The Gifted and Talented Program and the Spanish
Bilingual Student
It has
become more and more evident in many school districts that the servicing of the
gifted and talented children who are learning English in a bilingual program
needs to be addressed. This is very
difficult for some school districts as a result of the lack of qualified
bilingual teachers, the lack of properly designed bilingual programs and the
improper assessment and placement of some Spanish bilingual students who are
deemed gifted and talented. The latest
census data further illustrates the necessity to try to address the needs of
these students in a bilingual, gifted and talented program or both. The latest data shows that 26,771,035
children from ages 5-17 speak Spanish in the home. This represents a 54.3%
increase in Spanish use at home from the 1990 census. (Crawford, 2001) Even when compared to the 1980 census, the
number of Spanish speakers ages 5-17 has been growing at a phenomenally rapid
pace. School districts are struggling to
meet the demand. However, through the
Javits program and Title VII funds, the monies are available to develop such
programs. Recently, though, the Bush administration has proposed giving funds
to states in the form of block grants.
This would let the states distribute funds as they see fit. If the state is not interested in bilingual
gifted programs, a district will not receive funds for such a program. This is an enormous problem that hopefully
will not be. At any rate, why is there
little development in the this area? I
believe as a result of ignorance and misconception, many districts fail to see
the need for such programs and usually wait until bilingual students have
transitioned before beginning to serve them if they are ever served at all.
To
understand the need for appropriate bilingual gifted programs, one needs to
understand the second language acquisition process and what properly designed
bilingual programs look like. Much of
the research on which methods in bilingual education are more efficient at
teaching an English language learner English while still maintaining high
literacy rates is quite clear. Research
points to the fact that developmental, additive, bilingual programs that allow
the student the necessary amount of time to acquire not only conversational
English but academic English as well, develop more successful students who are
able to work comfortably in either language.
Dr. Stephen Krashen has become a champion of the idea that reading is
the key component in making bilingual students successful. His Reading Hypothesis states that reading
instruction in the native language develops those literacy skills that will
eventually transfer to the second language. (Krashen, 1996) In the case of
Spanish bilinguals, these students learn to become proficient readers in
Spanish. English reading does not need
to be taught to these children. They
already know how to read. It is now just
a question of practicing reading in the new language and developing vocabulary
through the use of comprehensible input in the target language usually through
ESL techniques used by the bilingual teacher.
The Input Hypothesis of Dr. Krashen (1996) holds that information
provided in the second
language that is not modified in some way to make it
more understandable to the child is just gibberish and does not advance the
child’s learning of the academic language.
Dr. Jim
Cummins provided bilingual education theory with the idea of Basic
Interpersonal Communication Skills, BICS and the idea of Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency Skills, CALPS. His
BICS vs. CALPS theory shows that bilingual programs must provide the student
enough time to learn the required academic skills in the second language in
order to be successful later in classes held only in the target language. (Cummins, 1999) Research also has shown
that to develop these CALPS skills, the average
student needs five to seven years in a bilingual program. (Ramírez, Yuen, & Ramey, 1991) Currently in Texas, excluding pre-kindergarten
and kindergarten, the allowable time that a child can spend in a bilingual
program is five years, possibly six years in some districts.
Yet, even
when a district is armed with the reasons for bilingual education, it is clear
that school districts seldom offer the English language learner a chance to
learn in a gifted environment even if the child may be gifted. All too often, the idea of what and how a
gifted child should be is based on an Anglo, middle class gifted student
without consideration of cultural or linguistic needs. (Irby, Lara-Alecio,
1996) In fact, some argue that there is
a systematic bias in the standardization process, as instruments follow this
middle-class mainstream basis of measurement. (Bermúdez, Márquez, 1998)
Speaking of systematic bias, two states have currently banned bilingual
education. This ban has occasioned the
near complete lack of identification of bilingual students who are gifted. In California, where under rare circumstances
and because of loop-holes in the law banning bilingual education, a precious
few bilingual programs are allowed. As a
result some bilinguals are identified.
Nonetheless, the end result is that the child is expected to learn in
only English. (Dr. Anaida Colón Muniz,
personal email, November 3, 2001) Is
California really meeting the need of that student? I doubt it.
Most counselors and psychologists involved in the identification of
gifted students are not bilingual in California so even if a non-verbal
aptitude test were given to these children, how well would they do if they did
not understand the instructions? (Peter
Farrugio, personal email, November 3, 2001)
The situation in Arizona is even worse.
After speaking with several educators and parents in Arizona, it would
seem that there are only two or three bilingual gifted programs in the whole
state and those are concentrated in one district. Still, as a result of the strict rules placed
upon the program by the law banning bilingual education in Arizona, only those
bilingual students that have a good command of English according to oral test
results can enter the bilingual gifted program.
(Mary Carol Combs, personal email, (November 3, 2001) So in a sense, bilingual gifted children are
withheld services because of a lack of English.
That is seriously flawed. It
harks back to the idea that to be gifted is to follow the middle class, Anglo
conceptual frame.
Too,
cultural differences play a large role in the under representation of bilingual
students for the gifted classroom. The
lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity on the part of teachers and
appraisers exacerbates the problem. (Bermúdez, Márquez, 1998) For example, many Mexican-American children
who value what an adult has to say, respect the law and authority receive
little attention as potentially gifted children because the American school
system values individual competition, initiative and self-direction. (Cohen,
1990) Similarly, some Puerto Rican children will hesitate to act independently
as they prefer to consult with family members first. (Cohen, 1990) The National
Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) not
surprisingly found that gifted and talented programs tend to serve more one
racial or ethnic group than others.
Asian and white students were served most often; whereas, only 6.7% of
the students served in gifted programs were Hispanic. (Cantu, 1998) More disturbing is that this does
disaggregate the data further to show how many of those Hispanics were actually
in bilingual programs. The number for
those students would be even lower. Cantu (1998) went on to state that in
Texas, as of 1998, limited English proficient (LEP) students only accounted for
3.4% of the gifted population served even though they represented 12% of the
total student population. Again, this
data does not show what percentage was actually from a bilingual program. That number would be even lower.
Another
factor that contributes to the low numbers of language minority children in the
gifted classroom is the reliance on standardized tests and IQ tests as sole
measures for giftedness. (Bermúdez, Márquez, 1998) A district must provide multiple measures of
assessment so that the bilingual child has the opportunity to show his or her
talents. (Cohen, 1990) This should
include measures in the native language and English, non-verbal culturally
appropriate tests, behavioral checklists, nominations, portfolio assessments,
teacher observation, samples of creativity, art or writing, and input from the
cultural group with which the student most identifies. (Cohen, 1990, Gonzalez,
Buerle and Felix-Holt, 1996, Castellano, 1998) Different cultures and different
societies
encourage the development of different
intelligences. Still, the majority
culture will overlook these intelligences as they are not valued thus causing a
low number of linguistically and culturally different children to be
identified. (Kloosterman) Multiple measures will allow other
intelligences to be recognized.
(Gonzalez, Bauerle and Felix-Holt)
Since some
of the multiple measures include nominations and teacher observations, what are
some of the attributes of the Hispanic bilingual child? Castellano (1998) succinctly points out that
gifted Hispanic students have these common characteristics. 1)
They rapidly acquire English language skills once exposed to the
language. 2) They exhibit leadership abilities with strong
interpersonal skills. 3) The tend to have older playmates and easily
engage adults in conversation. 4) They
enjoy intelligent and effective risk-taking behavior. 5)
They can keep busy and entertained.
6) They accept responsibility at
home normally reserved for older children such as taking care of younger
siblings or helping others with homework and 7) they are known to be “street
smart” and able to survive in an Anglo dominated society. Irby and Lara-Alecio (1996) agree on these
characteristics plus they delve further into the mind of the Hispanic gifted
bilingual student. These researchers
believe that the gifted Hispanic bilingual child will have much more cultural
awareness. This child will value and
appreciate his or her native language and culture. They have a high motivation to learn. They are not only good readers but they want
to read. The child performs well in all
areas of reading including identifying cause and effect relationships and has a
very expressive vocabulary with a command of both English and Spanish. The child works well in groups and is liked
by peers. Overall achievement is very
high in the classroom. The child can
retain and use stored knowledge. The
child performs well in math and enjoys problem solving. The child can perceive relationships between
apparently unrelated areas. Finally,
Hispanic bilingual gifted children are also seen as very creative in the arts
be it music, art or drama.
Understanding
now who the Hispanic bilingual gifted learner, what do districts do to serve
these children? The clear answer is to
develop and maintain a bilingual gifted program in which children receive
instruction in both languages. The
students receive Spanish instruction at an advanced level while still receiving
English instruction at the appropriate level for the students’ level of
proficiency in English. However, many
districts ignore the talents of gifted bilingual students or simply place them
in the English gifted program even though many times the children were tested
using Spanish assessment measures.
Some tend
to believe that since the bilingual child is gifted, the child should be able
to handle the academic demands in a gifted English classroom despite having
limited abilities in English. This idea
is perpetuated in part by how teachers and administrators judge the gifted
child.
When a
gifted bilingual child is placed inappropriately in an all English gifted
classroom, anecdotal evidence and my personal observations suggest that many
will struggle to meet the academic requirements of advanced English instruction
especially in reading. They do not
perform well and their grades drop. This
is not due to a lack of intelligence or even motivation, but rather a lack of
comprehensible input in English. Some
doubt if the child is truly gifted; therefore, the student is moved to the
regular classroom where his or her grades do improve as a result of the less
strenuous academic demands in English.
Although the fact still remains that this child is gifted and should
receive gifted instruction. Where this
occurs, the gifted bilingual child is not being served correctly.
Furthermore,
sometimes a gifted child will actually succeed in the gifted English
classroom. This occurrence gives more
support to the misconception that since the bilingual child is gifted, he or
she should be able to handle gifted instruction in whatever language. From what I have witnessed and from speaking
with parents whose bilingual children were initially placed inappropriately in
a gifted English classroom, these children struggle but due to an incredible
drive to succeed and to please both parents and teachers, the child survives. Nevertheless, these children are oftentimes
not comfortable in the classroom and emotionally they are very fragile. One parent even reported to me that her child
would come home in tears at least once a week because she did not understand
everything the teacher had taught.
Again,
what should a district do to properly serve bilingual gifted students? The first step is to establish the idea that
children who are not fluent in English are not necessarily in need of remedial
instruction. If this idea is pervasive,
the reason for a gifted bilingual program will never be understood. Children who are gifted can still need
support in certain areas be they linguistic or academic. When meeting the instructional needs of
gifted bilingual children, educators must consider several key aspects. A classroom that meets both the academic and,
perhaps more importantly, the linguistic needs of the student is an absolute
necessity for the reasons established previously for bilingual education. A model bilingual gifted classroom would be
one replete with literature in both languages.
The teacher would provide advanced instruction in the native language
while continuing to develop English by way of ESL strategies. In order for the bilingual gifted program in
general to be successful, Cohen, (1990), has suggested that the following
factors should be taken into account.
Individual schools need to broaden its idea of giftedness. A broader view will promote the
identification of more students and the expansion of the program. Also, districts need to use a variety of
assessments as has been discussed earlier.
Different school districts probably will need the freedom to choose what
model best fits their Hispanic bilingual gifted children. There is no one size fits all model when it
comes to educating the gifted child. A
pull-out model may be best or a self-contained bilingual gifted program. It depends on the students. Finally, and of utmost importance, the staff
needs to have more awareness when it comes to the potential of bilingual students
and gifted programs. If teachers do not
support either program, the program will not be successful. There has to be “buy in” or acceptance that
both programs are a valid way of teaching students. Related to this idea, the staff must be
knowledgeable about how giftedness can manifest itself in different populations
such as the Hispanic bilingual population.
If the ideas of giftedness are all based on the Anglo, middle-class
student idea of giftedness, many will not be considered or served as gifted.
How to
serve the gifted bilingual child is a difficult question without an easy
answer, yet the answer is there. When
one combines research based learning strategies for teaching English to
children whose native language is something other than English with what is
known for properly identifying and placing gifted bilingual students, the
answer is quite obvious. Even more
exciting is witnessing what bilingual gifted Hispanic students can do in the
gifted setting. From my experience, it
is absolutely amazing! Other school
districts should be and will be equally
amazed if they follow what research has to say.
Reference List
Bermúdez, Andrea B. PhD. & Márquez, Judith A.
PhD. June-July 1998. Insights into
Gifted and Talented English Language Learners.
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Cantu,
Linda. June-July 1998. Traditional Methods of Identifying Gifted Students
Overlooks Many. IDRA Newsletter
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Cohen,
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Texas. SABE Journal, Volume 11,
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Valentina I. (1997). Building a
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