Are gifted students getting left out?

Statewide, Latinos, who make up 48% of total student enrollment, represent just 28% of students enrolled in gifted programs. African Americans represent 7.6% of students and 4% of students enrolled in gifted programs. On the other hand, Asians make up 8% of total student enrollment and 17% of gifted enrollment; whites make up 29% of total enrollment and 43% of gifted enrollment.

The reasons for the imbalance are varied. Schools attended by lower income and minority students tend to have fewer gifted programs and less qualified teachers. In addition, better educated and more affluent parents are more likely to demand an advanced curriculum or hire outside psychologists to test their children.

Some administrators and teachers have other reasons not to identify students as gifted: They philosophically don't believe that students should be classified that way or they don't want the responsibility of providing special services for them.

California is asking districts to develop strategies to address the under-represented student populations, such as making greater use of group-administered tests that measure abstract thinking and reasoning ability in the second and third grades, said state Department of Education gifted program consultant Sandra Frank.

But even in districts with GATE programs, funding is usually insufficient to cover a full range of services for all the students who need them, advocates say. Currently, only 800 of the state's 1,353 school districts apply for GATE funding.

Broader public support for enhanced services is hindered by the perception that smart kids don't need help, said Elizabeth Jones Stork, president of the Institute for Educational Advancement, a South Pasadena nonprofit that supports gifted programs.

Pipeline To Success, a program founded by Stork's group in 1999, is seeking to change that perception. Working with the Pasadena Unified School District, the program provides gifted students such as Dalton with after-school activities, college tours and referrals for financial aid. More than 200 students have graduated from the program, with 94% of them going to four-year colleges.

In most respects, Dalton is a typical teenager. A student at Blair International Baccalaureate School, he lives in Altadena with his grandmother and likes science fiction, sports, hiking and his computer. Through the Pipeline program, Dalton has gone on college tours, attended leadership camps and taken a journalism course.