Identifying Discourses About Gifted English Learners for Equitable Identification

• In Event: Advancing Equity in Gifted Education

Abstract

With English Learners (ELs) being the fastest growing population of learners in the United States, it is of concern that EL representation in gifted education continues to lag behind other populations of learners. Therefore, underidentification of gifted ELs constitutes a problem. One state that has identified commensurate numbers of gifted ELs is Colorado. Colorado’s gifted definition, regulations, and guidelines to address ELs in district program plans provided an opportunity to examine how the authors represented gifted ELs in official documents. Critical Discourse Analysis of these documents revealed four identity-forming discourses of gifted ELs of gifted ELs as an underrepresented population of culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse learners who benefit from targeted identification enacted through stakeholder interactions and accountability.

Authors

• Susan Dulong Langley, University of Connecticut

• Del Siegle, University of Connecticut

• Elizabeth Jean Gubbins, University of Connecticut

• Catherine A. Little, University of Connecticut