Excerpt: I’m Gifted Too — Using Culturally Responsive Teaching to Address the Learning Needs of 3e Students

The following is an excerpt from a piece in the Summer 2021 issue of Variations^2e magazine, which is now available for purchase.

SIGNIFICANT EMPIRICAL and anecdotal research undergirds education’s continued efforts to provide services for gifted students. A well-known dilemma, however, is that the majority of students served in gifted programs nationwide are from middle class white and Asian cultural groups, leaving gifted students from culturally diverse populations underrepresented, overlooked, and simply missing from gifted programs nationwide (Ford, 2013; Gentry et al., 2019). Included among those who are underserved are gifted students who have at least one learning exceptionality and are from culturally diverse backgrounds (particularly Black, Latinx, and/or Indigenous/Native American). Davis and Robinson (2019) categorized these unique multi-exceptional students as thrice-exceptional or 3e students: culturally diverse, gifted, and having other exceptional conditions such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, physical disabilities, etc.