![]() ![]() ¦ Hispanic students, who make up 10 percent of the population, represent 7 percent of gifted students in Duval. ¦ Asian students, who represent 5 percent of Duval students, account for 14 percent of its gifted. ![]() ¦ White students, who represent 37 percent of Duval's total student population, account for 61 percent of gifted students. ¦ In Duval, black students account for about 12 percent of the gifted population, according to 2014 data from the Florida Department of Education, despite representing 44 percent of the total student population. State and federal data suggest many districts, including Duval, still have ways to go. René Islas, executive director of the National Association of Gifted Children. "It's a moral imperative of - children of color, children of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds - coming from different languages … That's what we do as educators," said M. In Duval, there are plans for a new gifted school in the city's predominantly black urban core and nationally, programs and agencies geared toward the gifted are rethinking long-standing screening methods, which some experts claim leave minorities and English language learners at a disadvantage. However, as urban districts around Florida and the country change, educators from the local to the national level take a more critical look at the racial divide. In a sense, the magnet school - where about 6 percent of students are black and 9 percent are Hispanic - is a snapshot of the larger gifted landscape in Duval and beyond - a world that still remains largely void of black and Hispanic children. "But it's kind of weird, though, not having somebody like you." "It doesn't really bother me much," said Karsten, before pausing. His schoolmates - fifth-grader Karsten Edwards, who is also black, and fourth-grader Diego Miura, who is Puerto Rican - echo that sentiment. "It matters how you act and what you do." "We're all people, and it doesn't matter what color we are," he said. However, he's not too concerned about that. He's one of more than 4,000 gifted students in Duval County Public Schools and one of the few brown faces in his classes. About a year ago, he enrolled in Jacksonville Beach Elementary, a magnet for gifted and talented students. ![]() The 9-year-old said he's always been good at math. As the teacher turned to him, he offered a quiet but confident "21." A few kids got stumped along the way, but not Terrell. Then, they moved on to multiples of seven. One by one, the line of gifted math students rattled off multiples of six like their favorite Disney characters, giggling as they tried to beat the clock. "Shoulder to shoulder, facing this way," Jacksonville Beach Elementary teacher Jeff VanLandingham ordered them. Even as they prepared to leave class, the lesson wasn't quite over for Terrell Sheppard and his classmates. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |