More Proof

From Vox - 

Most teachers are overlooking huge numbers of gifted black students

For high-achieving students, gifted education programs can have great benefits — more challenging coursework, smaller class sizes, and individualized attention. But not all students have equal access to gifted programs at school.

It turns out black students were about half as likely as white students to be placed in gifted programs, according to a national study released last month by researchers at Vanderbilt University. This might be due to the process of identifying which students are gifted, whether it's through testing, a subjective panel, or teacher referrals, which are where the discrepancy really sticks out.

The study also found that black teachers were three times more likely to recommend black students for gifted services than nonblack teachers.

But it's not simply a matter of black teachers being sympathetic. A 2015 paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, for example, found that when a school district screened all its students for giftedness (rather than relying on teacher referrals), there was a 180 percent increase in the number of disadvantaged students who qualified.

So the problem may be with the process — and nationally, it's an inconsistent one. So how do you define a "gifted" child, and is one system more equitable than others?

The US Department of Education says gifted students show strong intellect, creativity, artistic capability, leadership skills, or strength in specific academic fields. Those guidelines say kids like this need "services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities."

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http://www.vox.com/2016/2/3/10905466/gifted-black-students