Teacher and Principal Diversity and the Representation of Students of Color in Gifted Programs: Evidence from National Data

Abstract

Forthcoming, The Elementary School Journal *** Students of color are significantly underrepresented in gifted programs relative to their white peers. Drawing on political science research suggesting that public organizations more equitably distribute policy outputs when service providers share characteristics with their client populations, we investigate whether the representation of students of color in gifted programs is higher in schools with racially/ethnically diverse teachers and principals. In a nationally representative sample of elementary schools created by merging two waves of data from the Civil Rights Data Collection and the Schools and Staffing Survey, we find that schools with larger numbers of black teachers or a black principal have greater representation of black students in their gifted programs. We find a similar relationship for Hispanic teachers and representation of Hispanic students. Further evidence suggests that a critical mass of teachers of color is necessary for teacher race/ethnicity to be associated with higher representation of students of color in gifted programs. *** Since at least the late 1960s, research has consistently documented the substantial underrepresentation of students of color in gifted programs (Ford, 1998). Recent data show, for example, that black students are only 59% as likely to receive gifted services as would be predicted if their gifted participation was proportionate to their presence in the broader student population. 1 To receive gifted services, students must go through multiple steps, including identification as potentially gifted, referral for evaluation, and the evaluation itself, and research suggests that students of color are less likely to pass through each of these stages than their white peers (McBee, 2006; National Research Council, 2002). Reasons for these disparities are complex but likely include unequal teacher perceptions of student giftedness across student groups (Ford, Grantham, &

Theoretical Frontiers in Representative Bureaucracy: New Directions for Research

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“…Such studies demonstrate how race and gender together mean more for representatives' behaviors than either separately, but that is only one of the interesting questions. An equally interesting question is whether bureaucrats influence clientele outcomes based on the intersectional identities of the clientele or the matchup of the bureaucratic and clientele identities (Grissom, Nicholson-Crotty, and Keiser 2012;Grissom, Rodriguez, and Kern 2017;Nicholson-Crotty et al 2016;Pitts 2005).…”

Teachers of Color and Urban Charter Schools: Race, School Culture, and Teacher Turnover in the Charter Sector

“…Several studies show that a school's increase in the number of teachers of color is positively associated with academic outcomes for students of color, including gains in academic achievement, higher rates of referral to gifted and talented programs, reductions in dropout rates, as well as reductions in discriminatory practices related to discipline, tracking, and referrals to special education (Dee, 2004;Egalite & Kisida 2015;Fairlie, Hofmann & Oreopoulos, 2011;Gershenson, Hart, Lindsay & Papageorge, 2017;Grissom, Rodriguez & Kern, 2015;Meier, 1984). ToCs also serve as "cultural brokers" helping students negotiate school culture and expectations, particularly in schools with racial parity gaps between students and teachers (Irvine, 1989).…”

Segregation within integrated schools: Racially disproportionate student-teacher assignments in middle school

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