Abstract
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- Ford, D. Y., Harris, J. J., III, Tyson, C. A., & Frazier Trotman, M. (2002). Beyond deficit thinking: Providing access for gifted African American students. Roeper Review, 24, 52–58.
- Gardner, J. W. (1984). Excellence: Can we be equal and excellent too? New York: W. W. Norton.
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- Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human intelligence. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1993). National excellence: A case for developing America’s talent. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- U.S. Department of Education. (1998). Elementary and secondary school civil rights survey. Washington, DC: Author.
- Volume 26
- Issue 4
- Publication Date: Summer 2003
Two Other Wrongs Don’t Make a Right: Sacrificing the Needs of Diverse Students Does Not Solve Gifted Education’s Unresolved Problems
Donna Y. Ford
While Robinson argues that we are sacrificing the needs of gifted students—“we are punishing the innocent for the sins of a society that has been unable to conquer these problems” (p. 251)—I propose a different argument: We are punishing diverse students, also innocent victims, for the sins of a society and an educational system that have not adequately addressed historical and contemporary social injustices. Minority students who are gifted and have the potential to achieve at higher levels are being denied opportunities to participate in gifted education for numerous reasons. This position is followed by examples of such ills and recommendations that support and build upon those provided by Robinson to solve or resolve problems associated with the unnecessary competition between excellence and equity and between gifted education and diversity. I think that the different positions held by Robinson and myself both point to one central question: “How can schools provide all young people with certain basics that are necessary to their common citizenship and, at the same time, give them the diverse opportunities and treatment that their differential abilities require?” (Gardner, 1984, p. 89).
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