April Wells, Coordinator for Gifted Programs, Academies, World Language & Advanced Placement, Illinois School District U-46 High-ability culturally, linguistically, and diverse (CLD) learners require intercultural competence from administrators and educators to achieve adequate representation. Equitable access requires innovative practices in identification, program delivery, instructional theory, and parent engagement. Discover systemic strategies for serving CLD and low-income gifted learners.

1. UNDERSERVED GIFTED POPULATIONS
SUMMIT
O C T O B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 6
APRI L WE LLS
C O O R D I N A T O R - G I F T E D , A C A D E M I E S , A P &
WO R L D L A N G U A G E S
I A G C B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S
UNVEIL THE PROMISE AND
POTENTIAL IN
UNDERREPRESENTED LEARNERS

2. THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM…
You know what you know; and what you don’t know,
you just don’t know.

3. EQUITY VS. ACCESS
• What comes to mind when you hear these terms
• How are they similar (are they equal?)
• What are the next steps in our pursuit?

4. BARRIERS TO RIGOROUS
PROGRAMMING
• EAL
• Poverty
• Cultural bias
• Access to Enrichment
• Exposure
• Policies
• Procedures

5. QUESTIONS TO ASK
• Are students from all demographic population
represented in assessment, nomination,
identification, service and exiting?
• Where are the discrepancies occurring?

6. PICTURE THE GAP

7. EMBRACING THE IMBALANCE
• Working through cognitive dissonance
• Conceptual categories
• Implicit biases

8. PROMISE
• CLD learners are disproportionately represented in
gifted programs
• Responsive practices allow for more inclusive
opportunities
• Privilege is insidious

9. THE FAULT IN INSTRUMENTS
• No single instrument is going to tell the story in a
way that adequately represents students in the
most dynamic manner

10. ALTERNATE WAYS TO ASSESS
• Interviews
• Observations
• Rating scales
• Portfolios
• Surveys/questionnaires

11. FRAMEWORK CONSIDERATIONS
• Definition
• Philosophy
• Mission statement
• Program components
• Education
• Mindset
• Barriers

12. IDENTIFICATION…DO YOU SEE WHAT I
SEE?
• Early intervention
• Multiple measures
• Qualitative measures
• Cultural competence
• Contextualized identification

13. INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES
• Culturally responsive pedagogy
• Noncognitive skills
• Instructional scaffolds
• Strengths model
• Growth model
• Interdisciplinary approach
• Leverage questioning

14. CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY
Culturally responsive pedagogy uses the cultural
knowledge, prior experiences, and performance
styles of diverse students to make learning more
appropriate and effective for them; it teaches to and
through the strengths of these students.

15. WARMTH AND DEMAND
• All learners must be held to high expectations
• Expectations must be reflective of student
readiness, diversity, etc.
• Realization of how members from various
culture/groups “do school”
• High context vs. low context culture
• High support balanced with high expectations

16. ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL
LANGUAGE
• Second language acquisition
• Native language foundation
• Bridging
• Strengths vs. deficit model
• Cognitive ability

17. AFFECTIVE DOMAIN
• Scholar identity
• Social and emotional pursuits
• Culturally responsive problem solving models

18. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
• Talent development programs
• Supplemental experiences
• Training- administrators and teachers
• Varied and authentic assessments
• Data exploration

19. TALENT DEVELOPMENT
• Talent development experiences are structured for learners to
reach their full potential.
• Such advanced academic programs and resources enhance
a child's schooling
• Comprehensive approaches to talent development delivers
personalized options and guidance.
• Talent development pathways lead students on a clearly
articulated journey of intellectual, emotional and social
growth.
• Talent does not develop in isolation…schools can support
diverse learners by providing programming that allows
students to discover their unique voice, explore opportunities,
cultivate a love of learning and become bold, creative
achievers and contributors

20. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION
• Advanced Placement mission statement
• The School District U-46 Advanced Placement (AP) Program
provides students exposure to college-level courses in a
high school setting with developmentally appropriate
support from teachers and peers. Through engagement in
rigorous coursework, students sharpen their communication
and analytical skills as they draw upon their personal
strengths and diverse experiences. U-46 encourages all
willing students to enroll in an AP course.

21. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION CONTD.
District U-46 AP goals
• Increase AP enrollment by all willing students
• To raise student performance by creating a culture of high
academic attainment through rigorous college-level courses
• To demonstrate that all learners are able to learn at high levels
with the appropriate level of expectation balanced with
support
• To provide a pathway for students to become independent
thinkers practicing effective time management, directed
inquiry and critical thinking
• To create opportunities for students to pursue their passion in
academic pursuits
• To afford students an opportunity to sit for an AP exam

22. COLLEGE BOARD ACCESS AND EQUITY
STATEMENT
The College Board and the Advanced Placement
Program encourage teachers, AP Coordinators, and
school administrators to make equitable access a
guiding principle for their AP programs.
The College Board is committed to the principle that
all students deserve an opportunity to participate in
rigorous and academically challenging courses and
programs.

23. COLLEGE BOARD
All students who are willing to accept the challenge
of a rigorous academic curriculum should be
considered for admission to AP courses.
The Board encourages the elimination of barriers that
restrict access for AP courses to students from ethnic,
racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been
traditionally underrepresented in the AP Program.
Schools should make every effort to ensure that their
AP classes reflect the diversity of their student
population.

24. AMONG THE MISSING…
• Low income, Latino and black students access AP
and IB courses at the lowest rates
• “Enrollment gap” in advanced courses has been
around for a long time

25. MORE THAN 650,000 MISSING
STUDENTS
• Research shows that at least two-thirds of a million
students who are qualified for advanced courses
are not enrolled in them each year

26. EXCELLENCE GAP
• Excellence gap refers to the disparity in the percent
of lower-income versus higher-income students who
reach advanced levels of academic performance.

27. BELIEF GAP
• Undermatching
Most low income students with good grades and test scores don’t
even bother to apply to top colleges. This is called undermatching,
and it’s believed to happen largely because students aren’t aware
of the options available to them.
• Gifted and Talented
Low-income and minority students are far less likely to enroll in gifted
and talented programs, even when they have the aptitude to
succeed in these courses.
• Implicit Bias
White teachers are much less likely than black teachers to see black
students as college material, even when talking about the same
students. This kind of unconscious stereotyping is called implicit bias.
While these biases may be unintentional, the expectations teachers
hold for students can significantly affect student outcomes and
success.

28. GOT ACCESS?
The College Board
strongly encourages
educators to make
equitable access a
guiding principle for
their AP programs by
giving all willing and
academically
prepared students the
opportunity to
participate in AP.
Educators encouraged
to:
• Eliminate barriers
• AP classes and diversity
of student population
• Early access to rigor
• Equity and excellence

29. PURSUING PROMISE: U-46 AP 2015
FACTS

30. PURSUING PROMISE CONTD.

31. PURSUING PROMISE CONTD.
Awards and
distinctions:
• 357 AP Scholar
awards
• 218 AP Scholars
• 62 AP Scholars with
Honor
• 77 AP Scholars with
Distinction
• 8 National AP
Scholars

32. THE BREAKDOWN
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Hispanic Asian A/A White
AP Test Takers by Ethnicity
District Demo 14-15 13-14

33. STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE EQUITY AND
ACCESS
• Eliminating pre-requisite courses; open access
• Providing special study sessions for students
• Recruiting students for AP courses, often
microtargeting underrepresented students
• Establishing flexible and creative schedules
• Communicating with the community, sometimes
using media outlets
• AP potential data, course matching
• Resources and materials

34. U-46 PARADIGM SHIFT
• When students take an AP course, not if they take
an AP course

35. MINDSETS, VALUES AND BELIEFS
• Equitable access.. Best practice
• Noncognotive factors
• Affective domain
• Scholar identity

36. A PIPELINE TO AP SUCCESS: DISTRICT U-46
EQUITY AND ACCESS
The District’s administration believe that it is imperative
to:
• Hire educators who have high expectations of the
school’s/district’s diverse student body
• Have a robust curriculum that is vertically aligned;
leading to AP courses
• Offer as much professional development as possible
to all teachers

37. COLLEGE AND CAREER SUCCESS FOR
ALL STUDENTS ACT
• A student who takes a College Board Advanced
Placement examination and receives a score of 3
or higher on the examination is entitled to receive
postsecondary level course credit at a public
institution of higher education.
• Requires each public institution of higher education
to comply with the same standard of awarding
course credit to any student receiving a score of 3
or higher on a College Board Advanced Placement
examination and applying the credit to meet a
corresponding course requirement for degree
completion at that institution of higher education.

38. QUESTIONS?