Nontraditional Strategies for Identifying Nontraditional Gifted and Talented Students

Assessing nontraditional students who come from culturally diverse backgrounds, low socioeconomic households, or who have limited English language proficiency has long been a concern in psychology and education (Bracken & McCallum, 1998; Ford, 1996; Ford & Harmon, 2001; McCallum, Bracken, & Wasserman, 2001). With an increasingly large and diverse student body in U.S. schools, there has been a corresponding press for equitable assessment and representative identification of ethnic and racial minority students for inclusion in special education programs, including programs for the gifted and talented. Additional efforts and new directions have been required to ensure that equitable assessment and identification practices are employed for all students in U.S. schools, especially for those nontraditional students who historically have been disenfranchised by the educational system. This chapter explores two innovative and promising strategies for accurately and representatively identifying diverse populations of students as gifted and talented, while reducing the sometimes biased overlays of language, culture, and poverty.