Gifted native American students: Underperforming, under‐identified, and overlooked

Abstract

There has been limited focus among researchers on the nature and needs of gifted Native American students in the past 30 years, and the work that has been done frequently generalizes findings across Native American cultures. This article reviews recent literature on Native American youth and on gifted Native American students; examines the current condition of education in the Diné (Navajo) Nation through a sociocultural motivation lens and based on work with one tribal community on this reservation; calls researchers and educators to action and to recognize that, as with all ethnic groups, many individual cultures exist within Native American populations; and offers suggestions for education personnel. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Gifted Native American Students

“…According to the literature, early identification, enrichment programming, and ongoing identification should be done in a variety of areas (Callahan & McIntire, 1994; Gentry, 2009; Montgomery, 1989). Furthermore, for Native youth, specific considerations should be given to developing their strengths in naturalist, spiritual, leadership, visual-spatial, art, music, creative problem solving, and communication domains (Gentry & Fugate, 2012; Tonemah & Brittan, 1985). Programs and curriculum should be tied to culture and delivered according to learning preferences and cognitive styles of the students (Omdal et al, 2011), with a focus on opportunities to solve relevant problems in a small-group setting.…”

“…Finally, we seek to suggest a possible research agenda based on data gathered within these communities. A national research agenda focused on gifted/ creative/talented Native American students is needed, as this population remains one of the least researched, most overlooked, and most underserved in the field (Gentry & Fugate, 2012;Yoon & Gentry, 2009). This agenda, in our opinion, should address the needs and gaps concerning the discovery and development of giftedness, creativity, and talent among Native American 1 populations.…”

Supporting Australian Gifted Indigenous Students’ Academic Potential in Rural Settings

“…Interestingly, research on gifted Native American students living in rural areas of the United States has suggested that it may be problematic to find one identification process that works for all students. Native American students are acknowledged as a diverse group (Callahan & McIntire, 1994;Gentry & Fugate, 2012;Omdal, Rude, Betts, & Toy, 2011), and therefore there has been a lack of generalisability in research findings around characteristics (such as soft/slow speech, persuasion, quietness, and an emphasis on nonverbal communication), or learning preferences (such as for co-operative learning) for these students (Christensen, 1991;Gentry, Fugate, Wu, & Castellano , 2014). By contrast, Indigenous Australians have been defined in policy documents as being a homogenous group despite the 'diversity and difference that is a feature of Indigenous societies, especially in remote Australia' (Altman & Fogarty, 2010, p. 109).…”

Understanding Navajo K–12 Public School Finance in Arizona through Tribal Critical Theory

“…The Navajo Nation has one of the largest populations of students, yet one of the lowest benchmarks for achievement, in the United States. These educational strains have affected high school and post-secondary education as well, with 55.9% of Navajo Nation students obtaining a high school diploma and 7.3% a bachelor's degree or higher (Gentry & Fugate, 2012). Native American students in Arizona graduate at a lower rate than the entire Navajo Nation average, 52.4%, and in comparison to Caucasian (78.7%) and Latino students (65%) face much greater graduation achievement gaps (Faircloth & Tippeconnic III, 2010).…”

“…Native American students in Arizona graduate at a lower rate than the entire Navajo Nation average, 52.4%, and in comparison to Caucasian (78.7%) and Latino students (65%) face much greater graduation achievement gaps (Faircloth & Tippeconnic III, 2010). This translates to a 21% gap between the Native American and non-Native American student graduation rates in Arizona (Gentry & Fugate, 2012;National Caucus of Native American State Legislators, 2008).…”