A Sociological Examination of Parenting Practices and Gifted Education

Abstract

This literature review uses a socio-cultural lens to explore how income, race, culture, and parenting practices interact to cause, complicate, and further exacerbate the gap in gifted student identification. The article reframes the aforementioned factors using Annette Lareau’s work on concerted cultivation and natural growth models as a theoretical explanation. The authors recommend the following to address gifted education enrollment inequity: enhanced preparation and training of gifted student identification for educators, education about culturally relevant teaching practices, and improvements to the curricula in schools serving minority and low-income students.