Recognizing Superior Cognitive Abilities in Disadvantage, Minority, and Other Diverse Populations

Abstract

Abstract A knowledge of the characteristics of diverse populations that may hinder identification will help to eliminate some of the obstacles to identifying the gifted among those who are not members of the dominant culture of a community. Equally important in the selection process are the recruitment procedures, criteria for selection of students, the quality of the measures used for identification, and the training and skills of the examiner/interviewers. Examples of successful identification practices utilized in the Astor Program illustrate the various approaches to identification that produced a gifted student group reflective of the demographic character of the city.