The Influence of the Great Recession on the Identification of Students From Non-White Populations in the State of Texas

Abstract

The Great Recession is an economic crisis which has had repercussions through different facets of U.S. society. Texas, despite overall economic health, enacted severe cuts to education as a result of the Great Recession. A potential consequence of these austerity measures is the identification of Black, Latinx, and Native American students for gifted education services. This article examines effects of the Great Recession and educational budget policy on the identification of Black, Latinx, and Native American students for gifted services in Texas. Publicly available data were acquired from the Texas Education Agency on district demographic data from 1999 to 2015. A longitudinal mixed effect model was used to analyze rates of representation of Asian, Black, Latinx, and Native American students relative to White students. Results suggest that budgetary cuts to gifted education programs following the Great Recession did not adversely affect the representation of Black, Latinx, and Native American students in gifted education programs and that Asian students increased their representation in gifted programs.