Teacher and Principal Diversity and the Representation of Students of Color in Gifted Programs: Evidence from National Data

Presented at:
AERA 2015 Annual Meeting
April 18, 2015

Jason Grissom, Vanderbilt
Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Vanderbilt University
Emily Kern, Vanderbilt University

Abstract
Students of color are significantly underrepresented in gifted programs relative to their white peers. Drawing on political science research suggesting that public organizations more equitably distribute policy outputs when service providers share characteristics with their client populations, we investigate whether the representation of students of color in gifted programs is higher in schools with racially/ethnically diverse principals and teachers. In a nationally representative sample of elementary schools created by merging two waves of data from the Civil Rights Data Collection and the Schools and Staffing Survey, we find that schools with larger numbers of black teachers or a black principal have greater representation of black students in their gifted programs. We find a similar relationship for Hispanic teachers and representation of Hispanic students. Further evidence suggests that a critical mass of teachers of color is necessary for teacher race/ethnicity to be associated with higher minority representation in gifted programs.

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How does a teacher’s race affect which students get to be identified as ‘gifted’?
The Washington Post, April 22, 2015