and how they were acquired for this study. The next part provided the
focus interviews and their development. The ensuing sections included the
research procedures, data analysis and reduction of the data.
The educational outcomes of Hispanic gifted students were dependent on
many factors. Baldwin (1985) listed the main factors affecting our success in
identifying gifted minority students. Among such factors were the lack of fostering
English language skills, negative cultural attitudes prejudices and traditions,
lifestyles based on survival mode, and the lack of experiences (full description see
Appendix F). Parental involvement among school institutions was held in very
high regard. The type of involvement however differed vastly across social
economic lines. The challenges were augmented for students whom have been
identified as having special gifts or talents. Hispanic families with gifted students
stumbled upon an array of challenges which affluent families may not have to deal
with. Whitmore and Rand (1985) pointed out that low socioeconomic status
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42
families often failed to provide exposure that stimulated the development
of higher level thinking skills.
Enriching experiences such as travel, educational activities, and shared
problem solving may haven been neglected. Such students may have been from
isolated rural settings, economically disadvantaged urban sites, or specific ethnic or
cultural minorities that do not encourage intellectual development. Families with
Hispanic backgrounds experienced challenges such as lack of knowledge about
their children’s gifts, strategies for dealing with them, and programs and services
available to them. These families may have encountered additional challenges due
to limited funds and resources. Hayes-Bautista (2004) noted that resources such as
private schools and private tutoring for SAT review courses were beyond their
economic reach. Other families experienced cultural conflicts which were difficult
to negotiate within the schools their children attended. There are significant
numbers of economically disadvantaged students who did not meet traditional
criteria for gifted programs. These students sometimes lacked the home support and
educational enrichment — and in extreme cases adequate nutrition, sleep, and
housing — to perform as well as advantaged students in school and on tests
(retrieved from Guide for the Perplex, September 2005).
Most school personnel agreed that parental involvement, particularly for
Hispanic gifted students, was crucial. Many questions arose as to how and what
types of parental involvement contributed optimally to their gifted children’s
academic success.
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Parent resources and involvement seemed to be influential factors
in how their children experienced school. Renzuli (2002) found that any students
who dropped out of school and who were from low SES families and racial
minority groups had parents with low levels of education and they participated less
in extracurricular activities. Although many studies have examined the factors that
contribute to success of students from affluent families, there are few in-depth
studies of the different factors that contribute to the outcome of students from
Hispanic families. This fact was supported by Bermudez and Boskow (1993).
They noted that under-representation of minority students in gifted and talented
programs was a well established fact. Indeed few studies have been conducted to
analyze the perceptions that Hispanic parents hold, and which influenced their
children’s academic outcomes. Examining these factors from the parent’s and their
child’s perspectives, however, may provide added insight as to why parents do
what they do when they intervene with their gifted children’s schooling.
Research Questions
This investigation intended to extrapolate the parent’s and gifted children’s
perceptions of non-school factors which were related to the academic achievement
of gifted Hispanic students from urban schools. The non-school factors included
family and community issues. These questions directed this investigation:
1. What perceptions do adult family members hold about familial and
community factors that influence academic achievement among gifted students
from Hispanic populations in urban elementary schools?
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What perceptions do gifted children hold about familial and
community factors that influence academic achievement among gifted students
from Hispanic populations in urban elementary schools?
Addressing the first question ideally resulted in some sort of topology
where by familial conditions were identified based on parent responses. The parent
responses helped in defining the familial conditions by grouping similar responses
into categories and distinguishing them from other like response patterns. Focusing
on the second question provided a more accurate depiction of how familial and
community factors affected the perception of the identified gifted children
themselves. This information helped in clarifying the home and community factors
that contributed to the student’s academic outcomes and provided a sense of which
practices were more likely to support student achievement.
Nature of the Study
This investigation utilized a qualitative case study design to identify and
characterize familial conditions that shaped and influenced academic achievement
among gifted students from Hispanic urban populations in elementary schools.
Focus group interviews were the single approach for gathering the qualitative
information for this study. The focus group interviews were based on a
representative sample from Hispanic gifted families which were used to help
identify the familial factors which contributed to student’s academic outcomes.
Patton (2002) noted that in a given study, a series of different focus groups are
conducted to get a variety of perspectives and increase the confidence in whatever
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45
patterns emerge. Cresswell (1998) added that conducting focus group
interviews provide a picture to help inform our practice or to see unexplored details
of the case. Triangulation of data from the interviews provided a more accurate
depiction of the familial and community conditions and their effects on their gifted
children’s outcomes.
Subjects and Sampling
The type of selection sampling employed was a “criterion” method of
sampling. Creswell (1998) wrote that “criterion” sampling works well when all
individuals studied represent people who have experienced the phenomenon. The
participants of this study were Hispanic Gifted and talented fourth and fifth grade
students and their parents from the Los Angeles Unified School District. The
participants were selected from elementary schools within local district 5 of the Los
Angeles Unified School District. The criteria for selecting who and what to study
for Hammersley and Atkinson (1995) are based on gaining some perspective on
time in the social life of the group, people representatives of the culture-shaping
group in terms of demographics, and the contexts that lead to different forms of
behavior.
The sampling method was addressed in a multi-faceted approach. An
application was submitted to the University of Southern California Internal Review
Board. An application for the conduction o f research within the district was
forwarded to the LAUSD Program Evaluation and Research Branch. All
documents required of this study were submitted to the LAUSD Program
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46
Evaluation and Research Branch. A group of schools were selected
which had a high density of Hispanic population. The selected school’s principal,
assistant principal and/or gifted coordinators were contacted via a telephone
conversation. A document of approval for the study signed by the LAUSD
Program Evaluation and Research Branch was presented to all school principals
and Gifted Coordinators at the participating schools.
School Principals and GATE Coordinators served as gate keepers for the
researcher. Cresswell (1998) note that gaining access through a gatekeeper and
establishing rapport with the case being studied are important for interviews.
During the initial conversation, the principal received an introduction to the project
and permission and cooperation to conduct the project within the school was
requested. By contacting the gifted coordinator, the likelihood of obtaining
participants from Hispanic urban populations with gifted children was greater than
if we chose to find them ourselves. By making contact with the administrators
before hand, the investigator gained support for the study, potentially influencing
the participation rate. When necessary, additional families were contacted via
telephone by the gifted coordinators to increase or supplement the sample size.
Five elementary schools were contacted for the study. Assuming that at
least one school principal agreed to participate, this would yield a representative
sample of participants to select from. A meeting between the researcher and
students was arranged by the Gifted Coordinator. During this meeting the primary
investigator introduced the study to the students and answered questions the
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students had. Once this group was identified, information and
recruitment letters were sent home directly to the families within the sample of
schools. Sending out a large number of forms insured that an adequate sample was
sought for the study and served as a contingency plan for gathering additional
participants. Families interested in taking part in this study returned the forms back
to the GATE coordinator at their attending schools. From the returned forms a
sample of nine parents and eleven gifted students were selected randomly to make
up the sample for this study.
Nine parents and eleven gifted students were selected randomly to make up
the sample that represented a variety of families throughout the Los Angeles
Unified School District. The participants were assigned to specific focus group
interviews consisting of four to six participants in each group. One of the group
interviews was conducted in Spanish with Spanish speaking parents. The focus
group interviews were conducted at the student’s school of attendance.
This group of eligible gifted students and their parents were gathered at
their perspective schools by the gifted coordinator for an information session.
During the information session, the program was introduced and explained to all of
the participants. At the time of the session, the participants asked questions, and
they expressed their concerns with the study. The participants were given a letter
of interest to take home for their review. The letter provided an introduction to the
study and instructions for their potential participation in the study. The parents
choose to agree to participate in the study or choose to opt out of the study by
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returning the letters via the students to the gifted coordinator at their
children’s school of attendance (Appendix G). The families who agreed to take
part in the study were contacted with further instructions. They were contacted and
informed about their participation status, future directions, location of the
interviews, and time of the interviews. The participating families received a
telephone call the day prior to the interviews as a reminder from the gifted
coordinator at their child’s school of attendance. The consent forms were signed
by the willing participants in the presence of the primary investigator (Appendix
B). At this phase of the study, Creswell (1998) recommends that the investigator
go over the purpose of the study, the amount of time that will be needed to
complete the interview, and plans for using the results from the interview.
It was important to recognize that the focus of this study were Hispanic
gifted students and their families. With this sampling approach it was possible that
participants may have been chosen who were not from underrepresented
populations. Although their information was important, it was not the focus of this
study; thus such parents may not have been contacted for participation in this
project.
Research Design
This study was a qualitative case study. The case study consisted of five
focus group interviews. One interview was conducted in Spanish. The participants
for the first three focus interviews included the parents of Hispanic gifted students;
the other two focus group interviews contained the gifted children themselves. The
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following questions guided this study: What perceptions do adult family
members hold about familial and community factors that influence academic
achievement among gifted students from Hispanic populations in urban elementary
schools? What perceptions do gifted children hold about familial and community
factors that influence academic achievement among gifted students from Hispanic
populations in urban elementary schools?
For this study a single method of focus group interviews was utilized to
gather data concerning the familial factors that contribute to their children’s
outcomes. This protocol included a specific sequence of events for gathering data.
This process consisted of five group interviews: three with the parents and the
other two or three with the gifted children. During this phase, the interviews were
conducted at the beginning of the project. After the interviews were completed
with the parents a second series of focus group was conducted with their gifted
children themselves.
Procedures
Data Collection
The data were gathered through the focus group interviews with the
identified parents and their gifted children. Krueger (1994) defined a focus group
interview as a technique in which a group of people who possess certain
characteristics provide data of a qualitative nature in a focused discussion. Each
interview involved a group of four to six participants who will discussed a common
topic for two hours under the direction of a moderator and assistant moderator. The
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discussions were recorded on two audio tape recorders and later
transcribed and reported as qualitative data. Typically, several group interviews
were conducted. In each case, the moderator raised various issues pertinent to the
needs assessments, following an outline commonly known as the questioning route.
The interviews were recorded, transcribed, categorized and analyzed for patterns
and trends among participants in each interview, as well as across the entire set of
groups involved in the study. Creswell (1998) added that another important
approach to reducing the data is to develop codes or categories and sort text or
visual images into categories.
Patton (2002) added that focus group interviews are used with special
targeted populations in action research, for example with program dropouts. He
also noted that groups are typically six to ten people with similar backgrounds who
participate in the interview for one to two hours. Focus group interviews had some
unique advantages. One of the advantages was that this approach was cost
effective. Krueger and Cassey (2000) noted that an additional benefit was that
interactions among participants enhanced data quality. Participants tended to
provide checks and balances on each other, which weeds out false or extreme
views. Patton (2002) added that the extent to which there is a relatively consistent,
shared view or great diversity of views can be quickly assessed. An added benefit
was that focus groups tended to turn out to be an enjoyable experience for the
participants. Focus group interviews are advantageous when the interaction among
the interviewees are similar and cooperative with each other, when time to collect
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51
data is limited, and when individuals interviewed one on one may be
hesitant to provide information (Krueger, 1994; Morgan, 1988; Stewart &
Shamdasani, 1990). Although the focus group approach was a good approach for
gathering participant’s information, it does have its inadequacies.
Some of the limitations were that with such a group only a few questions
may have be addressed, and the time for each participant was limited. Patton
(2002) noted that those participants who realized that their viewpoint is a minority
perspective may not be inclined to speak up and risk negative reactions. Kaplowits
(2000) noted that controversial and highly personal issues are poor topics for focus
groups. Querying parents about familial issues may have fallen within such a
category. Patton (2002) added that confidentiality cannot be assured in focus
groups. Sampling parents from different schools may have ameliorated this issue.
The interviews were developed by the primary investigator. The research
questions were derived from the literature review. The questions were also
generated with the assistance of a research firm (Vital Research) and under the
supervision of the thematic group chair. The interview questions were translated
into Spanish by the primary investigator. The interview was composed primarily of
open-ended questions and follow-up questions to illicit further understanding of the
factors. The open-ended questions were asked in order to gather information such
as the parent’s opinions, values, feelings, knowledge, sensory, background, and
demographics about their children’s educational experiences specifically the non
school factors. The open-ended questions also queried into their attitudes,
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52
perceptions, and other factors of parents which influence or have
influence their involvement in their children’s education. Patton addressed three
different types of open-ended interviews: the informal conversation, the general
interview and the standardized open-ended interview. For the purpose of this
interview two of the three approaches were utilized in a combined fashion the
general interview and the standardized open-ended interview.
The general interview Patton (2002) described involves outlining a set of
issues that are to be explored with each respondent before the interview begins.
The interview guide ensured that the same topics of inquiry regarding familial and
community factors were pursued with each parent and student. Patton (2002) noted
that the interview guide provided topics or subject areas within which the
interviewer was free to explore, probe, and ask questions that elucidated and
illuminated the particular subject. The guide provided a framework within which
the interviewer developed questions, sequenced those questions and made decisions
about which information to pursue in greater depth.
The standardized open-ended interview consisted of a set o f questions
carefully worded and arranged with the intention of taking each respondent through
the same sequence and asking each respondent the same questions with essentially
the same words (Patton, 2002). One of the strengths of this approach was that the
interviewer collected the same information from each participant which increased
the reliability of this project. Although this approach had a variety of strengths, it
also has some unique shortcomings. Patton (2002) noted that this approach does
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not permit the interviewer to pursue topics or issues that were not
anticipated when the interview was written. A structured interview reduces the
extent to which individual differences and circumstances can be queried. In order
to address these limitations, a combined approach utilizing the general interview
guide and the standard format interview was implemented for this study. Patton
(2002) noted that this combined strategy offers the interviewer flexibility in
probing and in determining when it is appropriate to explore certain subjects in
greater depth, or even to pose questions about new areas of inquiry that were not
originally anticipated in the interview instrument’s development. The Spanish
interviews were translated from English to Spanish by the primary investigator.
The Spanish interviews were then transcribed by the primary investigator into
English. The examiner was a native speaker and received a score of four out of a
possible four in the LAUSD district Spanish fluency exam in July of 2000. Once
the English interviews were completed, they were transcribed utilizing a
transcription specialist. With the interviews transcribed into paper, the subsequent
steps were taken to reduce the data. The data was categorized into common themes
or common characteristics by the primary investigator.
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The cover letter informed the participants that the primary goal of
the interviews was to gain insight into their experiences as a way of improving the
overall involvement of parents of Hispanic gifted students. Such interventions
were intended to ensure that parents felt relaxed in sharing their unique experiences
during focus group interviews.
Validity and Reliability
Triangulation for this study was attainted by comparing the response
patterns from the two parent focus group interviews and gifted student interviews.
The focus group questions were drawn from the literature. The focus questions
were initially generated by the primary investigator. The questions were further
developed under the guidance of the dissertation chair. Furthermore, the interview
questions were submitted to a professional investigator from a professional
research firm (Vital Research) for further development. This process strengthened
the interview questions utilizing a variety of raters. A pilot study also was utilized
to strengthen validity and reliability of this study. The pilot study consisted of two
focus group interviews. One of the interviews consisted of Spanish Speaking
parents and the other focus group interview was composed of gifted children. The
interviews were conducted following the guidelines of the open-ended focus group
approach and the general interview focus group method. The participants were
convened at the end of the focus group interviews for a 30 minute debriefing
session. During the debriefing session, the participants were queried about their
opinions of the interview questions, the relevance of the interview questions, and
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clarity of the questions. During the debriefing session, the participants
were asked for their input about the questions one question at a time and one
participant at a time. They were asked what each question was asking, and a
consensus was reached from their responses. Questions that received high levels of
agreement were left as they were, and questions that received little to no consensus
were rewritten for clarity.
Pilot Study
The pilot study consisted of two focus group interviews of six participants in each
interview session. The pilot study was conducted in Spanish due to the high
interest of Spanish speaking families and the low turn out of English Speaking
parents. The first focus group interview was conducted with the parents of gifted
children. The second focus group which made up the pilot study was conducted
with the identified fourth and fifth grade gifted students from an urban elementary
school. The focus group interviews were utilized utilizing the open-ended
interview method and the general interview approach in accordance with the
guidelines of Creswell (1998). The two interviews were about 90 minutes in
length. The interviews were recorded for further analysis. The information was
transcribed by the primary by the primary investigator and a professional
transcribist. Thereafter the data were transcribed and coded into themes and
categories. The data were analyzed individually. Secondly, the data were
compared and contrasted amongst the two groups and developed further into
emerging themes.
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Data Analysis
Analysis of qualitative data from focus group interviews included a process
of open and axial coding from the constant comparative approach (Creswell, 1998).
Huberman and Miles (1994) suggested that investigators make preliminary
“counts” of data and determine how frequently codes appear in the data base. The
data were broken down into smaller elements and compared and distinguished in a
process of conceptualization. Concepts were classified in terms of a variety of
assets as a way categorizing them in order to organize the data and provide
meaning. Creswell (1998) emphasized that category formation represents the heart
of qualitative data analysis. Here researchers describe in detail, develop themes or
dimensions through some classification system, and provide an interpretation in
light of their own views or views of perspectives in the literature. The results of
this analysis yielded a typology that distinguishes different parent perceptions and
interventions and strategies for assisting their gifted children with their studies.
Once parent interviews were classified, rate of occurrence was calculated to
determine which responses were most common. Once topologies were established,
the date was prepared for analysis. The data was not coalesced because each sub
question has unique relevance to the overarching research questions.
The parent responses were analyzed individually due to the fact that
gathering one homogeneous group (parents of the same language) was not possible.
In the final phase, Creswell (1998) emphasized that the researcher present the data,
a packaging of what was found in text, tabular, or figure form. For example,
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57
creating a visual image of the information, a researcher may present a
comparison table or a matrix. In this study, the responses were reported
individually by group. The first set of data was derived from the Spanish interview
with the Spanish speaking parents. The second set was the responses of the
bilingual parents. The third set of responses consisted of the data collected from
the gifted children. Thereafter the findings were reported, analyzed and compared
amongst groups. The comparison included English and Spanish speaking parents.
A second comparison was made between the parents and the students.
Data Reduction
The data consisted of audio-taped interviews. The content of the interviews
were transcribed into a note book by a professional transcribist and the primary
investigator. The data was analyzed for rate of occurrence and recorded. The
content was categorized into thematic categories which were utilized for the
analysis of the investigation. The data was reduced utilizing Strauss and Corbin
(1990) constant comparative methods of open coding and axial coding.
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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
Introduction
This chapter described the results of the focus interviews that comprise this
study. The focal point was on the perceptions of Gifted Hispanic students and their
parents regarding non-school factors. The data were presented with analysis as
guided by the research questions presented in chapter one. Each research question
was comprised of sub-questions. The sub-questions were presented individually
along with a table which demonstrated the question and the perceptions of the
parents. The responses from the Spanish speaking parents were presented first.
The Spanish interviews were transcribed by the Examiner. The examiner is a
native speaker and received the highest possible score in the LAUSD district
Spanish fluency exam in July of 2000. The responses from the English speaking
parents were presented next. The responses from the gifted students themselves
were presented along with analysis of each sub question last. The data were not
coalesced because each sub question had unique relevance to the overarching
research questions. The data were coded for categories and themes which served to
address the research questions of this study. The transcriptions of the interviews
were given to the parents and gifted students to check for accuracy of the
information. This helped in the validation process of the questionnaires.
The transcriptions were then organized for analysis. Creswell (1998) added
that another important approach to reducing the data is to develop codes or
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59
categories and sort text or visual images into categories. Analysis of
qualitative data from focus group interviews was included a process of coding.
Huberman and Miles (1994) suggested that investigators make preliminary
“counts” of data and determine how frequently codes appear in the data base. The
data were broken down into smaller elements and compared and distinguished in a
process of conceptualization. Concepts were classified in terms of a variety of
assets as a way categorizing them in order to organize the data and provide
meaning. Creswell (1998) emphasized that category formation represents the heart
of qualitative data analysis. Here researchers describe in detail, develop themes or
dimensions through some classification system, and provide an interpretation in
light of their own views or views of perspectives in the literature. The results of
this analysis yielded a typology that distinguishes different parent perceptions,
interventions and strategies for assisting their gifted children with their studies.
Once parent interviews were classified, rate of occurrence was calculated to
determine which responses were most common. Once topologies were established,
the data was prepared for analysis.
In the final phase, Creswell (1998) emphasized that the researcher present
the data, a packaging of what was found in text, tabular, or figure form. For
example, creating a visual image of the information, a researcher may present a
comparison table or a matrix. In this study, the responses were reported
individually by group. The first set of responses consisted of the date collected
from the Spanish speaking parents. The second set consisted of responses from the
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60
English speaking parents. These parent responses were analyzed
individually due to the fact that gathering one homogeneous group (parents of the
same language) was not possible. The third set of data represented the views
expressed by the gifted students themselves. The third set of data was a
combination of the student and parent responses. The constant comparative
analysis was utilized to analyze the data (Creswell, 1998; Merriam, 1998). In the
constant comparative method, there are three fundamental types of coding open,
axial, and selective. The primary goal of open coding is to compare similarities
and differences in the data. For axial coding the goal is to examine the emerging
categories related to the properties and then test this relationship against the data.
Selective coding places all the categories under the umbrella of a core category so
that there is narrowing of the data to this single, core category.
Findings
Two research questions guided this study. The first question was: What
perceptions do adult family members hold about familial and community factors
that influence academic achievement among gifted students from Hispanic
populations in urban elementary schools? After analysis of the data, two themes
emerged. They were perceptions of family support and perceptions of community
support and resources. This theme yielded a variety of sub categories. Under
family factors the subcategories were as follow: intricacies of language,
identification of giftedness, student challenges, future orientation, and emotional
involvement. In regards to community support the following subcategories
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61
emerged: lack of community resources in their communities and lack of
extended family support. The second question that guided this study was: What
perceptions do gifted children hold about familial and community factors that
influence academic achievement among gifted students from Hispanic populations
in urban elementary schools?
From the findings we were able to identify two major themes: family factors and
community factors. Under family factors the following subcategories were noted:
Language issues, present orientation, family dynamics, cultural awareness,
opinions on college and the future, and the lack of community resources.
This chapter was organized to address each sub question independently.
Every question makes up a section. Each section was organized into five parts.
The first part provided an overview of the sub-questions. Secondly the responses
of parents (Spanish and English) were presented; then the responses of the children
were interjected. The next part provided a comparison of the three groups giving
quotes from the interviewees as evidence for my conclusions. The last part
included a table which contains an overview of all of the data in each question.
Conversational Spanish
This section provides an overview of the perceptions of the languages
spoken by the participants and their opinions about combining languages in
conversation. When analyzing the issue of language, the complexities were
displayed when we considered the differences of Spanish speaking parents as
opposed to parents who spoke more than one language. Two out of the four
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62
parents, who predominantly reported speaking Spanish, reported mixing
the two languages (English and Spanish) in conversation. One parent reported
“sometimes we combine the two languages when we speak.” Although they
reported mixing the languages, four out of the four parents noted that they were not
in favor of their children mixing the two languages. A parent phrased it in this
manner “I call it to their attention when they do it. I tell them that they either speak
to me in Spanish or English. They stay quiet. I tell them it does not look good.
Either they speak all Spanish at home or English.”
Three out of the five parents who spoke more that one language (English
and Spanish) reported that they were not as concerned with their children mixing
the languages when speaking. Four out of the four parents reported that in their
opinion they were not alarmed with their children interchanging languages in
conversation; the vast majority reported that they utilized English and Spanish
interchangeably in their own conversations. One parent presented it in such a way
“I don’t mind it. As a matter of fact, the nickname I have for my little girl is
Spanish Queen. She speaks Spanglish (also called code-switching or the mixing of
two languages in conversation). She does not know the difference between the
English and the Spanish, its just part of her communicating. Sometimes she’ll say
something like, “we have to go right now, ‘porque’ were going to be late.”
Another parent reflected the same sentiment this way. She noted “I laugh at it I
think its fine. I think as they grow up she’ll learn. The English part, they’ll learn
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63
from school, I know that for a fact. The Spanish part, they’ll learn from
me, from my family.”
Most of the gifted students perceived that their parents combined the
languages in conversation. Furthermore, nine out of the eleven of the students
reported that they too mix the languages in conversation. All of them felt that they
were encouraged to speak more than one language. However, five out of the eleven
students reported that their parents did not encourage them to mix them in
conversation. One of the students phrased it in these terms “my mom and dad
don’t want me to combine English and Spanish because it’s not proper.”
These response patterns yielded different trends. Upon analysis of the
responses, the response patterns showed that Spanish speaking Hispanic parent’s
instructed their gifted children to separate the two languages in conversation.
Multilingual parents were not as adamant about separating the two languages in
conversation. This fact was supported by Frisby and Reynolds (2005) who
indicated that the rate of use of Spanish varied across generations of Hispanics in
the United States. They noted that the trend of speaking Spanish diminished with
the generations. The students report that they perceive that their parents wanted
them to speak the two languages but did not encourage them to mix them.
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Table 1
Perceptions ofLanguage(s) Spoken and Perceptions o f Mixing Languages
How do you fell about combining languages in conversation?
Response Pattern
Spanish only
Parents
English speaking
parents
Gifted Children
Language(s)
spoken
Mixed
languages
Mixed languages Mixed languages
Opinion on
combining
languages
Most reported
mixing yet did
not encourage
Most mixed language(s)
and were content with the
mixing of languages
Most reported mixing
languages and parent
disapproval
Multilingualism
This segment provides an overview of the group’s perceptions regarding
multilingualism. The response patterns showed that being multilingual appeared to
be perceived as an important factor across all of the groups. All four of the Spanish
speaking parents indicated that being bilingual provided their children with more
opportunities, opens doors, and facilitates communication with others. One parent
summed it up like this “speaking more than one language would open doors. If my
child went to a different country he would know the language and cold work there.”
All five of the English speaking parents reported that being multilingual was
beneficial for their children’s employment opportunities and for employment
purposes. One English speaking parent reported o f being multilingual, “it would
help them in the future. In the long run; in whichever choice of careers you make.”
All of the eleven of the children also reported favorable perceptions of
speaking more than one language. Six out o f the eleven reported that being
multilingual would be of benefit to them so that they could have a better future.
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They differed from their parents in that they also wanted the ability to
speak and communicate with other individuals. A student stated “my parents think
that it’s a plus to learn more than one language because then, you’d be able to talk
to different people.” Another child put it this way “if some people talk a different
language and you don’t know what they’re talking about, they won’t know what
you’re talking about.”
Upon analysis of the perceptions of multilingualism, all groups reported
positive views. Parents, whether they spoke one or multiple languages realize that
speaking more than one language was of great benefit to their children.
Contemporary studies (Hine 2002) have shown, in fact that exposure to more that
one language during upbringing may be a scholastic asset. The parents further
added that speaking more than one language would be beneficial to their futures
and the careers that they chose to pursue. The students reported similar responses
and also indicated that it would also allow them to communicate with individuals
who spoke other languages than their own.
Table 2
Perceptions o f multilingualism
Would you want your child to speak more that one language? And why?
Response Pattern
Spanish only
Parents
English speaking
parents
Gifted Children
Multilingualism In favor In favor In favor
Purpose of
multilingualism
Future orientation
Employment
Future orientation
employment
Employment,
communication
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Differences Gifted and Non-gifted Siblings
This section provides a synopsis of the perceptions of the three groups
regarding the initial indications and formal identification of the gifted child. When
it came to the issue of identification of giftedness of the children, parents displayed
very unique characteristics. The majority of Spanish speaking parents (three out of
four) indicated that they did not realize their child’s advanced development prior to
entering school. They noted that they learned of their child’s giftedness only after
they entered formal schooling and were diagnosed by school personnel. The
parents realized that their children were becoming bored at school and displayed
advanced skills in academic areas. Two parent’s observations exemplified it this
way “they told me at the school but I noticed that she progressed easily at school. I
did not notice the differences as a child” and “I noticed that she was advanced at
school in math and computers. At school, they told me that she was more
advanced. She gets bored with pencils. They told me to move her to a different
grade.”
All five of the English speaking Hispanic parents noted a series of unique
characteristics. They indicated that they observed that their children reached the
developmental milestones early such as walking and talking. They also noted that
their children displayed unique interests, curiosities, and spent more time on
desired tasks. One parent reported that her son started walking at an early age and
absorbed more that my other son. Another explained “I noticed that he sits there
and his way of absorbing everything is just to stare into space. And he’s listening
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to you, but he won’t answer you. But once you go back and ask him,
what did I say and he’ll repeat everything you tell him.” One parent responded “I
think I noticed that he cold articulate and he was able to focus and organize
himself. So we figured he was more than average.” Another parent reported that
he was amazed at “how well his son absorbs information and how well he applied
it.”
Children’s responses yielded a single trend. They all indicated that they
learned about their giftedness only after enrolling in school. They noticed that they
were unique only after they were assessed for the gifted program or after their
parents received information about their giftedness. One child noted “I never saw
the scores, but my mom told me that I was smart enough to go the magnet school.”
Another student said “every time it (mail) came back with the like scores of tests or
something, she (mother) got happy. And she told me that I was like higher, like
more high than everybody else.”
All of the participants indicated that they did not knew of their children’s or
their giftedness prior to entering formal education. Spanish speaking parents
replied that they did not notice any thing special during the children’s infancy.
English speaking parents recognized their children’s advanced skill during infancy.
This view might not be in full understanding of English speaking parents. They
tended to be more cognizant of their children’s gifts. School personnel must
exercise a differentiated approach when providing educational services for the
parents they serve.
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Table 3
Identification o f Giftedness as Perceived by Parents and Students
How did you find out your child/you are gifted? Identification?
Response Pattern
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English speaking
parents
Students
Knowledge of
child’
giftedness
Most learned about
gifts after children
entering formal
school
Most noticed
uniqueness prior to
beginning formal
education
Most noticed
uniqueness after
formal education
Formal
identification
Identification by
school personnel
Identified by school
personnel
Notified by school
personnel
Differences Gifted and Non-gifted Siblings
This section provides data about the perceptions of the differences between
gifted and non-gifted children from all three groups. Table four indicates that all of
the parents in both English and Spanish speaking groups perceived their gifted
children as more self motivated, curious, and all have observed a unique trend in
which all of their gifted children enjoy some sort of academic branch of literature.
One Spanish speaking parent exemplified it in this fashion “I was surprised that she
could use the computer on her own, she learned to read. I did not have to push her.
I would go to the doctor and notice that she would entertain her self with books.”
Another made the distinction is this fashion the gifted child “he would always want
to read. He would run to educational books. The other one (non-gifted child) I had
a hard time introducing him to books. He did not like to read. He did not like it
when I read to him.” English speaking parents indicated similar response trends.
All four parents indicated that their gifted children were more eager to learn, self
starters and more advanced. One parent reiterated to her delight “I think my son
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69
was more articulate. He used words out the blue that, in content were
correct, but you didn’t expect them to come out of his mouth. So I think he was
more articulate in that respect than other kids.”
Gifted children consistently responded that the differences they observed of
themselves and non-gifted children was that they had a heightened interest in
reading. Most of them responded that the topics for literature were also different.
Several children reported that they were interested in reading Harry Potter books,
and or books on History. A student demonstrated he delight in this fashion “I
notice when mostly when I go to the library, and I use too much books, and I bring
them to the class, and they always call me ‘media girl’ cause I read too much.”
Both Spanish and English speaking parents mostly indicted that in
retrospect they did recognize some differences between their gifted children and
their non-gifted children. They indicated that the gifted children tended to displays
more academic interests were more responsible and tended to be more curious.
They also indicated that they tended to be self starters. The parents indicated that
they did not have to coax their children to complete academic tasks. The gifted
students themselves displayed enthusiasm at the fact that they were perceived as
smart and were asked to do more challenging tasks then their counterparts. The
findings of this study indicate that Gifted Hispanic students perceive their gifted
identification with a sense of pride.
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Table 4
Perceptions o f differences between gifted and non gifted children
How were/are the gifted children different than the non-gifted children?
Response Pattern
Spanish speaking
parents
English
speaking parents
Gifted
children
Perceptions of
differences of
Gifted and non-
gifted children
Gifted children
are self motivated
and pleasure in
academic work
Non gifted are
less responsible
and unmotivated
Gifted children
are more self
motivated,
curious, and find
pleasure in
academic work
Report that
they enjoy
reading more
academic
work than
others
Sibling Relationships
This section provides an overview of the perceptions about sibling
relationships among gifted and non-gifted children. Three out of the four Spanish
speaking parents reported that their children got along regardless of giftedness
identification. They predominantly stated that their children got along. On the
other hand some parents reported that their children played and fought with one
another. Other parents noted that their children were competitive. English
speaking parents showed similar results. Four parents demonstrated that their
children relationships were mostly negative. Although they expressed their
relationships to be mostly negative, the disagreements were superficial. One parent
stated that her children “get along like normal kids; they play and fight.” One
parent demonstrated this paradox in this manner “he (the gifted child) hangs out
with his brother’s friends. His brother looks at him like this little naughty little
kind of verbose nine year-old who’s like arrogant and that’s it. There is no
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71
difference; they just look at him as an obnoxious little kid.” The
student’s displayed similar contradictions. Five out of the children reported that at
times they get along yet at other times they fight. Most of them viewed the
disputes as superficial. A student demonstrated the superficiality of the fights this
way “my little sister every time we get home and I try to watch TV, she’s already
hiding the remote and she always turns it on.”
In conclusion, the response patterns showed that although the relationships
were perceived as being mostly negative by all three groups, they tended to be
superficial. Both English and Spanish speaking parents did not appear to be overly
concerned by their disputes. They viewed them as sibling rivalries which change
from one moment to another. The issues however did tend to be the result of their
children’s gifted identification.
Table 5
Perceptions o f Sibling Relationships
Flow do your children get along?
Response Pattern
Spanish speaking
parents
English speaking
parents
Students
Sibling
relationships
Most perceive
relationships to be
mixed
Most perceive
relationships to be
negative
Most perceive
relationships to
be negative
Challenges
This segment provides an overview of the perceptions of the gifted
children’s achievements and programs in which they have participated. Spanish
speaking parents reported that their children had been able to adjust to the gifted
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72
program. Although some reported that their children struggled early they
are currently doing well. They (four out of four) consistently reported that most of
the activities their children are involved in are programs within the school or were
associated with their children’s school. Some of the programs included the
school’s magnet program, the USC summer school program, the drill team and
LA’s BEST. English speaking parents also reported that their children were
performing above expectation in their gifted programs. The common thread
seemed to be that all of their gifted children were involved in school or school
related programs (four out of five parents). All of the students exposed similar
findings. Although some of them reported that at one point they struggled with
their academic work they were all doing exceptionally well getting 3’s and 4’s in
their report cards. The students also reported that most of the programs that they
are engaged in are in some way or another associated with their school.
Table 6
Parent and Child Perceptions o f academic achievement and program involvement
Tell me about your gifted child’s education?
Academic levels, Programs, and Grades
Response Pattern
Spanish speaking
parents
English
speaking
parents
Students
Grades (out of a
maximum of 4)
3’s and 4’s 3’s and 4’s 3’s and 4’s
Programs School related
activities
School related
activities
School related
activities
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Challenges
This area provides the response findings of the challenges the gifted
students face. Trends in this topic yielded an array of response trends. Three out
of the four Spanish speaking parents indicated that their children experienced the
greatest challenge upon entrance into the gifted program. They reported that they
had a difficult time adjusting to the new school yet are doing well. One parent
whose child recently entered into the school’s gifted program exemplified it in this
manner “they don’t like the school. They just don’t. I just changed to this new
school. She does not like the school. She does not like the food or the people but
that is it.” A second parent reported that the biggest challenge was “entering the
program. He was behind. He did not have any friends. The projects he had at the
times, he had a difficult time with them. Now he likes it he wants to do his best.”
Other Spanish speaking parents stated that they did not have access to the internet
which presented as a challenge for completing their child’s projects. Four out of
the five English speaking parents have not met many challenges in the gifted
programs. Parents indicated such responses as “I don’t think he has encountered
any. I think one of the biggest things this year is trying to keep him motivated and
not lazy.” The students on the other hand consistently (ten out of eleven) indicated
that being in gifted programs had been challenging. “We have a lot of homework
on Fridays” one student stated. Another replied “the most challenging test I’ve
done is the CAT/6 and the gifted test” and they challenge me more were some of
the student answers. These findings indicated conflicting perspectives from parents
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74
and their gifted children. The children consistently reported being
challenged by the load of school work and the degree of the challenges presented to
them.
Challenges were perceived very differently by all three groups. Spanish
speaking parents stated that in their perception, entrance into the gifted programs
was one of the biggest challenges for their children. They also indicated that they
felt that they really lacked resources for their children. On the contrary, English
speaking parents reported that they felt their children either had no challenges or
the lack of academic challenges itself was an issue for them. The students
indicated that the biggest challenge was the levels of difficulty and the amount of
work that they got on a regular basis.
Table 7
Challenges as Perceived by Parents and Students
What challenges have the gifted children encountered?
Response Pattern
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English speaking
parents
Students
Challenges Entrance into the gifted
program and lack of
resources
Most reported the
lack of challenge
or no challenges
Students reported
challenges with
work load and
difficulty
Time with Gifted Child
This piece addresses the time parents spent with their gifted child. It also
provides the response patterns of the activities that they engage in. All of the
groups interviewed indicated that the gifted child’s mother spent most of the non-
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school time with the gifted child. Three out of the four Spanish speaking
parents reported that mom spent most of the time with the child. One parent stated
“I don’t work so she is with me when she is out of school.” Most of the Spanish
speaking parents indicated that they spend lots of time doing the child’s homework.
The English speaking parents indicated that mother spends most of the time with
the children. A small number of the parents reported that their gifted child spend
most of the time with their father, a sibling or a relative. The majority of these
parents (three out of five) indicated that they did some type of academic task when
they were with their children. A mother noted “during the time I am at home with
them, if there are no activities, usually during the week cause there is no TV
allowed so they’re usually reading.” Another parent stated “so usually with him,
we’re doing homework that’s probably an hour or two while I’m doing dinner;
trying to cook dinner and tend to his homework. A common response pattern was
gathered from the student interviews. The vast majority of the students indicated
that they spent most of their out of school time with their mothers. However, they
differed on the types of activities the engage in when they are together. The parents
reported that they spend most of the time doing academic tasks; ten out of the
children stated that most of that time is spent on leisure activities. One of the
students reported that “sometimes we paint on paper and play video games or
sometimes we go out and ride our bikes. A different child said “the only time he
spent with his parents was on Sundays. We usually go out to eat and go shopping
and go to the movies.”
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Upon analysis of the information, it was evident that all parents
report that their children spend the vast majority of non-school time with at least
one parent. The parents also reported that during that time most of them are
working some type of academic task. The students responded that they spent most
of their non-school time with their parents specifically their mothers. This time,
most of them reported that they spent this time on leisure activities.
Table 8
Time spent with child and activities
Who spends more time with the gifted child? Father or mother? Other?
Tell me about the activities?
Pattern Responses
Spanish speaking
parents
English speaking
parents
Students
Spends most
time with child
Mother Mother Mother
Activities Homework Academic tasks Leisure
activities
Importance o f Education
In this portion the perceptions of the parents and the gifted children’s about
the importance education are explored. Spanish speaking parents consistently
indicated that they perceived education to be important for their children’s future.
Spanish speaking parents tended to convey their messages through conversations
and comparisons of their personal lives. One parent explained “their preparation is
their future and it’s going to open up doors for them. To be prepared for anything.
I tell them that in our countries we didn’t have the opportunity. Even if we have
them we don’t take them. I tell them to take advantage of their opportunities to
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77
have a career and a better future for them and their families in the future.”
Another parent conveyed the messages in a similar fashion. She told her daughter
“look at me I did not have the same opportunities she has in this country.”
English speaking parents appeared to focus more on the development of
current skills to prepare their children for what awaits them in the future. One
parent replied “I think the most important thing for me, and it’s always been for all
of our kids are to make sure-, it sounds simple, but make sure that you learn how to
read and write.” Another parent shared a conversation she had with her husband.
“You cannot take the hood out of the child and I say, what do you mean? He goes;
yeah if you don’t take them to museums and you don’t expand their minds how you
expect them to leave their neighborhoods. And he goes yeah it’s what makes it.
Expand their minds, explore and expose them to different cultures. Expose them
too the facts that there’s a world besides that little circle you tend create for them.”
It appears that most English speaking parents tended to deal more directly with the
child’s environments such as working with the teachers and exposing them to
museums as opposed to relaying verbal messages directly to their children.
All of the gifted children reported that the messages they acquired from
their parents are about college, drugs, grades and behavior. One child expressed it
in this manner “my importance of education is to get as much education as I can
and go to college and university and then get a good job.” Another displayed it in
this fashion “mine are to go to college and graduate because my mom wants me to
be a good person not a bad person.” A different student said of staying focused
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78
“my parents tell me to not do noting or like not have drugs or that,
because it’s going to be bad for me and maybe I’m not going to make it.”
Spanish speaking parents bequeath the importance in very unique ways.
The trend displayed indicated that they tend to share personal stories to encourage
their gifted children to pursue their academic endeavors. The most consistent
messages are to learned from their experiences and took advantage of their
opportunities. Findings showed that English speaking parents in the other hand
tended to attempt to control as many of the factors surrounding their gifted
children’s lives in order to ensure that they learned the basics of education which is
reflective of their messages of importance concerning education. In turn the
student’s responses were reflective of their parent’s messages. Students stated that
going to go college, not doing drugs, getting good grades and displaying good
behaviors were important factors of their education.
Spanish speaking parents tended to share their past experiences to prepare
their children for the future. English speaking parents tended to encourage the
development of basic academic skills and mentality for preparation for the future.
Most of the children reported that it was imperative to stay away from certain
negative stressors. Their parents were relaying messages regarding negative
stressors within their surroundings.
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Table 9
Parent and C hild’ s Perceptions o f the Importance o f Education
Tell me about things that are important about education?
Response Patterns
Perceptions of
Spanish
speaking
parents
Perceptions of
English speaking
parents
Gifted
students
Importance of
education
Future
orientation
Present
preparation for
future preparation
College,
grades, and
clean record
Mode of
message
Give examples
o f their own
experiences
Manipulate their
children’s current
environments
College Attendance
This section provides an overview of the perceptions from all three groups
regarding college attendance. It also provides response patterns about attending
colleges away from home for males and females. Trends in this matter indicate that
Spanish speaking parents (three out of the four) of Hispanic Gifted Children
support their children attending college. Furthermore, the majority of these parents
would be supportive of their children attending college away from home. This
view tends to hold true regardless of gender. “If he chose to go away its ok; I
would support him. It would not be an inconvenience. Like all parents I would
worry but we cannot tie his hands. We should not hold them back form their
future, “ft would be the same for girls” one parent expressed.
Similar trends were expressed by English speaking parents. All of the
parents expressed positive opinions about their children attending college. When
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asked about boys and girls attending college away from home one parent
express her opinion in this manner “what do I think about it? I’m in favor of it. In
fact I when to school at a time when they were still telling Latinas that they should
stay home and have babies. So definitely I’m in favor of it and support it.”
However, when asked whether attending college in a different city, three out of the
five parents were split as it relates to gender. Two of the four parents expressed no
difference in this matter. The other three reported that they approved for their boys
moving away from home but did not approve of their girls going to away from
home for education purposes. A parent emoted her feeling in this fashion “I just
have a double standard; I think it would be easier. Like when my brother went
away, just because he was male. I think it’s scarier for females.” This view was
echoed in this manner by a different parent “she’s my queen.. . She’s my little
princess. If I had a choice I would keep my little girl local.”
Gifted Hispanic students express consistency when speaking about
attending college. Views such as its’ their right, it’s a good opportunity, its better,
achieving their goals, and reaching their dreams were common descriptors about
going to college. All of them expressed favorable opinions in going away to
colleges to pursue their education. A student stated “I think it’s sad that they need
to go away for college, but I think it’s good at the same time because they’re going
for a better education.” Furthermore, they express that such opinions transcend the
genders. They report that these views apply to boys and girls. Some of the
students expressed that as people considered going away to college that they
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needed to consider their reasons. One student stated “if they get away
because of their studying and so that’s like good, but if they don’t just because they
want to get away from studying and all, they’re doing a bad decision.”
Overall, parent responses whether from Spanish or English Speaking
parents show that they tend to hold paradoxical views. One parent sums up her
personal schism in this manner “I mean she wants to go and part of me doesn’t
want to let her go”, but I’m sure we’re going to encourage her to go where she
wants.” Student trends indicate that they perceive higher education an asset to their
personal lives. One student posed it this way ‘it is good because I will achieve my
dreams.” When asked about going “away” to college the students stated
consistently that they thought it would be a positive aspect of their lives. Both the
parents and their children display strong communication. It is evident at this young
age that some of the students are sensitive to the views parents hold about attending
college and moving away to pursue academic endeavors. Some of the students
differ from their parents views. All eleven of the children reported that it would be
beneficial to go away to attend college. However some of the parents reported that
they prefer to have their children attend college but close to home. The data shows
that parents are being protective of children and feel hat being close to home would
be of benefit for their children’s academic careers.
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Table 10
Parents and Gifted Student’ s Perceptions o f College Attendance
What do you think about boys and girls going to college?
Response Pattern
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Students
College
attendance
Most in favor Most in favor All in favor
Away from
home
Most supportive for
males and females
Most supportive in
going away. Gender:
ok for boys not girls
Most in favor for
girls and boys
Types o f Support
This segment addresses the perceptions of parent’s and gifted children
about the support provided by the families. Three out of the four Spanish speaking
parents reported that they support their children by providing the educational
materials that their children needed. A parent stated that she supported her child by
“giving them what they need. We just bought them a computer to assist them with
their studies. Buying them (children) programs and buying them books.” Another
parent stated related a similar response “we have a computer, the internet, and
educational games.”
English speaking provided similar findings. In addition to providing
educational materials for their children they reported that they took them on
educational trips. One respondent expressed her support in this manner “ever since
she was little (her daughter), we have gotten her books, taken her to museums,
music events and other extracurricular events.” “We take them to museums, the
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83
aquarium, movies, bookstores, we buy them lots and lots of books”
indicated a different parent.
The findings for the gifted children yielded different findings. The parents
description of their supports included provided their children with the necessary
materials and taking them to educational trips. The Gifted students responded in
majority (seven out of eleven) that in their perception their parents supported them
by providing a positive learning environment at home and by assisting them with
their homework. Responses to this matter included “she (mom) helps me on my
homework when I need help.” “They make me study.” “They mostly help me with
my writing.” Regarding the provision of providing a positive learning environment
the reposes included “my mom gets mad every time when she puts me in the room,
cause I’m seeing TV in the living room.” “If someone is doing something that has
to do with school, it has to be very quiet, she makes it very quiet so that we can
concentrate” replied a student.
Upon reflection of the responses, it can be stated that Spanish and English
speaking parents displayed consistent findings with slight variations. Both groups
of parents reported that they provided the essentials at home for their children.
English speaking parents further indicated that they took their gifted children on
educational trips such as museums and the zoo. The gifted students themselves
displayed a different trend. The majority of them indicated that their parents
provided a positive learning environment at home and assistance with their
homework.
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Table 11
Parent and Student Perceptions o f Family Support fo r Gifted Children
How do you support your gifted child’s learning?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
parents
English Speaking
parents
Gifted Students
Type of
support
Purchase materials Purchase Materials
and provide
educational trips
Positive learning
environment and
assistance with
homework
Confidence Development in Gifted Students
This piece presents the response patterns regarding the perceptions of
confidence development. Response patterns in this matter indicated that Spanish
speaking parents tended to develop confidence by raising their gifted children’s self
esteem in a variety of ways. One parent expressed that she fostered a positive self
concept by telling her child “he has the capacity to do any task.” Another parent
tells her child “to study to gain self confidence. These responses were consistent
with the findings of Tomlinson, Callahan and Lelli (1997). They found that most
parents judged their children to be successful- they were “smart”, “hanging on,”
even in the face of great challenges.
Three out of the four Spanish speaking parents noted that developing
cultural awareness was a high priority for them. One parent stated “I tell them
about their culture. We take her to dances and rituals such as “the deer dance”
(Mexican dance ritual). We take them to shows and cultural events.” Another
parent stated that her son likes to speak to his grandparents. She noted “he likes to
interview her” (grandmother). All four of the Spanish parents reported that
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85
developing confidence in their community was a ubiquitous challenge.
The following responses were indicative of this trend: “We don’t go out much”; “I
take them out of the community”; “it’s a scary in our dangerous society.” Spanish
speaking parents indicated no trend in developing confidence in their children’s
school.
Five out of the five English speaking parents indicated that in their
perception they assisted in developing a positive self image in their gifted children
through positive reinforcement. One parent represented this trend in this manner
“we build her confidence up or if she has to practice speaking, always with positive
thoughts, positive encouragement, and it’s hard sometimes but we want to
reinforce, “yes” you can do it. There is no such thing as you can’t.” Another
parent indicated that they gave their child “a lot of encouragement.” The following
parent stated “in our house we never use the word stupid or anything like that.”
Such perceptions were evidenced within with the literature. Schunk (2004) wrote
that parents expectations for their children’s academic successes bore a positive
relation to their actual cognitive achievements. In regards to the development of
cultural acceptance, three out of the five parents stated that they attempted to
accomplish this by displaying a strong sense of pride in the family culture. This
view is exemplified with such phrases “embrace your culture, that you should not
be ashamed of who you are. And really be proud.” Another parent demonstrated
his commitment to instilling cultural awareness to his child with such comments as
“we’re one hundred percent Mexicano.” Four of the five English speaking parents
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fostered positive concepts of their communities by displaying positive
attitudes towards their communities. A parent indicated that they attempted to
accomplish this with phrases such as “we’re still in our community, we’re still
involved it.” A different parent’s told her children “I love where I grew up and
there’s a lot of beauty here.” Most of the responses about building confidence in
school were positive. A parent displayed such positive view in this way. She
stated “I make sure they know he’s privileged to be in a magnet program. I make
sure he realizes he is in a good school even though it might not look as pretty as the
schools he’s been to where I’ve taken him.”
Most students indicated that in their perception their parents attempted to
raise their self concepts in two ways. First, parents attempted to achieve this goal
by providing positive reinforcement. One student stated “my parents cheer me up
when I do well.” Other students note examples of compliments such as “you can
do it” and “you are doing very well.” The other trend indicated that four out of five
parents appeared to attempt to protect their gifted children from negative feedback.
Such responses included “when people tell you bad things its not you, it’s actually
because they are jealous of you.” “When someone is bothering me, my mom tells
me to just ignore them.” And “They tell me like if someone is picking on me or
anything, not to take it personally, cause if you know that it’s not true, then you
don’t have to worry about it.” Whether consciously or unconsciously these
appeared to want to empower their gifted children with a strong sense of self which
proved to be effective in a study by Hebert (2000). In this study, he states of the
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87
young men “these young men had developed a strong belief in self that
provided them with the energy, the drive, and the tools they needed to face life’s
challenges” (p.2).
In regards to culture development, seven out of the eleven students
indicated that their parents achieved this by having conversations with them about
their cultures. One student reported that his parents taught him about his culture in
this way “they make me feel better about my culture by teaching me and like
buying me books and by talking to me about it.” Another said that “they tell me
what they did and about the food.”
A different trend indicated that most students reported that in their
perception, their parents (six out of eleven) did not talk to them much about their
communities. Most students stated that they perceived that their parents
encouraged a positive attitude about their school by saying positive statement about
their school. Parents expressed this view with comments such as “it’s a good
school”, it’s the best school in Los Angeles”, and “this school is one of the best.”
Confidence is complex and can be built and acquired in many ways.
Spanish speaking parents indicated that they built their children up by lifting their
self-esteems. English speaking parents noted that they built confidence in their
children by providing positive reinforcement any time they had an opportunity.
The students mostly replied that their parents made them feel more confident by
providing positive reinforcement. They also added that their parents attempted to
protect them from negative feed back from others.
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Culture building among the Spanish speaking group was
encouraged by instilling in their children a sense of pride in who they were. One
parent represented this view in this manner “we talk about the people that came
before us and appreciate what we are and what we have. Another stated “we are
one hundred percent Mexicano. We take our son to Aztec dance classes where we
are involved”. They also added that they built cultural awareness by talking to their
children about their cultures. The students themselves indicated that they had
conversations with their parents about culture on a regular basis. Within these
conversations they reported that their parents provide plenty of positive information
about their cultures.
When it comes to community confidence, most of the Spanish speaking
parents indicated negative trends. On the other hand, English speaking parents
demonstrated a sense of pride in their communities. In regards to community
confidence, the students did not display any consistent trend.
As far as school confidence, the Spanish speaking parents did not
demonstrate any unison trend. English speaking parents indicated that they
attempted to build confidence in their children’s schools by providing plenty of
positive comments about their schools and recognizing the school’s strengths not
the school’s weaknesses. The majority of the students indicated that their parents
provided plenty of positive information about their school. With these
conversations, the students indicated that they got affirmations about their school
which in their eyes leads to confidence about their school.
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89
Table 12
Parents and Gifted Children’ s perceptions o f Confidence Development among
Gifted Children
How do you help your child in gaining self confidence? Culture? Community?
School?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Self Confidence Lifting self-esteem Positive
reinforcement
Positive
reinforcement and
protect self image
Culture Most talk to children
about culture
Most express a
sense of pride
Most talk to parents
about culture
Community Most express
negative perceptions
Most express
positive attitudes
Don’t know
School No consistency in
commentary
Most express
positive views
Most express
positive views
Hard Work and Future Success
This section provides a detailed presentation of the responses given by
parents and the gifted children’s regarding their perceptions of future success. All
of the Spanish speaking parents instilled in their children that they will be
successful by inspiring in them that they have the capacity to succeed. One parent
stated “we talk to her; we tell her that she has the capacity to do what she wants. If
you want to become president you can because you are smart.” Another parent
noted “he will become what ever he wants to become.” Three out of five English
speaking parents reported that they instilled thoughts of future success mainly by
providing positive encouragement. These parent’s statements of encouragement
included the “encouragement of college”, “encouragement and asking many
questions”, “providing positive reinforcement’ and “encouragement to be the best.”
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Although these tactics appeared very simplistic it appears that most of the
students interpreted these messages by making a strong connection between what
they are doing now, going to college and future opportunities. One student
reported “my parents tell me to never give up and always finish what I start.”
Another student noted that he is told “if you finish school you will be successful.”
A different student indicated that “if she gets good grades she can go to college.”
Another student noted that “if I finish college, I could have more opportunities.
Meece, (2002) found that lower SES children may not understand the benefits of
schooling; they may not realize that more education leads to better jobs, more
income, and a better lifestyle than they have experienced. They may be drawn to
immediate short-term benefits of leaving school and not be swayed by the potential
long term assets. Upon evaluation of these gifted students’ responses, their parents
are attempting and succeeding in counteracting said perceptions.
Spanish speaking and English speaking parents instill in their children
values that empower them academically. They either reinforced the fact that their
children were capable of achieving good grades or they attempted to draw
connections between academic performance and future success. The students
appeared to be getting the message.
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91
Table 13
Parent and Gifted Student’ s Perceptions o f Future Success
How or what do you say to your child to let them know they will be successful
now and in the future?
Response Patterns
Spanish
Speaking
Parents
English
Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Future success Empowering
with the capacity
to succeed
Provide
positive
encouragement
Equate good grades with
going to college and
more opportunities
Hard Work and Future Success
This section presents perceptions of hard work and dedication. The most
common thread among Spanish speaking parents indicated that they attempted to
show their children that hard work will pay off by providing personal examples of
their own shortcomings and hardship. They tended to heighten the message by
drawing comparisons. They compared the opportunities their children have and the
opportunities they themselves lacked in their youth. One parent exemplified this
view this way “I tell her that she is in a country where you have opportunities.
Now you have much homework. I studied twenty something years, and I came
here and don’t have the same opportunity. I don’t speak the language, I don’t have
documents and you do. Look at your father he is washing cars when he could be
doing other things. Do you want to be the same? I studied much hand you have
only studied so little. I try to give them examples.”
Four out of the five English speaking parents showed such a connection
between hard work and dedication to future success by speaking of positive role
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92
models. One parent stated “We have aunts you know her aunt’s a judge,
and her other aunt a lawyer and a psychologist. So with the support at home, with
encouragement, and with also the role models within the family, this is how we
encourage them and we let them know.” Another parent drove this point across in
this manner “I think by example. My husband and I both bring a lot of work home
and so when our son was little he’d be like, you guys have homework? So yeah,
you still keep on top of things. So I think it’s by example.”
Regarding the connection between hard work and future payoffs the
students responded in Unisom. They consistently indicated that good grades,
dedication, and hard work led to success, better colleges, higher positions, and
more money. One student stated “hard work is important because maybe the
teacher and their bosses will notice I always work hard, and maybe they could put
me in the higher level job or something.” “My mom says that if I get good grades
and I get to go to good schools, I could get a better job” indicated a different
student.
Regarding the connection between present work habits and future
consequences the three groups expressed different perceptions. Spanish speaking
parents mostly expressed such views to their children by providing personal
examples of challenges due to lack of opportunity. English speaking parents
mostly indicated that in their perception, they relayed the same message by
highlighting positive roles models, be themselves or other successful family
members such as nurses, lawyers or doctors. These approaches were reiterated by
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93
Hine (1994). She notes that parents of high achievers had high
educational and occupational aspirations for their children. Parents stressed the
importance of getting a good education to reach their goals. They often mentioned
their own employment situation and personal aspirations which served as a role
model for their children.
All eleven gifted students stated in common that in their perception working
hard and being dedicated lead to very positive results in their futures such as better
colleges, more opportunities and better jobs. Hine (1994) further emphasized that
parents should help their child understand that his or her future can be bright with
preparation and hard work. Instant success stories don’t usually happen in real life.
The majority o f successful adults had to deal with many challenges and obstacles
along the way. Although the parents appear to have different modes of relaying
such messages, the evidence showed that their children have developed very strong
connections between hard work, dedication and the positive payoffs for them in
their future.
Table 14
Perceptions o f hard work, dedication and future outcomes
How do you let your child know that hard work, dedication and preparation
will pay off?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Hard work and
dedication
Show by example,
comparisons
Provide role
models
Hard work equals
future success
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Reactions to Success and Failure
In this section, perceptions about the gifted child’s successes, failures and
challenges were addressed from the responses of parents and gifted children. All of
the Spanish speaking parents responded that they reacted with praise and
satisfaction to their children’s successes. A parent displayed her satisfaction in this
manner “it is a great satisfaction. I tell her how proud I am of her. I applaud them;
I celebrate them. I put their stuff on the fridge.” English speaking parents
indicated similar responses. In addition to personal reactions, these parents
indicated that they followed up their children’s successes with rewards for their
children. This message was expressed in this manner “we’ll praise her or we
congratulate her, we go do special things. We’ll take her you know, we let her
choose something that she wants to do.” Another parent expressed the same idea in
this fashion “we reward him, you know with material wise, money wise, you know
what things they’re interested in because they look forward to getting that little toy
that they wanted an stuff like that.” The gifted students indicated that their parents
reacted with praise and pride along with rewards for them such as material things
they wanted or taking them on trips.
Unfortunately, insufficient evidence was gathered to make interpretations of
the Spanish speaking parents perceptions of how they address their children’s
failures. English speaking parents tended to respond by holding conversations with
their children. They wanted to figure out what went wrong with their children’s
performance. Hine (1994) addresses the importance of addressing the child’s
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95
failures with a positive approach. She noted that it was important to
praise your children for their efforts and let them know that it’s okay to make
mistakes along the way. Failures can be turned into an important learning
experience if you can recognize what went wrong, reassess the situation and move
ahead. Five out of the eleven gifted students responded by noting that their parents
took away privileges when they display below average performance on academic
tasks. One student posed that “they take away privileges of using the computer,
video games and going anywhere.” Student expressed this idea this way “they get
mad at me and ground me.”
When asked how they perceive getting over academic challenges, the data
from the Spanish speaking parents was insufficient to make any in depth analysis.
English speaking parents responded that they encouraged their children to keep
trying. This view was expressed by a parent in this manner “I just sit there and
explain it to him that he has to try and even though it’s frustrating sometimes you
have to keep trying. You know nothing comes on the first try.” A different parent
stated “he knows that he does not have to break his head trying to do something
right then and there. It will come to him.” These responses were not consistent
with the findings of Sisk (2002) in which she noted a lack of high expectation on
the part of the parents. These parents tended to encourage their children that they
would get the answers by employing a differentiated approach to the problem.
Eight of the eleven gifted students indicated that their parents helped them
overcome challenges by providing assistance to the task. A second trend indicated
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96
expressed by the gifted students noted that when these parents were
unable to help, they searched for additional resources such as family members,
neighbors and computers (five out of eleven). A student indicated that his mother
‘tries to explain that thing. If she can’t help me, she takes me at night to my
cousin.” A different student corroborated this idea in this manner “if they don’t
know something they let me use the computer to find out what it is and I’ll
understand.”
Both Spanish and English parents demonstrate a homogeneous trend when
reacting to their children’s academic triumphs. They both tended praise their gifted
children. They differed slightly in that Spanish speaking parents expressed their
satisfaction verbally. English speaking parents indicated that they tended to reward
their children with materials when they felt they had earned it. The gifted children
also perceived that they do get rewarded by their parents. They received rewards
for their academic performances. When asked about how they handled their
children’s failures, they tended to talk about what went wrong and how to rectify
the shortcomings. English speaking parents did not yield any trends in this matter.
The gifted students indicated that when they don’t perform up to par, their parents
reprimand them by taking away their privileges. In regards to their perceptions
regarding the student’s challenges Spanish speaking parents did not demonstrate
any consistent trends. The students indicated a slightly different trend. They
mostly stated that their parents helped them deal with their challenges and
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97
encourage them to work through the tasks. Furthermore, if the task was
too difficult they usually consulted others to assist with the task.
Table 15
Perceptions o f Reactions to Academic Success, Failures and Challenges from
Parents and Gifted Children
Flow do you react to your child’s successes? Failures? And Challenges?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Reactions to
student success
Praise and
satisfaction
Praise and reward Praise and
reward
Reactions to
student failures
Talk to their children Insufficient
evidence
Take away
privileges
Dealing with
challenges
Insufficient evidence Encourage
persistence
Help with task
and seek
resources
Contributing/Inhibiting Factors
This portion presents information about the perceptions of the factors that
allow parents to contribute or inhibit participation in their gifted children’s
education. When Spanish speaking parents were asked about the factors that
allowed them to be involved in their children’s education, three out of the four
responded that the biggest factor was their desire and willingness to become
involved. A parent replied “I think that it is my interest in my child’s future. I
think that every minute that we have we should get involved to show them that we
care. They notice that we get involved they see that if they get a prize and we don’t
recognize their successes they pick up on that.” Another parent replied “we try to
always be attentive about school, grades with their teachers.” On the other hand,
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98
when asked about the inhibiting factors that got in the way of their
participation most o f them responded that nothing got in the way of their children’s
education. One parent stated “nothing impedes my participation.” The voices of
the other parents reiterated the same message. English speaking parents yielded a
trend which allowed them to access the school with ease. One parent stated “I stay
at home with them.” A parent that who is employed responded this way “luckily I
purposely work in the area that my daughters to school. I can respond to the school
or to any function that’s important to her.” In regards to any inhibiting factors
English speaking parents indicated that the difficulty of their children’s academic
work created a challenge for them. One parent replied “their education is a little bit
higher than what ours was, so sometimes it’s hard because their work, I don’t
understand his work.” This trend was farther expanded this way by a different
parent “I thought I was smart. But when I see my daughter’s work its like I don’t
understand.”
When gifted students were asked about the factors which facilitate their
parent’s participation, the most common trend was their accessibility to their
school. Some of the students indicated that their parents did not work and some of
them are volunteers at their schools. Another student indicated that if he had any
questions his mother was only a phone call away. In regards to the factors that
present challenges for their parents, seven out of eleven students indicated that it
was their parent’s lack of knowledge with their academic material. One student
exemplified this view with the following statement “like sometimes they don’t
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99
understand that sometimes I don’t get my homework, so sometimes I
can’t do it cause I don’t understand it.” A different student noted that her parents
can’t assist her with her work because “they only speak Spanish and a little bit of
English.”
Findings in this matter supported the trend that Spanish speaking parents
have a strong desire to engage in their children’s education. They further stated
that they didn’t feel that they didn’t have any inhibiting factors for assisting their
children. English speaking parents indicated that for them the ease of access to
their children’s schools was a facilitating factor. On the other hand they indicated
that the levels of their children’s academic work presented some challenges. The
students mostly indicated that in their opinion, having their parents accessible at
school was a facilitating factor. They reported that the academic level of their
assignments at times became an inhibiting factor which hampered their parent’s
ability to help them.
Table 16
Parent and Gifted Children Perceptions o f factors that Contribute or Inhibit
Participation in the Child’ s Education
What factors contribute/inhibit your participation in your child’s education?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English
Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Factors that
contribute to
participation
Desire to be involved
in child’s education
Ease of access
to school
Ease of access to
school
Factors
that inhibit
participation
Nothing Difficulty of
academic work
Difficulty of
academic work
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100
Types o f Family Trips
This section provides the response patterns to the questions about the types
of trips the families take with their gifted children. Two out of the four Spanish
speaking parents reported that they mostly take educational trips with their children
and out of state trips. One parent sated “I take her museums and aquariums. He
once had a project about missions. I had no idea about missions so we took a
family trip to the missions and we helped him with the project.” A second parent
stated that she took her children to the desserts of Sonora Mexico. All of the
English speaking parents also indicated that the majority of the trips they took with
their children were educational and out of state trips. One parent indicated “we do
a lot of museums, locally and the arts, musicals, plays; stuff like that for the kids.
And we travel a lot they’ve been to different parts of the country.” “We want them
to open their horizons to see that it is not like here every where else. You have to
learn how to get along with everybody and open your eyes” indicated a different
parent.
The gifted students demonstrated a similar trend. They indicated that they
took educational trips and out of state trips with their families. They added that
they also take a considerable number of leisure trips with their families (seven out
of eleven). This trend was exemplified is such fashion by a student “my field trips
and places I go with my parents are museums, the harbor beaches and Mexico.”
This trend was validated by a different student with this statement. “I’ve gone to
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101
Las Vegas and I’ve also gone camping and when I was in the third
grade we went to the science museums.”
Consistent trends were found among all three groups. They all indicated
that they took part in educational and out of state field trips. Once again, the
participants of this study displayed a more consistent trend when it came to
exposing their children to educational trips. In addition to these types of trips the
children indicated that they also took leisure trips which their parents did not
report.
Table 17
Types o f Family Trips taken by Families o f Gifted Children
What types of field trips/places do you take your child to?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Family trips Educational, out of
state trips
Educational, out
of state trips
Educational, out of
state trips, Leisure
Parental Emotions/Reactions to Limitations
This portion provides an overview of the feelings and actions parents of
gifted children take when they cannot assist their children with their school work.
Spanish speaking parents reported feeling inadequate when they were unable to
help their gifted children with their academic assignments. However, all of them
felt that they had individuals on which they could call upon to help their children.
One parent indicated “I feel frustrated because I can’t help her. She tells me not to
worry that we can ask others for help. I ask the neighbor, he is in college. I take
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102
her there; I have another family member in college so I can take her to
him.” Another parent replied “I feel frustrated. I take her to my ‘comadre’, I call
or take her. We look for ways to figure things out.” English speaking parents
mostly answered that they had not had an instance in which they could not help
their gifted child with academic work. Four out o the five felt confident that they
could assist in their children’s academic work. One parent indicated “I was a
Calculus student at UCLA, I know I can help my child at any point in his career. A
second parent added “well I have a science back ground. I was a Science major so
as far as Science projects, math projects that’s no problem.”
All of students reported that in their opinion, their parents at times were not
able to assist with their assignments. They noted that in their perceptions their
parents felt some degree of inadequacy or guilt for not having the skills to assist
their children with their academic tasks. They further stated that although their
parents were unable to assist, they reported that they accessed individuals within
the family or resorted to the internet or libraries. A student indicated that her
parents refer her to her older brother for help. Another student added when she
can’t help me “she like just gets mad with hers self and sometimes she sits in her
room.” One student replied that at times “they felt frustrated” and “they usually
call my babysitter or go to the library” to resolve the academic tasks.
The results showed that Spanish speaking parents experienced negative
emotions when they cannot assist their children with their academic work. English
speaking parents on the other hand felt very capable of assisting their children. The
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103
gifted students mostly indicated that their parents at time did have a
difficult time dealing with such challenges. The response patterns show that
although they were not be able to assist the children with some assignments, they
did appear to be very resourceful. They either recruited individuals within the
family circle or seek assistance from relatives and other family acquaintances
beyond their immediate families.
Table 18
Perceptions o f feelings when parents can’ t help with academics
What do you do how do you feel/how do you react when you can’t help your
child with their homework?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Feelings Negative feelings Feel capable Negative feelings
Actions Resourceful Resourceful
Parental Impact upon Child’ s Education
This next section presents the response patterns provided by the participants
regarding their perceptions of parental impact on the gifted children’s education.
When queried about how they perceived they had impacted their gifted children’s
education, all of the Spanish speaking parents tended to indicate that they had
instilled in them a positive attitude towards academics. They also in unison
responded that in their perception, their children had positive views towards their
involvement. One parent illustrated such a view in this manner “I see that she
enjoys school; I think it’s rare. The other kids are different.” A different parent
stated about her daughter “she tells me that she likes school. She tells me that she
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104
is going to be a doctor, a nurse or a teacher. She plans to keep on
studying. I am ok because she is enthusiastic about school.”
Four out of the five English speaking parents indicated that in their
perception, the impact they have had in their gifted children’s education had been
to instill values of “commitment” in their gifted children. They also noted that they
perceived that their gifted children were pleased with their support. “I expect him
to look at school as primary and only responsibility” responded one parent.”
Another parent indicated “I think that I have shown her that you have to work hard
for what you want that you have to follow through. She’s sometimes wanted to
quit like an after school programs or something.” I said if you commit to
something, whether you like it or not you have to follow it through.” Most of the
English speaking parents indicated that their children viewed their involvement in a
positive light. Parents used words such as “they love it”, or “they like it” to
demonstrate how they felt their children reacted towards their involvement.
Eight out of eleven students reported that in their opinion, their parents
impacted their education by supporting them. They further viewed their parents
support in a very positive light. One student indicated that what his parents did for
him was good for his education. One opinion was expressed in this manner “I
think they have a great impact because my mom goes as a parent volunteer and my
dad helps me with my homework” when asked how he felt about their support he
responded “I feel good because they can help me and that way I’ll have a better
education.”
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105
Upon analysis of the responses of perceptions regarding parental
involvement in their children’s education, Spanish speaking parents demonstrated a
trend that led them to believe that they instilled a positive attitude towards school.
English speaking parents indicated a different trend. Most of their responses could
be categorized to indicate that the most impactful message they instilled in their
children was commitment to tasks. Once they began something they wanted their
children to follow through to the completion of the task. The students mostly
indicated a different message. They indicated that they perceived their parents
involvement to be have the most impact. They also responded with very positive
reactions to their parent’s involvement. In summation, one can deduce that
although the groups all may have different perceptions of the parent’s impact, one
thing is true; they echoed the same message. They were all very content with the
impact that the parents had on the children’s education.
Table 19
Perceptions o f Impact Regarding Parental Support o f Gifted Students
How do you think you have impacted your child’s education?
E tesponse Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Impact Positive attitude
towards school
Commitment to tasks Support
Student reactions Positive reactions Positive reactions Positive reactions
Extended Family Support
This portion provides the perceptions provided by the participants about
extended family support and their reactions towards the gifted children. Trends
indicated that Spanish speaking parents indicated that they had a support system
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106
which extended beyond their immediate family. They indicated that
they were surrounded by individuals whom support their children’s educational
progress in one form or another. One parent indicated “she has my support, and the
support of her cousins. My mother also encourages her.” A different parent
explained “his god parents support him a lot. We invite them when he is going to
get a prize. They congratulate him; they tell him that he is very studious.”
Similar trends were evidenced by the English speaking parents. All of them
indicated they had a support system that extended beyond their immediate family.
They indicated that they received support in many fashions. One parent indicated
“My side of my family, we have my mom. Right now she’s picking him up from
school and till I get home. She is the one.” One parent indicated that her gifted
child had many role models within her extended family. She stated that she had a
brother studying is Spain. Other family members include a college administrator,
and a licensed day care provider. This parent added “as far as like that really
motivates my kids to go to college.”
Response patterns derived from the gifted children themselves resonated the
responses as their parents. Eight out of eleven indicated that in their perception,
they had a significant extended support system. They reported that they had aunts
and uncles whom supported their academic achievement. Their responses appeared
to deal with direct assistance to academics. One gifted student indicated “when I
get good grades, and they know, they’ll congratulate me and they’ll encourage me
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107
to do good, to continue.” A different student replied “well they react
like-, they’re like, keep on doing it better, I know that you could be smarter.”
Upon analysis of response patterns of the aforementioned perceptions, all
three groups believed that they had a positive support system among their extended
families. The two groups of adults indicated that their support groups consisted of
individuals whom assisted with academics and other aspects of child rearing. As
noted earlier, one parent indicated that her mother picked up the child from school
and cared for him until she or dad pick him up from school. Although the Gifted
student indicated similar responses, they did vary slightly. Students tended to focus
specifically on assistance that directly related to academic assistance.
Table 20
Parents and Gifted Children’ s Perceptions o f extended family support and
reactions
Tell me about your extended family? How does your family react to your child’s gifts?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Extended family
support
Grand parents, Cousins,
Aunts, god parents
Grandparents, Aunts,
Uncles Cousins
Aunts, Uncles,
Cousins
Reactions Positive Reactions Positive Reactions Positive Reactions
Cultural Differences
This piece presents an overview about the perceptions of cultural
differences from the perspectives of the parents and gifted students that participated
in this study. Three out of four Spanish speaking parent’s responses indicated that
they attempted to instill respectful attitudes towards others and their cultures. One
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108
parent exemplified her message in this fashion “as far as cultural things,
I tell her that this country is multi-cultural. I tell her that we are all the same.
Every culture has its ways. And learning and interacting with other cultures helps
us. We should learn different things from different cultures.” Most Spanish
speaking parents indicated that they spoke to their children about their nationality.
They either took their children to their country of origin or spoke to their children
about their nationality. One parent indicated “I try to talk to her about the positive
things about Sonora that is where I was raised. One time I saw my daughter taking
clothes. I asked what she was doing. She told me that she was taking the clothes to
a girl who had just arrived from Mexico. I was pleasantly shocked.”
English speaking parents demonstrated a similar trend. Three out of the
five parents indicated that they told their children to respect others and to also
respect themselves. Yet they also tended to recognize that racism still exists and
relay such messages to their gifted children. One parent displayed his irony in this
manner “I tell him (his son) you are going to be treated based on how you look.
And he knows that. Driving a Mercedes Benz versus driving a low rider you won’t
get stopped and he knows that because I’m never going to let him have a low rider.
He knows that there are certain biases against certain people and community; he
notices that he’s the one that’s looked at. I’ve made a point of making him realize
that even though that person’s Black you shouldn’t treat him any differently. But
unfortunately we still live in an age where you do. You’d be. .. In my job there is
till a lots of bigotry out there. Go outside of Southern California, go out to Tupelo,
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109
Mississippi and you are still the Latino man.” This trend was
heightened by a different parent in this fashion. “We instill in them about not being
racist. We tell them to treat everybody the same way you wan to be treated. But
my daughters ask-, they’ve come across a lot of racism, especially the girls because
the older-, well my older one goes to an all Anglo/White school so she has to deal
with it all the time. She has to stand up for her self more. She has to prove that she
is just as smart.” English speaking parents also stated that most of them spent time
talking to their children about their nationality. Most of them stated that their
children are of Mexican descent. The also instilled in their children to be “proud of
who they are” and “to love themselves.”
Eight of the eleven gifted students indicated that in their opinion, their
parents instilled in them not to hold any negative views of others based solely on
their cultural backgrounds. One student voiced his opinion in this manner “my
mom tells me about those differences, so she tells me there is nothing wrong and
that’s just how they were taught to be.” This view was expressed by a different
student with these phrases. “My parents they’re like don’t judge people by how
they dress or like how they look. Its how they are, like what’s their personality that
counts.” All eleven of the gifted children demonstrated in unison that they are
familiar with their nationality. They all held their nationalities in high esteem.
They further indicated that they had many conversations or spent time talking to
their parents about their nationality. One child demonstrated this view “my mom
tells me about my race-, tells me a lot about my race, which is Mexican American.
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110
And most of the time, I call my grandmother that lives in Mexico, and
she tells me more about my ancestors.”
Upon comparison of the perceptions of cultural biases, all of the three
groups expressed very positive views. Spanish speaking parents tended to show
attitudes that were favorable to cultural pluralism. Such views were strongly
supported by the findings of Hebert (2000). He found that experiences with
diversity helps students see how race, gender, and socioeconomic status interact
and provide opportunities for young people to develop ways of thinking and
analyzing that allow them to become more proactive in making changes in society.
English speaking parents displayed similar attitudes; however, they also tended to
exercise more caution. They told of instances in which someone in their family had
been treated differently simply for being Latino/a. The gifted students themselves
spoke of differences as being something positive. From their parents, they
indicated that they are taught not to treat people negatively solely on the basis of
how they looked or what they were wearing. Furthermore, most of the parents and
students expressed pride in their nationality. Most of them reported engaging in
activities which fostered those positive attitudes towards their nationality.
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Ill
Table 21
Perceptions o f Cultural Differences from Parents and Gifted Children’ s
Perspective
What do you tell your child about cultural differences?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Cultural
Differences
Respect for all
cultures
Respect all
nationalities,
exercise caution
Respect for all
cultures
Nationality Mexican Mexican Mexican American
Community Programs/Resources
Community resources are discussed in this section. The participants
presented their views on their perceptions regarding community resources. In
response to this subject, Spanish speaking parents either reported that they did not
know about such resources or if they were aware of such programs chose not to
enroll their children in such programs. Some of the parents indicated that they
were aware of programs affiliated with the school. One parent expressed her
opinion in this fashion “there are many programs especially in the library. There
are many cultural events. In the park there are many especially in computation. I
don’t take her but I know they are there. It is up to the parents if they want to
enroll them in sports or academics.” Another parent expressed her perception in
this manner. “I don’t know about community programs. At school they are always
coming up with programs to keep the children busy and out of trouble. In the
community, I don’t know any programs or services.”
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112
English Speaking parents displayed similar trends. All five
reported that they either indicated that they were not aware of any programs or
chose not to enroll their children in those programs. One parent demonstrated this
trend with these words. “There’s not enough resources for our kids as for as for
gifted students. You always have to take them far.” Other parents indicated that if
they chose to enroll their children in out of school activities they were private
programs and activities.
The gifted students mostly (nine out of eleven) responded that they were
aware of programs within the school. Furthermore, they indicated that the
programs that they were involved within their communities mostly had to do with
sporting events. The students reported being involved in sports such as soccer and
football. Some students indicated that they were aware of programs at their
community library. However, some of them indicated that they had never attended
those programs.
The majority of parents either Spanish or English speaking indicated that
they were either not aware of community programs or they chose not to enroll their
children in such programs. One parent indicated if she wanted her child to
participate in stimulating academic activities she had to take her child out of the
community. The students in the other hand indicated that their school had many
programs for them or mentioned other affiliates to their schools such as East Los
Angeles College or University of Southern California. As far as community
programs most of them mentioned sporting programs such as soccer or football.
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113
Table 22
Parents and Gifted Student’ s Perceptions o f Community Resources
How do you think that community services/programs aid in your child’s education?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Community
programs and
resources
Do not participate
community
programs
Do not participate
community
programs
Most participate
in sporting events
Knowledge of
community resources
No knowledge, if
knowledge chose no
to participate
No knowledge, if
knowledge chose
no to participate
Sports within the
community or
knowledge of
school programs
Types o f Family Trips
This portion provides a detailed description of the trips parents and
student’s desire to take and their reasons for not taking such trips. Three out of the
five Spanish speaking parents indicated that they would like to take trips to Cancun
Mexico, Europe, Egypt and Hawaii. Most of them indicated that they could not
take such trips due to a parent’s job or because of lack of money. As one parent
phrased it “its cheap to dream. We would like to go to Hawaii. But we could not
go due to lack of money, my health and my husband work. Another parent
responded “I would like to go to Egypt. I would like to go because my son is
intrigued by that culture. I could not go because I don’t have documents or
money.”
All of the English speaking parents reported of wanting to go to many parts
of the world. Such places included places within the U.S. and other places in other
continents such as Africa and the Galapagos Islands; most of them citied monetary
and job restrictions as reasons for not taking their desired trips. This trend was
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114
expressed in this fashion “money, yes that is definitely why I haven’t
been able to go but my goal is to every year go on vacation with my kids.”
The gifted children tended to displays similar trends. They overwhelmingly
indicated that they like traveling. Most of them indicated that they would like to go
Mexico and Hawaii. A student phrased his reasons for not being able to take such
trips this way “because like my mom does not have too much money to pay for the
tickets.”
All parents and gifted students had a desire to go on vacation. The students
displayed enthusiastic expressions about the places they would visit if given the
opportunity. Furthermore, six out of the eleven participants expressed that the
reasons for not taking such vacations had to do with the family’s financial
situations. The students tended to be aware of the financial limitations which limit
their traveling opportunities.
Table 23
Parents and Gifted Student’ s Perceptions o f Community Resources
What places would you like to visit? What keeps you from going to those
places?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted
Students
Trips desired Cancun, Europe,
Egypt or Hawaii
U.S., Europe,
Galapagos, Africa
and Mexico
U.S., Europe
and Mexico,
Reasons for not
taking trips
Monetary or
spouse’s job
Monetary or job
inhibitions
Monetary
limitations
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115
Types o f Academic Materials available at home
This section provides information about the types of materials available to
the gifted children at home. Both groups of parents consistently indicated that they
had the essential materials at home for their children. They indicated that they had
computers and books for their gifted children. One parent noted “they have a
computer and programs, encyclopedias and an atlas.” A different parent indicated
“you name it, he has it. Lots of books, we’ve always had lots of books and we’ve
got a computer.”
The gifted students indicated a similar trend. They replied that they had
computers and a variety of books at home for their academic assignments. One
student indicated “I have a big book in case I’m studying World War II.” He also
replied “I have a computer but I don’t have the internet. I only have games for the
computer.” A second student indicted “they bought me the big books for Science
and Social Studies. And I have a computer.”
All three groups indicated that they had a variety of educational books at
home for academic tasks. Most of the homes of these participants were also
equipped with computers which demonstrated a common trend to provide
technological supplies for their gifted children. The response patterns showed that
all groups of parents were making adequate attempts at providing the essential
materials to ensure that their children have all of the tools their children need for
their academic tasks. This trend was further supported by the literature. Schunk
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116
(2004) described that some homes provide rich experiences replete with
economic capital such as computers, games, and books which these families report.
Table 24
Types o f M aterials available at the Homes fo r the Gifted Students
What types of materials are available to your child that encourage academic his/her
development?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted Students
Materials Computers, Books Computers, Books Computers, Books
Responsibility
This last portion provides an overview of responses provided by the
participants regarding their perceptions of responsibility. In this case they were
asked about who was responsible for ensuring their children’s academic success.
Spanish speaking parents indicated in a unanimous majority that the responsibility
of ensuring the academic achievement of their gifted children rested predominantly
on the parents. When posed with question one parent replied “my self, I am her
mother.” A different parent replied “the parent and those adults around her because
we have the responsibility of guiding them through a good path.”
English speaking parents demonstrated a similar pattern in their responses
to this matter. Most of them (four out of five) indicated that the responsibility of
ensuring academic success of their gifted children mostly rested on the parents.
One parent supported her claim in this manner “the parents because they are your
kids. You know teachers can teach, but it’s the parents’ responsibility of the follow
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117
up and the homework and making sure that the student has enough self-
discipline to be able to control themselves in the classroom.” The claim was
corroborated by another parent. He indicated “the parents are ultimately the
responsible parties and to ensure that you give them the right tools and it’s up to
them to use them.” A different parent responded to the same question “it is both
my husband and my responsibility.”
From the analysis of the responses from all three groups, they mostly
indicated that the parents of the gifted children were ultimately responsible for
ensuring the academic success of the gifted children. The parents who participated
in this study assumed full responsibility for ensuring that their children were
prepared and ready to tackle any academic task they were faced with. Furthermore,
from previous information, they provided as many of the essentials needed within
their means to ensure that their children were capable of competing academically.
These parents also indicated that they spoke with their children’s teachers on a
regular basis. Parents indicated that they spoke with the teachers during teacher
conferences. Others indicated that they volunteered so they interacted with their
gifted child’s teachers on a daily basis.
Table 25
Perceptions o f Responsibility in Ensuring Academic Achievement o f the Gifted
Whose responsibility is it to ensure your child’s academic success?
Response Patterns
Spanish Speaking
Parents
English Speaking
Parents
Gifted
Students
Responsibility Parents Parents Parents
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SUMMARY
This chapter presented the findings of this study. It addressed each question
individually as a section due to the fact that the questions were not coalesced. They
were not coalesced because each question provided unique information to the over
arching questions of the study. The sections consisted of an introduction. It was
followed by the data which included narratives from the participants. Next the data
provided a brief synopsis of the response patterns. Each section was concluded
with a table of the findings which provided a visual representation of the response
patterns of each question.
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119
CHAPTER 5
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions about the non
school factors that contribute to the academic achievement of fourth and fifth grade
gifted Hispanic students. Specifically, this study focused on the family and
community factors that contributed to the academic achievement of Hispanic gifted
students. Eleven gifted Hispanic students, five English speaking parents, and four
Spanish speaking parents participated in focus group interviews for this study. The
gifted students were involved in a gifted program at their school of attendance. The
fourth and fifth grade gifted students were identified as gifted following the Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) guidelines and practices. The families
were recruited for this study because they had a fourth or fifth grade gifted child in
an LAUSD urban school. These parents and gifted students volunteered their
experiences regarding the factors that contributed to the academic achievement of
their gifted students. Data were gathered in the form of focus group interviews.
Data were analyzed in the method of a case study (Creswell, 1998) and interpreted
in accord with this method.
Conclusions
Two research questions guided this study. The first question was: What are
the perceptions that adult family members hold about familial and community
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120
factors that shape and influence academic achievement among gifted
students from Hispanic populations in elementary urban schools? The second
question that guided this study was: What are the perceptions that gifted children
hold about familial and community factors that shape and influence academic
achievement among gifted students from Hispanic populations in elementary urban
schools?
This study compared the findings of Spanish speaking parents, English
speaking parents and gifted students. Perceptions regarding family and community
factors to be investigated included: language uses, student challenges, time with
child, college, types of support, confidence building, future success, hard work and
dedication, reactions to successes and failures, factors which inhibit and facilitate
parent involvement, extended family support, community resources, field trips, and
materials, perceptions and knowledge of child’s giftedness, comparison of gifted
children and non-gifted children, sibling relationships, feeling and reactions to not
being able to assist the gifted child, and responsibility of ensuring student success
(Schunk 2004; Renzulli and Park (2002); Sisk 2002; Swarts 2001; Colangelo 2000;
Herbert 2000; Renzulli 2000; Vanderslicel998; Goodman 1997; Callahan and Lelli
1997; Sowa and May 1997; Ford 1996; Hine 1996; Bermudez & Rakow 1993;
Epstein 1986)
It was believed that the three groups would have similar perceptions about
the familial, and community factors that contributed to the academic achievement
of gifted students. The data revealed that the actual perceptions of the three groups
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121
yielded differences in responses among Spanish and English speaking
parents of gifted students with reference to the familial and community factors.
The perceptions of the gifted students themselves emphasized the same differences.
The following findings demonstrate these comparisons among responses and
respondents.
Table 26
Response Patterns
Question Areas Responses Parent Response Patterns
Sp. Parents Eng. Parents Gifted Students
Conversational
Spanish
Mixing Languages + + +
Approve - + -
Multilingualism Future Orientation + + +
Parental
Awareness o f
Giftedness
Prior to Formal
Education
+
Differences Gifted
and Non-gifted
Levels o f Motivation + + +
Pleasure + + +
Sibling
Relationships
Good - +
- -
Education Fligh Grades + + +
Engaged in School
Activities
+ + +
Challenges Academic Challenges + + +
Time with Child Mother + + +
Academics + + -
Importance o f
Education
Future Orientation + + +
Encourage Going
Away to College
Boys + + +
Girls + - +
Types o f Support Materials + + .
Positive Learning
Environment
- -
+
Confidence in Self Positive
Reinforcement
+ + +
Confidence in
Culture
Conversations + + +
Confidence in
Community
Positive views -
+ ?
Confidence in
School
Positive views
? + +
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122
Future Success Positive
Encouragement
+ + +
Work and Payoffs Connections + + +
Reactions to Praise + + +
Success
Reactions to Punishment - ? +
Failure
Contributing Proximity - + +
Factors
Inhibiting Factors Challenging work - + +
Field Trips Educational + + +
Reactions/Feelings Negative feelings + - +
Parental Impact Supportive + + +
Extended Family Positive Reactions + + +
Cultural Respect + + +
Differences
Caution
? + ?
Know Nationality + + +
Community
Resources
Knowledge
(academics)
- - -
Participation - - -
Desired Trips National/International + + +
Monetary limitations + + +
Materials Technology + + +
Educational Parents + + +
Responsibility
Conversational Spanish
Results of this evaluation showed that Hispanic parents whether Spanish
speaking or multilingual felt that they were achieving their goal of instilling in their
children the need to separate two languages in conversation. This approach has
been supported by the literature. Hine (1994) noted that parents need to encourage
correct language usage of both English and Spanish. Making this goal a reality has
presented parents and students with a challenging task especially when students
have to differentiate between monolingual Spanish speaking parents and
bilingual/multilingual parents. Future research might shed light on what makes this
task so challenging.
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123
Multilingualism
Perceptions of multilingualism were held highly by all three groups. Hine
(1994) wrote that parents should encourage their children to maintain Spanish
proficiency while learning English. He added that exposure to more that one
language during upbringing may be a scholastic asset. He also found that
Bilingualism has been associated with superior performance on both verbal and
nonverbal tests. The parents recognized that being multilingual would be
beneficial to their futures and the careers that they chose to pursue. Children
agreed with their parents perceptions of being multilingual; they also noted
additional benefits. Gifted students felt that in addition to helping them in their
future; being multilingual would also allow them to communicate with individuals
who spoke other languages.
Parental Awareness o f Early Signs o f Giftedness in the Children
Identifying gifted children early in life was important. Parent nominations
have been cited as an effective alternative to Standardized measures (Bermudez &
Rakow 1993). English speaking parents indicated that it was an easy task for them
to recognize gifts early. The Spanish speaking parents demonstrated more
difficulty in recognizing such gifts early. Bermudez and Bakow (1993) indicated
that parents seemed to be generally supportive of school practices but not very
knowledgeable about their children’s needs. English speaking parents tended to be
more cognizant of their children’s gifts. School personnel must exercise a
differentiated approach when developing educational services for the parents they
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124
serve. Epstein (1986) found that 80 percent of parents would spend
more time helping their child if they were shown how.
Differences Gifted and Non-gifted Siblings
Acknowledging gifted characteristics increased the likelihood of
identification (Guide to the Perplexed.com, retrieved September, 2005). This study
showed that these parents recognized some differences between their gifted
children and their non-gifted children. The gifted students themselves displayed
enthusiasm at the fact that they were perceived as “smart” and were asked to do
more challenging tasks then their counterparts. These response patterns were not
corroborated by the literature. Colangelo (2002) reported that African-Americans,
Latinos, and Native-Americans were well aware of their minority presence in gifted
programs and are conflicted about their participation in such programs. A most
unfortunate phenomenon afflicts minority students and that is the association of
academic excellence (e.g., gifted program) with "acting White.” Gifted minority
students dealt with all the issues that other gifted students deal with and
additionally, the ethnic issues of whether they belonged in such programs and how
they will be viewed by their ethnic group if they participate. The findings of this
study clearly indicated that gifted Hispanic students perceived their gifted status as
a badge of honor that they carry with a clear sense of pride and ownership. One
student exemplified this feeling in this manner “I feel special” another noted “I feel
lucky because I’m the only kid on my block that is gifted.”
Sibling Relationships
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125
Sibling relationships were also analyzed. Colangelo (2002)
noted that the identification of one child in a family as gifted changed the dynamics
with other siblings who were not identified as gifted. The patterns of response
showed that sibling disputes were present; yet the issues were superficial. One
student stated “I have one brother. I regularly fight with him. Sometimes we play
like wrestling, ‘cause he sees too much the wrestling things.” Another noted “we
don’t fight a lot but we do like, we get our head and we start like wresting stuff like
that.” A third student responded “sometimes when I beat him (video games), he
gets mad and then sometimes he tries to hit; he can’t stand loosing.” Both English
and Spanish speaking parents did not appear to be overly concerned by disputes
among siblings. The issues did not tend to be directly related to the child’s
giftedness. As one parent indicated the older siblings viewed the gifted child as “a
naughty little brat.” It is recommended that parents be aware of the issues between
siblings and ensure that such disputes are not related primarily to differentiated
abilities.
Challenges
Perceptions about academic challenges were more diverse. Spanish
speaking parent’s showed that they felt that their children had difficulty upon
entering the gifted program. They also noted that they found it challenging to find
resources for their gifted children. English speaking parents reported that they felt
their children either had no challenges or the lack of academic challenges itself was
an issue for them. The students found that the biggest challenge was the difficulty
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126
of the work and the amount of work that they got on a regular basis.
Although the groups responded very differently, the fact that the Spanish speaking
parents indicated that they lacked resources for their children and this presented a
major concern.
Time with Gifted Child
Renzulli and Park (2002) found that students who dropped out of school
talk with their parents less than once a week or never. The analysis of the parent’s
responses in this study evidenced that these parents did not exhibit such behavior
patterns. They reported that their children spent the vast majority of non-school
time with at least one parent. Hine (1994) indicated that in is important for parents
to monitor their children’s free time. One would conclude it is important for
parents to be aware of who their children are spending time with, where they will
be, and when they will return home. As children demonstrate responsible behavior
and follow through on obligations and commitments, they can be rewarded with
greater privileges. The fact that these parents spent vast amounts of time with their
gifted children was promising. These findings were consistent with Tomlinson,
Callahan and Lelli (1997) who reported that students had at least one parent who
staunchly and consistently supported them and were proud of them.
Importance o f Education
Parents sent messages to their gifted children in different ways. Spanish
speaking parents tended to share their past experiences and lack of opportunity for
themselves in their country of origin as the impetus for prepare their children for
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127
the future. English speaking parents tended to encourage the
development of basic academic skills and mentality for preparation for the future.
These English speaking parents also expressed a need to protect their children from
negative environments such as drugs and gangs. These findings are consistent with
Herbert (2000). He noted that students in his study that students ignored drug
dealers; turned their backs away from gangs; they avoided the crime around them;
and went on to become valedictorians and went on to prestigious universities. This
difference is enlightening. Spanish speaking parents may have not experienced or
be aware of environmental stressors. English speaking parents on the other hand
have experienced negative stressors or knew individuals who had. This might
explain why English speaking parents tried to protect their children and serve to
explain difference in opinion related to this matter. Children appeared to benefit
from both messages. When parents told them to stay away from certain
environment such as drugs and remain focused, children reflected such views.
Children exemplified such views by stating that their parents wanted them to stay
focused, and continue to get good grades. Furthermore, children reported that it
was imperative to stay away from certain negative stressors.
College Attendance
All participants indicated that they approved of their children attending
college. However, when asked about going away to college the two parent group
perceptions were mixed. One parent summed up her personal dilema in this
manner “I mean she wants to go and part of me doesn’t want to let her go”, but I’m
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128
sure we’re going to encourage her to go where she wants.” Student
trends indicated that they perceived higher education an asset to their personal
lives. When asked about going “away” to college the students stated consistently
that they thought it would a positive aspect of their lives. The response patterns
showed that parents were being protective of children and felt that being close to
home would be of benefit for their children’s academic careers. Sowa and May
(1997) warn against an over reliance on family at the expense of the student. They
added that such a child produced socially accepted behaviors which included
purposeful attempts to comply or adjust to the detriment of self. The responses
demonstrated that parents must be cognizant and at the same time cautious of the
limitations they might put upon their children with their emotional justifications of
studying close to home.
Types o f Support
Colangelo (2002) found that parents are not always prepared to take on the
challenge of a child who has different needs in this case a gifted child. This study
found that both groups of parents reported that they provided the essentials at home
for their children; another finding contrary to the literature noted that English
speaking parents further indicated that they took their gifted children on
educational trips such as museums and the zoo. The gifted students themselves
displayed a different trend. The majority of them indicated that their parents
provided a positive learning environment at home and assisted them with their
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129
homework. These parents demonstrated that they were proactive in
their gifted child’s education and were willing to learn new ways of helping their
children.
Confidence Development in Gifted Students
The parents demonstrated that they instilled in their children values that
empowered them academically. Tomlison, Callahan, & Leli (1997) found in their
study that parents believed in their children and wanted to be part in making their
lives better. They either reinforced the fact that their children were capable of
achieving good grades or they attempted to make the connection between working
hard and future success. The students understood the message as exemplified by
these comments: “They tell me that you can- and if I do something good they tell
me to keep on doing that, like studying, good.” Another stated “My mom says that
when you study a lot, when I go to a job they might put me higher and higher. A
different student stated “It will pay off it you work hard.” Although the literature
noted that students from minority families may be at a disadvantage, the data
indicated that this gifted student’s do have their parents support. These families
were attempting to bridge the gap between current practices and future success by
instilling in their gifted children that they could achieve their dreams and making
connections between hard work and its payoffs.
Hard Work and Future Success
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130
Sward (2002) pointed out children must learn early that there is a
relationship between their effort and the outcome. English and Spanish speaking
parents understood the connection between hard work and future success.
Although the two parent groups appeared to have different modes of relaying the
messages, the evidence showed that their children had developed very strong
connections between hard work, dedication and the positive payoffs of such effort
for them in their future. These findings were promising since students from low-
income backgrounds have a difficulty seeing the connection between their
behaviors and consequences (Banks, 1993; Shade, 1994).
Reactions to Success and Failure
These parents celebrated their children’s successes with rewards. Failures
in the other hand were handled through conversations. Student’s also reported that
they were rewarded yet noted that they got privileges taken away when they did not
perform well. All parents demonstrated a homogeneous trend when reacting to
their children’s academic triumphs. The gifted children also perceived that they did
get rewarded by their parents. They also indicated that they usually got rewards for
their academic performances. As far as challenges, all three groups agreed that
giving up ass not an option and they were expected to seek additional resources for
assistance. Consistent trends could not be aggregated for these domains.
Contributing/Inhibiting Factors
The enabling and inhibiting factors related to participating in their child’s
education was discussed. Spanish speaking parents had a strong desire to engage in
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131
their children’s education and felt that they did not have any inhibiting
factors to assist their children. English speaking parents indicated that being close
to their children’s schools was a facilitating factor. The child’s academic levels
were found by parents to be a major inhibiting factor. They reported that the
academic level of their children’s assignments at times became an inhibiting factor
which hampered their parent’s ability to help them. These results appeared to be in
conflict with previous findings in this study. Previously English speaking parents
noted that no factors inhibited their participation and Spanish speaking parents
indicated that the language tended to be a barrier with their student’s work. The
students on the other hand, noted that the levels of academics presented a challenge
for their parents. Further development of these perceptions is warranted.
Types o f Family Trips
All parents in this study indicated that they took part in educational and out
of state family trips. These findings were consistent with suggestions of the
literature specifically the findings of Sisk (2002). She suggested in her study that a
number of educational and cultural field trips provided the students the
opportunities to experience behind- the-scenes activities. The findings of this study
however, were not consistent with her findings in which she indicated that most of
the students had never attended a ballet, an opera, a concert or a puppet show.
Furthermore, Vanderslice (1998) found that the lack of educational trips was
common among Hispanic families. She found that standard out of school
experiences such as visiting museums, libraries and zoos may be limited for
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132
minorities. In addition to these types of trips, the children indicated that
they also take leisure trips which their parents did not report. The gifted students
leisure trips such as “Disneyland”, “Magic Mountain”, “Chucky Cheese”,
“movies”, “restaurants”, and Las Vegas” Whether these trips are mere leisure
might require further investigation from the parent’s and children’s perspectives.
Parental Emotions/Reactions to Limitations
Being aware of their personal limitations and how the parents demonstrated
them to their gifted children were presented. Spanish speaking parents experienced
negative responses when they could not assist their children with their academic
work. English speaking parents on the other hand felt very capable of assisting
their children. The gifted students mostly indicated that their parents at times did
have a difficult time dealing with such academic challenges. The response patterns
of the parents in this study showed that although they were not able to assist the
children with some assignments, they did appear to be very resourceful. They
either recruited individuals within the family circle or sought assistance from
relatives and other family acquaintances beyond their immediate families.
Tomlison, Callahan and Lelli (1997) indicated that parents in their study did not
always know how to assist their children with their schooling, but they wanted to
learn. Trends in this study showed that their gifted children were learning problem
solving strategies vicariously from their parents. One student sated that she asks
her older sister for help with her homework. Another replied “I call my madrina to
help me with my homework.”
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133
Parental Impact upon C hild’ s Education
Parents become involved in their children’s education in different ways.
Spanish speaking parents attempted to stimulate positive attitudes towards school.
English speaking parents wanted to ensure that their children completed tasks. The
students perceived their parent’s involvement to hold the most impact. Although
the groups had different perceptions of parental impact, they were all pleased with
the potential impact that they parents had on their children’s education.
Extended Family Support
Responses from the participants of this study showed that they have a
positive support system among their extended families. Ford (1996) noted that
extended families represented an important and consistent support system in the
lives of culturally diverse children, providing emotional support and educational
encouragement. Furthermore, Resnick and Goodman (1997) found than parents
and extended family members (such as grandparents, uncles, and aunts) provided
invaluable information on the academic, social, and emotional needs of the gifted
students. Information on development, health, interests, extracurricular activities,
learning styles, peer relations, and identity issues were provided by family
members in many instances. Although this information pertained to African
American students, it may serve for other underrepresented populations. The gifted
student indicated responses varied slightly. Students focused specifically on
academic help, and tended not to mention assistance such as “caring.” This might
explain why grandparents were largely excluded as part o f their support system.
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134
Cultural Differences
Parents in this study showed attitudes that are favorable to cultural
pluralism. Such views were strongly supported by the findings of Hebert (2000).
He found that experiences with diversity helped students see how race, gender, and
socioeconomic status interacted and provided opportunities for young people to
develop ways of thinking and analyzing and allowed them to become more
proactive in making changes in society. However, some parents in this study
expressed caution in regards to cultural pluralism. They told of instances in which
someone in their family had been treated differently simply for being Latino/a.
They encouraged pluralism in their families yet exercised caution regarding this
issue. The gifted students themselves spoke of differences as being something
positive. They also tended to grasp the concept of racism. They tended to
associate treating people negatively with the word racism. From their parents, they
indicated that they were taught not to treat people negatively solely on the basis of
how they looked or what they were wearing. Furthermore, most of the parents and
students expressed pride in their nationality. Most of them reported engaging in
activities which fostered those positive attitudes towards their nationality. Hine
(1994) supported this view by indicating in her research to not let the child’s
cultural biases, or prejudices held by people at school or in the community serve as
excuses for failure.
Community Programs/Resources
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135
On the topic of community programs or resources, both groups
of parents and their children showed consistent yet disturbing response patterns.
They either did not know of any program or chose not to take their children to such
programs. When they did mention programs, they were associated with the school
in some form or another. The resources were limited to the school or affiliates of
the school. The parents were not aware of any academic programs around their
communities. One can assume that not having resources in their communities
might put these students at a disadvantage; yet neither they nor their parents
seemed to be overly concerned by this gap. One parent stated that “there are no
programs so I have to take her out.” Another parent indicated that her kids stay in
the after school program that are provided by the school.”
Types o f Family Trips
All parents and gifted students expressed a desire to go on vacation. The
reasons for not taking such vacations were financial restraints. Parents may or may
not have verbalized such reasons, yet the students tended to be very aware of the
financial limitations limiting their traveling opportunities. It is important to note
that the gifted children demonstrated no animosity with the fact that they could not
take such trips in the near future.
Types o f Academic Materials available at home
The participants of this study demonstrated that they had the academic
essentials at home for the gifted students. Such materials include but are not
limited to technological devices and programs. This trend was further supported by
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136
the literature. Schunk (2004) described that some homes provide rich
experiences replete with economic capital such as computers, games, and books
which these families report. Although these parents may be from lower SES
communities, they take every measure to ensure that their children have the
essentials to compete at the highest levels.
Responsibility
A theme that most resonated among the groups was that parents of the
gifted children are ultimately responsible for ensuring the academic success of the
gifted children. This was in opposition to the findings of the literature. Colangelo
(2002) wrote that parents are not always prepared to take on the challenge of a
child who has different needs. Lopez (2001) noted that parents want to be involved
in their children’s education; these parents encountered a multitude of obstacles
(Duke Gitelman Brillant, 2001). The parents in this study assumed full
responsibility for their children without any excuses. Parents indicated that they
spoke with their children’s teachers on a regular basis. Responses showed that
parents took pride in the levels of engagement in their children’s education. This
feeling was substantiated by the literature. Schwarts (2001) wrote that involving
parents in the school was a particularly good way to increase their commitment to
their children's education; inviting them to functions, asking for their input on
curriculum and activities, and suggesting specific ways that they can promote their
children's learning. What remains unclear in this matter is upon whom does the
responsibility fall to initiate such interactions the school or the parents?
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137
Implications for Practice
These findings can be generalized to other families of gifted Hispanic
students, and therefore they have clear implications for parents. Parent tended to
perceive the non-school factors as issues which they perceived were primarily
maintained under their control. Although they expressed such perceptions, some
issues may still need further development. Parents for the most part felt confident
about their support for their children. Therefore, efforts to develop trainings for
parents should be provided by individuals whom have studied research based
strategies that yield positive academic achievements for gifted students. Parents
need to be cautious about the practices which may not be supported with empirical
data. One could suggest that such parents need to seek out empirically based
strategies and not ones motivated by emotion. Educators need to understand the
reality of parents and students reactions to education that differs from the literature.
Educators need to develop parent education programs and provide more
opportunities for resources such as ways to foster academic development at home.
SUMMARY
Although many factors have been identified in the literature regarding
minority parents, this study was important because it gathered the perceptions of
two groups of parents and gifted students. This study provided further evidence
about their perceptions of the non-school factors which contribute to their gifted
children’s academic achievement. In some cases, contradicting the literature itself.
The implications of the findings of this study are (a) parents acceptance of
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138
responsibility for their gifted children’s education, as well as (b)
educational institution’s acceptance of their responsibility for ensuring they meet
the educational needs of Hispanic gifted children, (c) parents knowledge of
effective strategies to identify and foster their child’s gifts, and (d)
acknowledgement of their gifted children’s attitudes and beliefs, and (d) the
willingness of investigators to conduct further research in this matter, (e) and the
development of advocacy groups for Hispanic gifted students.
Recommendations
As the discussion continues on whether parental involvement should be
considered an important factor in gifted Hispanic student’s achievement, more
research is needed to determine how parents perceive their involvement, and the
effects upon the gifted children. Future studies need to explore the pitfalls of
parenting styles but more importantly explore effective strategies which yield
productive outcomes for minority gifted students. This study should be further
developed utilizing a larger sample size and include information from a variety of
sources. Further studies should also be conducted utilizing experimental design
approaches. Because this study utilized focus group interviews there was not way
to differentiate between perceived applications and actual practices. Replication of
this study should include information from a variety of sources for triangulation
purposes. Such sources may include but are not limited to teachers, a second
parent, surveys, along with quantitative approaches to determine which practices
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139
are most effective in ensuring the gifted children’s academic
achievement for families of Hispanic families.
LIMITATIONS
This study had a variety of shortcomings. The first issue was the sample
size. The investigator’s intent was to have several schools participate. While many
schools were contacted, the principals chose to opt out of the study. As a result, all
of the participants are from one school. A second issue was the number of
participants in each focus group. Due to the language backgrounds of the willing
participants, particularly the parents the groups had to be divided into Spanish and
English speaking parents. As a result the groups were smaller than anticipated.
Although the
Participants were informed that the focus of this study was their unique
experiences; group influence cannot be discounted as a limiting factor to this study.
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140
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Why. Gifted Child Quarterly v44 n4 p. 261-71 (Fall 2000).
Renzulli Joseph S. Smith Linda H. Developing Defensible Programs for the
Gifted and Talented. Journal of Creative Behavior 12, 1, 21, 9, lQ tr 1978.
Resnick, Daniel P.; Goodman, Madeline. American Culture and the Gifted.
Pennsylviania. (1994, p. 14).
Resnick Daniel and Goodman adeline "Talent speaks in a number of
tongues; its arts are many." NW Regional Educational Laboratory Review Fall
1997.
Rimm, S. (1995). Why bright kids get poor grades and what you can do
about it. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks.
Rimm, S., & Lowe, B. (1988). Family environments of underachieving
gifted students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, 353-358.
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Robertson. Elsie. Neglected Dropouts: The Gifted and Talented.
Equity and Excellence v25 n l p. 62-74 (Fall 1991).
Shade, B. (1994). Understanding the African American learner. In E. R.
Hollins, J. E. King, & W. C. Hayman (Eds.), Teaching diverse populations:
Formulating a knowledge base (pp.175-189). New York: State University of New
York Press.
Schunk D. H. (2004). An Educational Perspective (4th. Ed.). NewJersey:
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Sisk,Dorothy. Understanding and Overcomming Underachievement in
Minority Ecumencially Disadvantaged Gifted Students. Lamar University Conn
Chair for Gifted Education Beaumont, Texas.
Sternberg. Robert J. Human Intelligence: The Model Is the Message.
Science v230 n4730 p. 111-18 (Dec 6 1985).
Sternberg Robert J. Talent and Diversity: The Emerging World of Limited
English Proficient Students in Gifted Education - August 1998 Appendix B
Identifying and Nurturing Talent for All Students: A Conversation With Robert J.
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Stewart, D. W., Shamdasani P.N. (1990). Focus groups: Theory and
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Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics o f Qualitative Research:
Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Newburry park. CA: Sage.
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Lawrence Erlbaum.
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expectations: Case studies of high-potential, culturally diverse young children.
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Weiner, I. B. (1992). Psychological disturbance in adolescence
(2n d ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Whitmore, Joanne Rand. Whitmore, J. R. What Research and Experience
Say to the Teacher of Exceptional Children: Gifted Learning Disable
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Exceptional Children, 1985. Underachieving Gifted Students_ 1985 Digest.htm.
Zilli, M. G. (1971). Reasons why the gifted adolescent underachieves and
some of the implications of guidance and counseling to this problem. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 15, 279-292.
http://www.ed.gov/prog_info/Javits/index.html
http ://www. ed. gov/pubs/T alentandDi versitv/appendb .html
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APPENDIX A
Ti*le27
Interview Questions
Parent Questions S ta dent tiucgtiom
HBtory/hackgreawl/stadeat knowledge Hbtery/backgnHmd/stmleBt knowledge
Tell me about your family'/
How many chikben do you have? Ages?
Tell me about your family’s birth order?
How many of your children arc gifted?
Tell me about your education?
Where did you study? (Country)
What is your education level?
What is your primary language?
How many languages do you speak?,Read?,
Write? Do you combine more than one
language when speaking?
Tell me about your family?
How many siblings do you have? Ages?
Tell me about your family’s birth order?
1 low many of your siblings are gifted?
Tell me about your parent’s education?
Where did this they study? (Country)
What is their education level?
What is their primary language?
How many languages do they speak?, Read?, Write?
Do they combine more than one language when speaking?
What language do you speak?
What language did/do you speak to your child?
Would you want your child to speak more that one
laoguage? And why?
What language do you encourage your child to speak?
Read? Write?
How do you feel about combining languages when your
children speak? (English/Spanish)
Tell me about your child's education?
How did you find old your child was gifted? Did you
notice or did some one tell you?
What behaviors did you notice that helped you
understand your child was smart? Gifted?
How were/are the gifted children different than the non-
gifted children?
What language do you speak?
What language do you speak to your parents?
Do you think your parents want you to speak more that one
language? And why?
Do your parents encourage you to speak, read and/or write a
language other than English?
How do your parents feel about combining languages when you
speak? (English/Spanish)
Tell me about your education?
How did you find out you are gifted?
Did you notice or did some one tell you?
What behaviors did you notice that helped you understand that
you were smart? Gifted?
What types of things do you think you do that were/are different
from other students? Friends?
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What do they say? What do they do? What do they ask
for?
How do your children get along?
How do die non-gifted children treat die gifted children?
Tell me about your gifted child’s education?
(a) Academic levels (tests)
(b) Programs involved in?
(c) Tell me about their grades
What challenges have they encountered?
What do you say? What do you do? What do you ask for?
How do you get along with your siblings?
How do your siblings treat you?
Tell me about your experiences at school? How well do you
think you read, write, do math.
(a) Academics levels (tests)
(b) Programs involved in?
(c) Tell me about your grades
What challenges have you encountered?
Family support (immediate family) Family support (immediate family)
Tell me about the time you spend with your child?
How much time do you spend with your child per day?
Who spends more time with the gifted child? Father or
mother? Other?
What do you do with your child during that time?
Tell me about things that are important about education?
How do you share your values about education with your
child?
What do you say about these ideas
What do you do?
What do you think about boys and girls going to college?
What do you think about boys and girls going away from
home to universities?
How do you support your children’s learning?
How do you help your child in gaining self confidence?
-About him/herself?
-Community?
-And culture?
-School?
Tell me about the time you spend with your parents?
How much time do you spend with your parents per day?
Who spends more time with you? Father or mother? Other?
What do you do with your parent during that time?
What things me important to you about school?
What do your parents tell you about the importance about
education?
What do they say about these ideas?
What do they do?
What do you think about boys and girls going to college?
What do you think about boys and girls going away from home
to universities?
How do your parents support your learning?
How do your parents help you in gaining self confidence to learn
well at school?
-About herself?
-Community?
-And culture?
-School?
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149
How or what do you say to your child to let diem know
they will be successful now and in the future?
How do you let your child know that hard work,
dedication and preparation will pay off? (delayed
gratification)
Is it the same for boys and girls?
How do you react to your child’s successes?
What do you do to ensure your child’s academic success?
-What do you say?
-What do you do?
-How do you react to your child’s failures?
-What do you say?
-What do you do?
How do you help diem deal with challenges?
What factors contribute to your participation in your
child’s education?
What factors inhibit you from becoming more involved
in your child’s education?
What types of field trips/places do you take your child
to?
What do you do when you can’t help your child with
their homework?
-What do you say?
-How do you react?
-How do you feel?
How do you think you have impacted your child’s
education?
What do your children think about your involvement?
What do the kids say?
What do they do?
How or what do your parent say to you to let you know you will
be successful now and in the future?
How do they let you know that hard work, dedication and
preparation will pay off? (delayed gratification)
Is it the same for boys and girls?
How do they react to your successes?
What do they do to support your success in school?
-What do they say?
-What do they do?
-How do they react to your failures?
-What do they say?
-What do they do?
How do they help you deal with challenges?
What factors contribute to your parent’s participation in your
education?
What factors inhibit them from becoming more involved in
your education?
What types of field trips/places do you take with your parents?
What do they do when they can’t help you with your
homework?
-What do they say?
-How do they react?
-How do you think they feel?
How do you think they have impacted your education?
What do you think about your parent’s involvement?
What do you say?
What do you do?
Community reactions (people) Community reactions (people)
Tell my about your extended family’s support system?
Careers?
Education levels?
How does your femily react to your child’s
gifts?
-What do they say?
Tell my about your extended femily?
Careers?
Education levels?
How does your femily react to your gifts?
-What do they say?
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150
-What do they do?
How do other people in your community react to your
gifted child?
How do other adults react to your gifted child?
How do other children react to your gifted child?
How do you think your child reacts to their
comments/actions?
What do you tell your child about cultural biases at
school?
(a) In die community?
(b) And Media biases?
How do other people in your community react to your
gifted child?
How do other adults react to your gifted child?
How do other children react to your gifted child?
How do you think your child reacts to their
comments/actions?
What do you tell your child about cultural biases at
school?
(a) In the community? Races? Gender?
(b) And Media biases?
Do your children know their nationality?
What do you tell diem about their nationality?
-What do they do?
How do other people in your community react to your gift?
How do other adults react toward you?
How do other children react towards you?
How do you react to their comments/actions?
What do your parents tell you about cultural biases at school?
(a) In the community?
(b) And Media biases?
How do other people in your community react to your gifted
child?
How do other adults react to your gifted child?
How do other children react to your gifted child?
How do you think your child reacts to their comments/actions?
What do you tell you about cultural biases at school?
(a) In the community? Races? Gender?
(b) And Media biases?
Do you know your nationality?
What do your parents tell you about your nationality?
Access to resources Access to resources
How do you think that community serv ices/programs aid
in your child’s education?
What types of places/organizations are available to your
gifted child that enhances his/her learning?
School tutoring, libraries, museums, book stores, art
shows, community tutoring
What places have you visited?
What places would you like to visit?
What keeps you from going to those places?
How do you think that community services/programs aid in your
education?
What types of places/organizations are available to you that
enhance your learning?
School tutoring, libraries, museums, book stores, art shows,
community tutoring
What places have you visited?
What places would you like to visit?
What keeps you from going to those places?
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151
What other ways are available for children to learn in
your community?
What other ways are available for you to leam in your
community?
Materials Materials
What types of materials are available to your child that
encourage academic his/her development?
What type of things do you buy your children that
encourage his/her educational growth?
-E.g., Encyclopedia’s, computers, books, pencils, arts
supplies, calculators, computer software.
-Where do you buy those items?
-If you don’t buy them why?
What types of materials are available to you that encourage
academic development?
What type of tilings do your parents buy you that encourage
your educational growth?
-E.g., Encyclopedia’s, computers, books, pencils, arts supplies,
calculators, computer software.
-Where do you buy those items?
-If you don’t buy them why?
School issues School issues
Whose responsibility is it to ensure your child’s
academic success?
Why?
Tell me about your interactions with your child’s
school/teacher?
How often do you interact with your child’s teacher?
What are the discussions about?
What types of questions do ask?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure your academic success?
Why?
Tell me about your interactions between parents and your
school/teacher?
How often do your parents interact with your teacher?
What are the discussions about?
What types of questions they ask?
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152
APPENDIX B
Informed Consent Forms
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
WPH 800
Los Angeles, CA 90089
INFORMED COSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
CONSENT TO PARTICPATE IN RESEARCH
Perceptions of Familial and Community Factors regarding Gifted Children:
Focus Group Interviews with Parents and Gifted Children
Parental Permission/Adult Consent Form
You and your child are being asked to participate in a research study conducted by
Sandra J. Kaplan, Ed.D and Alfredo Ponce M.A., from the Rossier School of
Education at the University of Southern California for a doctoral dissertation. You
and your child were was selected as possible participants in this study because s/he
is a gifted child attending Belvedere Elementary School, Breed Elementary or X
school Elementary School. A total of 18 families will be selected for this study.
Your child’s participation is voluntary. You should read the information below,
and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether
or not to allow your child to participate.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This investigation seeks to understand the non-school factors such as family and
community perceptions; and how these factors contribute to the academic
achievement of gifted Hispanic children.
PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in the study, we would ask your child to do the
following things:
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153
Your child will be asked to be a member of three-student focus groups that will be
interviewed together for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. An example of a
question is “tell me about your educational values?” All interviews and focus
groups will be audio-taped. In order to participate in the study, your child must
agree to be audio-taped due to the large number of subjects involved and the
necessity to provide transcripts of interviews to back-up inferences and statements
made in the final study. All interviews will take place at the school your child
attends. Your child’s grades or marks will not be affected by their participation in
this research study.
If you volunteer to participate in the study, we would ask you to do the following:
You will be asked to be a member of three-parent focus groups that will be
interviewed together for approximately sixty to ninety minutes. An example of a
question is “How do you instill your educational values on to your children?” All
interviews and focus groups will be audio-taped. In order to participate in the
study, you must agree to be audio-taped. All interviews will take place at the
school your child attends.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks to your child’s participation; however they may feel
uncomfortable talking about themselves or talking in the group setting. They may
be inconvenienced by being taken out of class to participate in the focus groups.
Students may have to make up classroom assignments missed during this time.
There are no anticipated risks associated with your participation in this research
study; however you may feel uncomfortable being recorded or being involved in a
group discussion. You will be asked to come to your child’s school for the
interviews. The parent interviews will range from 60 to 90 minutes in length.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You and your child will not benefit from participating in this research study.
An examination of perceptions can produce an awareness of values, beliefs and
practices that could affect the type and quality of learning experiences for Hispanic
Gifted Students.
PAYMENT COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You and your child will not receive any payment or compensation for participating
in this study.
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154
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be
identified with you and your child will remain confidential and will be disclosed
only with you, and your child’s, permission or as required by law.
You and your child will be entitled to review any audio-tapes and transcripts made
of their interview or focus group. If you and your child decline to be audio-taped,
then you and your child will not be able to participate in the study.
All of the audio-tapes of the interviews will be transcribed into text. The
transcriptions will be conducted by a professional from USC. A confidentiality
agreement will be signed by both parties. Segments may be quoted directly in the
study. Most o f the information will be “coded” which means that particular things
that you say in the interview may be used to answer one or more of the research
questions or to prove a point made by the researcher.
All audio-tapes and transcripts will be kept I in the investigator’s locked office and
no one will have access to them. Audio-tapes will be kept for three years and then
erased; the transcriptions will be kept for three years. The date will be discarded by
the investigator at that point.
Due to the nature of the focus group, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. Your
children will know who the other participants are.
When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
information will be included that would reveal your child’s identity. If audio-tape
recordings of your will be used for educational purposes, your identity will be
protected or disguised.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your child can choose whether to be in this study or not. If your child volunteers
to be in this study, s/he may withdraw at any time without consequences of any
kind. Your child may also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to
answer and still remain in the study. The investigator may withdraw your child
from this research if circumstances arise which warrant doing so.
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you or your child, has any questions or concerns about the research, please feel
free to contact Alfred Ponce by email at alfredo@usc.edu or by phone at 626 354-
6902 or by mail at 1921 Maple Avenue Los Angeles, Ca. 900011. or Dr. Sandra
Kaplan by email at skaplan@usc.edu or by phone at 818 740 3291 or by mail at
University of Southern California, Rossier School of Education, WPA 1002, Los
Angeles, CA 90089.
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155
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research subject, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research, Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, Room 306, Los Angeles, Ca, 90089-1695.
Telephone: (213) 821-5271 or email: upirb@usc.edu.
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH SUBJECT, PARENT OR LEGAL
PRPRESENT ATIVE
I understand the procedures described above, and I understand fully the rights of a
potential subject in a research study involving people as subjects. My questions
have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I
have been given a copy of this form.
Name of Subject
Name of Parent or Legal Representative
Signature of Subject, Parent or Legal Representative Date
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the subject to the subject or his/her legal
representative and answered all of his/her questions. I believe that he/she
understands the information described in this document and freely consents to
participate.
Alfredo Ponce
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same
as subjects)
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156
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
WPH 800
Los Angeles, CA 90089
INFORMED COSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
CONSENT TO PARTICPATE IN RESEARCH
Perceptions of Familial and Community Factors regarding Gifted Children:
Focus Group Interviews with Parents and Gifted Children
Informed Consent Form for Adults
You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Sandra J. Kaplan,
Ed.D and Alfredo Ponce M.A., from the Rossier School of Education at the
University of Southern California. You were selected as a possible participant
because you are a parent of a gifted child attending Belvedere Elementary School,
Breed Elementary School or X school Elementary School. A total of 18 subjects
will be selected from students and parents to participate. Your participation is
voluntary. You should read the information below, and ask questions about
anything you do not understand, before deciding whether or not to participate.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This investigation seeks to understand the non-school factors such as familial and
community perceptions; and how these factors contribute to the academic
achievement of gifted Hispanic children. The goal of this study is to gain some
understanding of the perceptions parents hold about their involvement in their
children’s education. The study also intends to explore the perceptions of their
gifted children. From this findings, it is the goal of the examiner to provide
effective strategies to parents and educators alike about effective practices for the
education of Gifted Hispanic Students.
PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in the study, we would ask you to do the following:
You will be asked to be a member of three-parent focus groups that will be
interviewed together for approximately sixty minutes. An example of a question is
“How do you instill your educational values on to your children?” All interviews
and focus groups will be audio-taped. In order to participate in the study, you must
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157
agree to be audio-taped. All interviews will take place at the school your child
attends.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
There are no anticipated risks associated with your participation in this research
study; however you may feel uncomfortable being recorded or being involved in a
group discussion.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO SUBJECTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
You will not benefit from your participation in this research study.
It is hoped that an examination of perceptions will produce an awareness of values,
beliefs and practices that could affect the type and quality of learning experiences
for Hispanic Gifted Students.
PAYMENT COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not receive any payment or compensation for participating in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be
identified with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your
permission or as required by law. The audiotapes will be transcribed by a
professional form University of Southern California. A confidentiality agreement
will be signed by both parties.
You are entitled to review any audio-tapes and transcripts made of your interview
or focus group. If you decline to be audio-taped, you will not be able to participate
in the study.
Due to the nature of focus groups, confidentiality cannot be guaranteed; however,
you will be asked to maintain the confidentiality of the focus group.
All of the audio-tapes of the interviews will be transcribed into text. The audio
tapes will be transcribed by a professional at University of Southern California. A
confidentiality statement will be signed by both parties. Segments may be quoted
directly in the study. Most of the information will be “coded” which means that
particular things that you say in the interview may be used to answer one or more
of the research questions or to prove a point made by the researcher.
All audio-tapes and transcripts will be kept I in the investigator’s locked office and
no one will have access to them. Audio-tapes will be kept for three years and then
erased; the transcriptions will be kept for three years.
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158
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this
study, you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may
also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the
study. The investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise
which warrant doing so.
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you or you, have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to
contact Alfred Ponce by email at alfredo@usc.edu or by phone at 626 354-6902 or
by mail at 1921 Maple Avenue Los Angeles, Ca. 900011. or Dr. Sandra Kaplan by
email at skaplan@,usc.edu or by phone at 818 740 3291 or by mail at University of
Southern California, Rossier School of Education, WPA 1002, Los Angeles, CA
90089.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH SUBJECTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research subject, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research, Grace Ford Salvatori Building, Room 306, Los Angeles, Ca, 90089-
1695. Telephone: (213) 821-5271 or email: upirb@usc.edu.
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH SUBJECT
I understand the procedures described above, and I understand fully the rights of a
potential subject in a research study involving people as subjects. My questions
have been answered to my satisfaction, and I agree to participate in this study. I
have been given a copy of this form.
Name of Subject
Name of Parent
Signature of Subject Date
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159
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the subject to the subject and answered all of
his/her questions. I believe that he/she understands the information described in
this document and freely consents to participate.
Alfredo Ponce
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same
as subjects)
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160
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
WPH 800
Los Angeles, CA 90089
CONSENTIMENTO PARA UN ESTUDO NO-MEDICO
CONSENTIMIENTO PARA PARTICIPAR EN UN ESTUDIO
Las percepciones de La Familia y la Comunidad sobre los factores que impactan a los Estudiantes
Dotados: Entrevistas en Grupo con Padres y sus Hijos/Hijas Dotados/Dotadas
Consentimiento de padres/Forma de Consentimiento para Adultos
Usted y su hijo/hija han sido solicitados para su participar en un estudio educativo parte de un
discurso doctoral. El estudio se conducira por la Dra. Sandra Kaplan y Alfredo Ponce de la Escuela
de Educacion en la Universidad de el Sur de Califonrina, Rossier. Usted y su hijo/hija han sido
solicitados por que su hijo/hija participa en el programa para estudiantes dotados de su escuela X.
Un total de 18 familias seran solicitadas para este estudio. Su participacion es voluntaria. Lea la
informacion y haga las preguntas necesarias sobre la informacion que no este clara antes de tomar
una decision sobre su participacion y la de su hijo/hija.
PROPOSITO DE ESTUDIO
El proposito de este estudio es comprender los factores no educativos como los factores de la
familia y la comunidad. Este estudio intenta investigar como estos factores contribuyen a los
triunfos de los estudiantes dotados de origen Hispano.
PROCESO
Si decide participar en este estudio le preguntariamos a usted y a su hijo/hija una serie de preguntas:
Su hijo/hija participara en una entrevista en conjunte de otros estudiantes por 60 a 90 minutos. Un
ejemplo de las preguntas es la siguiente: ?“Dime acerca de tus valores sobre la educacion”? Las
entrevistas seran grabadas. Para participar en este estudio su hijo/hija tendra que consentir a ser
grabado. Las grabaciones seran conducidas a consecuencia del volumen de entrevistas y la
necesidad de escribir y apoyar los comentarios escritos en este estudio. Las evaluaciones o grados
de su hijo/hija no seran afectadas por su participacion en este estudio.
Se decide participar en este estudio, se le pedira lo siguiente:
Se le pedira que sea un miembro de uno de tres grupos de entrevistas. La duracion de la entrevista
sera de 60 a 90 minutos. Este es un ejemplo de las preguntas: “Como le inculca a su hijo/hija sus
valores educativos?” Las entrevistas seran grabadas (audio). Para participar, tendra que estar de
acuerdo a ser grabado(a). Las entrevistas se conduciran en la escuela de su hijo/hija.
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161
POTENCIAL DE RIESGOS Y DISCOMFORMES
No se anticipan riesgos en este estudio. Existe la probabilidad de que su hijo/hija se sientas
incomodos al hablar de si mismos al hablar en un grupo. Se les sera un poco inconveniente al ser
sacados de sus clases. Los estudiantes tendran que completar las tareas.
No se anticipan riesgos en este estudio. Su usted se siente incomodo, no esta obligado a ser grabado
o participar en las entrevistas. Se le pedira que este presente en la escuela de su hijo/hija para las
entrevistas. La duration de la entrevistas sera de 60 a 90 minutos.
LOS BENEFICIOS A LOS PARTICIPANTES Y LA SOCIEDAD
Usted y su hijo/hija no se beneficiaran a consecuencia de este estudio.
Una reexamination de las percepciones podra producir un conocimiento de los valores; creencias y
practicas que podran afectar el tipo y la calidad de las experiencias de los estudiantes dotados de
origen Hispano.
COMPENSACION PARA LOS PARTICIP ANTES
Usted y su estudio no recibiran compensacion monetaria o material por su participacion en este
estudio.
CONFIDENCIALIDAD
La informacion de este estudio que pueda identificar su persona o la de su hijo/hija se mantendra
confidencial y sera compartida solamente con el permiso de usted y su hijo/hija como se requiere
por la ley.
Usted y su hijo/hija tendran acceso a la informacion adquirida en las entrevistas. Si usted y su
hijo/hija no estan de acuerdo en ser grabados, usted y su hijo/hija no podran participar en este
estudio.
Todas las grabaciones de las entrevistas se convertiran en escritos. Las inscripciones se conduciran
por un Professional de la Universidad de el Sur de California. Una forma de confidencialidad sera
firmada por las dos partes. Partes de las entrevistas seran usadas en el estudio directamente. La
informacion sera convertida en codigos lo que significa que parte de la informacion se usara para
comprobar un punto hecho por el investigador.
Todas las transcripciones seran guardadas en la oficina del investigador. Ninguna persona tendra
acceso a la informacion. Las grabaciones se mantendran por tres anos. Toda la informacion sera
destruida al fin de los tres anos.
Dado a la naturaleza de este estudio, la confidencialidad no sera garantizada. Su hijo/hija estara
enterado de la identidad de los otros participantes en el grupo.
PARTICIPACION Y NO PARTICIPACION EN ESTE ESTUDIO
Usted y su hijo/hija determinaran su participacion en este estudio. Si usted y su hijo/hija deciden
participar en el estudio podran decidir no participar a cualquier punto. Usted y su hijo/hija no
tendran que responder a preguntas que no prefieran contestar y podran seguir en la entrevista. El
investigador podra retirar a su hijo/hija del estudio si las circunstancias lo piden.
IDENTIFICACION DE LOS INVESTIGADORES
Usted o su hijo/hija se podran retirar de las entrevistas a cualquier punto sin consecuencias. No esta
resignando ningun punto legal o derechos a consecuencia de su participacion en este estudio. Se
tiene preguntas a cerca de sus derechos como participante en un estudio ponganse en contacto con la
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162
ofician del IRB a la oficina de el Vice Provost de estudios en la Universidad de el Sur de California
en el salon Grace Ford Salvatori, oficina 306, Los Angeles Ca, 90089-1695. Telefono: 9213) 821-
5271 o correo electronico upirb@usc.edu
FIRMA DE EL PARTICIP ANTE, PADRE O REPRESENT ATI V O LEGAL
Yo comprendo los procesos decribidos anteriormente. Yo entiendo en total los derechos como
participante potencial en un estudio involucrando personas como participantes. Mis preguntas se
han sido respondidas a mi satisfaccion, y yo estoy de de acuerdo a participar en este estudio. Se me
ha sido proveida una copia de este documento.
Firma de Participante
Firma de padre/madre/representativo legal
Firma de Participante, Padre/Madre Representative Legal Fecha
FIRMA DE EL INVESTGADOR
Yo e explicado el estudio a los participantes a su representative legal y e respondido a sus
preguntas. Yo creo que los participantes comprenden la informacion incluida en este documento y
dan su consentimiento a este estudio de su propia voluntad.
Alfredo Ponce
Firma de Investigador Fecha
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163
APPENDIX C
Guidelines to Increasing the participation of African American Students in Gifted
Programs
Guideline 1: A culture of assessment rather than a culture of testing promises to
capture the strengths of gifted African American students. Research support: Testing
provides quantitative information on students (IQ score or achievement level, for
example), while assessment describes students' areas of strengths and shortcomings.
Assessment is diagnostic, prescriptive, and proactive; it allows educators to develop a
more comprehensive profile of the abilities and needs of gifted African American
students._________________________________________________________________
Guideline 2: There is no "one size fits all" intelligence or achievement test.
Multidimensional identification and assessment practices offer the greatest promise for
recruiting African American students into gifted programs.
Research support: The (over) reliance on uni-dimensional tests for identifying gifted
African American students has proven ineffective. Multidimensional assessment
examines such factors as learning styles, test anxiety, and motivation; multimodal
assessment examines students' particular area(s) of giftedness (creativity, intellectual,
psychomotor, or social) using various assessments such as students' products,
portfolios, and autobiographies. The combination of qualitative and quantitative
assessment practices provides a comprehensive profile of giftedness among African
American students.________________________________________________________
Guideline 3: Identification instruments must be valid, reliable, and culturally sensitive.
If any of these variables is low or missing, the instrument should not be adopted for
use with African American and other minority students.
Research support: African American students tend not to score well on standardized
tests that are normed on middle-class White students. Further, standardized tests often
lack cultural sensitivity relative to African American students' learning styles, values,
and experience. Thus, they are biased against racially and culturally diverse students.
As a result, standardized tests often provide little if any diagnostic and prescriptive
information for educators.__________________________________________________
Guideline 4: To increase the representation of African American students in gifted
programs, educators must adopt contemporary definitions and theories of giftedness.
Research support: Howard Gardner, Joseph Renzulli, and Robert Sternberg have
proposed culturally sensitive theories of giftedness. These definitions are inclusive
because they support the notion of talent development, they acknowledge that
giftedness is context- dependent and multifaceted, and they avoid the exclusive use of
unidimensional tests and related identification practices._________________________
Guideline 5: Comprehensive services must be provided if the recruitment and
retention of African American students in gifted education is to be successful.
Research support: To increase the sense of belonging and ownership of African
American students in gifted programs, educators must address their academic as well
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164
as psychological, social, and emotional needs. Gifted African American students who
feel isolated, alienated, and misunderstood by teachers and peers are less likely to
persist in gifted education programs than students who feel empowered. Services
should focus on counseling needs, including academic counseling and vocational
guidance. Options for individual, peer, and small group counseling should also be
available to facilitate guidance experiences.____________________________________
Guideline 6: Teachers who are trained in both gifted education and multicultural
education increase their effectiveness in identifying and serving gifted African
American students.
Research support: Teachers, counselors, and other school personnel can increase their
effectiveness with gifted African American students if they have substantive
preparation in multicultural education and counseling. This training increases their
sensitivity, understanding, and respect for individual differences among students. Such
training can also increase their ability to identify and serve gifted African American
students. Ultimately, experienced teachers are more likely to ensure that a philosophy
of pluralism permeates gifted education programs.______________________________
Guideline 7: To prevent underachievement, gifted students must be identified and
served early.
Research support: Underachievement among African American students often begins
in grades three and four—the time at which gifted programs often begin. Without
early identification and services, promising and capable African American students
will have diminished opportunities for being identified or referred for assessment in
later years._______________________________________________________________
Guideline 8: Qualitative definitions of underachievement offer more promise than
quantitative definitions in describing poor achievement among gifted African
American students.
Research support: Quantitative definitions of underachievement rely exclusively on
high test scores. Gifted students who suffer from test anxiety, who confront test bias,
who have leaming-style differences, and who have poor motivation are unlikely to
receive high test scores. Qualitative definitions take into consideration motivation,
self-concept, self- esteem, learning styles, and other factors not examined on
traditional, standardized intelligence and achievement tests.______________________
Guideline 9: The representation of African American students in gifted programs must
be examined relative to both recruitment and retention issues.
Research support: Much of our effort concerning the representation of African
American students in gifted education has focused on the recruitment
component—identification and placement. Considerations regarding retention must be
addressed as well. After successfully identifying and placing gifted African American
students, educators must focus on such variables as school climate, the demographics
of faculty and students, school personnel preparation in gifted and multicultural
education, curriculum and instruction, and program evaluation.___________________
Guideline 10: Family involvement is critical to the recruitment and retention of
African American students in gifted education. Parents and extended family members
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165
must be involved early, consistently, and substantively in the recruitment and retention
process.
Research support: Parents are effective and reliable sources of identification for gifted
children. Parents and extended family members (such as grandparents, uncles, and
aunts) can provide invaluable information on the academic, social, and emotional
needs of gifted African American students. Information on development, health,
interests, extracurricular activities, learning styles, peer relations, and identity issues
can only be provided by family members in many instances. Narrowing discrepancy
between theory and practice can soften the implications for students especially in large
urban schools.
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APPENDIX D
Characteristics of Gifted Children
Early in Life Later in Life
Unusual alertness Extraordinary memory
Less need for sleep Excellent sense of humor
Smiling or recognizing parents early Poor attention, boredom and
daydreaming but long attention span
when involved in something
Intense reactions to noise, pain and
frustration
Wide range of interests
Early and extensive language
development.
Extended general knowledge.
Fascination with books. Perfectionism
Curiosity Strong opinions
Leadership ability
Questioning rules, customs and
traditions
Abstract reasoning and problem
solving skills
Vivid imagination Sensitivity and
compassion - easily disturbed by news
reports
(Retrieved from Guide for the Perplexed September, 2005)
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167
APPENDIX E
Hine’s (1994) Eight Keys that Contribute to Success o f Gifted Children_______
1. Let your child know your value achievement in school._______________________
2. Help your child develop strong language skills_____________________________
3. Parents must make their children understand that they believe their children will be
successful both in school and later in the work place.___________________________
4. Parents must provide a strong family support system for their children.__________
5. Parents who nurture a strong family bond at home help their children to develop a
positive image of themselves and their culture and to gain the self confidence
necessary to meet the challenges they face a school and in the community.__________
6. Help your child understand that his or her future can be bright with preparation and
hard work. Instant success stories don’t usually happen in real life. The great
majority of successful adults had to deal with many challenges obstacles along the
way.____________________________________________________________________
7. Do not let your child use cultural biases, or prejudices held by people at school or
in the community as an excuse for failure._____________________________________
8. Parent should become involved in their child’s school and extracurricular activities.
By encouraging a “social bond” with the school and the community, they will help
him or her to grow in confidence and self-esteem.
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168
APPENDIX F
___________________ Barriers to Spanish Speaking Parents______________________
1. Parents who cannot speak English and thus cannot converse with their children
may be unable to foster English language skills.________________________________
2. A lack of conversation in the home may deny children the opportunity to learn the
art of dialogue.___________________________________________________________
3. Cultural attitudes that emphasize having respect for elders may make minority
children appear to be cowardly and backward.__________________________________
4. The traditions of the minority group may supersede the commonly accepted
practices of the majority, leading to misconceptions about the abilities of children.
5. An environment that is focused on survival may force children to accept mature
responsibilities in order to satisfy immediate needs rather than to pursue education.
6. Standard, out of school experiences such as visiting museums, libraries, and zoos
may be limited for minorities._______________________________________________
7. Prejudices against minorities that may exist in the community may have a negative
effect upon minority members’ self-concepts.__________________________________
8. Minority children’s use of their native language, which may be rich in imagery,
may interfere with their learning the precise vocabulary of standard school language.
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169
APPENDIX G
Recruitment Letter
To: Whom it may concern
From: Alfredo Ponce, Doctoral Student, University of Southern California.
Re: You and your gifted child are cordially invited to participate in a research
study.
This study conducted by: Alfredo Ponce, Doctoral student at the University of
Southern California, Rossier School of Education
Name of study: Non-School Factors that
Contribute to Academic Outcomes of Gifted Hispanic Students.
Nature of Study: The focus of the study is to learn more about the non-school
factors that contribute to the academic achievement of Gifted Hispanic Students.
The study will consist of focus group interviews of four to six participants. One
group consists of the parents of gifted children. The other group consists of the
gifted students themselves. The parents and their children will be asked the same
questions. The data will be audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed. Participation in
the study is voluntary. Any participant may withdrawal from the study at any time
without any repercussions. The interviews will be confidential. The information
will not be shared with any school personnel or other family members.
The student interviews will be conducted during school time. The parent
interviews will be arranged after school. Arrangements will be made by the
primary researcher and the Gifted Coordinator. All interviews will be conducted at
your child’s school of attendance, and will take approximately 60 - 90 minutes to
complete.
To “enroll” in the study or if you have any questions, please contact Alfredo Ponce:
Telephone: 626 354-6902
Email: alfredop@,usc.edu
Additional information and consent information will be distributed to willing
participants.
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Asset Metadata

Creator Ponce, Alfredo (author)

Core Title Factors contributing to the academic achievements of Hispanic gifted children

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, administration,education, educational psychology,education, elementary,Hispanic American studies,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Colbert, Joel (committee chair), Kaplan, Sandra (committee member), McComas, William (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c16-587111

Unique identifier UC11341518

Identifier 3236538.pdf (filename),usctheses-c16-587111 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier 3236538.pdf

Dmrecord 587111

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Ponce, Alfredo

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA