Elementary Principals’ Perceptions of Underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic Students in Gifted and Talented Programs.

Nationwide, the underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students in gifted programs is pervasive (Ford et al., 2020; Hamilton et al., 2020; Hurt, 2018; Matthews & Rhodes, 2020; Peters et al., 2019). This study sought to further inform educators and policymakers about the existence of underrepresentation. While the existence of underrepresentation has been well documented, there exists a gap in principals’ perceptions of its existence. This study sought to allow principals to explore underrepresentation in their schools, provide their perceptions on their district’s Academically or Intellectually Gifted (AIG) program and identification practices, and offer recommendations to improve their district’s AIG program and identification practices. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to determine elementary principals’ perceptions of gifted education, gifted identification, and underrepresentation of Black and Hispanic students in gifted populations. Data were gathered from three focus groups consisting of 14 total principals in the same district using semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that participants have positive and negative perceptions of their district’s AIG program and identification practices, and an overrepresentation and/or underrepresentation exists in some of their schools. Participants described reasons for the overrepresentation and/or underrepresentation and made recommendations to improve their district’s AIG program and identification practices. Implications included the need for professional development on gifted education, changes to the district’s identification methods, and revisions to its model of gifted instruction.