Friday, November 15, 2013

How Do We Identify RELD Giftedness?


Now that we have finished the first two modules in this course, you should have a little clearer idea of the characteristics of giftedness across a few racially, ethnically, and linguistically different populations. Reflect on your new knowledge and think about your current classroom through the lens of the TABS. Are there students in your classroom that you would rank higher on the TABS now that you have completed the first portions of the class? Describe how you view your students now versus how you viewed them at the beginning of the spring semester.

71 comments:

  1. When we first started the magnet school, there was a definite disparity in the knowledge and "abilities" (but certainly not potential!) of those who came from the predominantly black, high SES schools versus those students from predominantly white, high SES schools. My African-American students generally had to work harder than the white students to reach the same levels of achievement. The coolest thing to watch, though, is that even in the span of that first year (and still more since then), the gap between races and SES in academic achievement almost completely closed. Now, it is virtually imperceptible.

    All that to say...I think the "social experiment" of our school showed me a lot of how one's background will affect "giftedness." I know I can still improve in giving TABS scores with keeping in mind a student's cultural background, but right now I can think of only two students who I might re-rank. The rest of the students have already clearly demonstrated their giftedness in my classroom, irregardless of their cultural background.

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    1. I guess with those two students, the reason I would re-rank them higher now than I would have previously is because of their limited opportunities. Both students come from low SES families, and neither student has both parents at home. One student lives with a mother and grandmother, while the other lives with a father and step-mom (the student's mother died during the tornado). Despite all this, those students demonstrate resiliency. One, while tending toward underachievement, demonstrates high ability consistent with his gifted peers. The other, while thinking and reading skills are a struggle, maintains a high appetite for learning, reading, and independent projects.
      It is somewhat beyond me how the second child can read and try so much despite struggling to understand what she is reading/learning. However, given her background especially, I guess I can imagine that there would be some significant gaps. I must continue to push her - using her motivation as one of the catalysts - to think and learn more deeply and more critically. I hope that my learning during this program will be a big help for this.

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  2. Personally, I am having difficulty answering this questions. First, I am struggling because I teach Kindergarten in a private school, where we don't even test or provide services for giftedness or special education. That being said, I do have one student that I would be willing to bet is considered gifted. He is African-American and comes from a single-parent home where they live with his grandmother. His father does play a pretty active role in his life from what I can tell, but I'm still unsure of how much of his interactions with him plays a role in his giftedness.

    Another reason I am struggling is because personally, I guess I don't feel like I look at race. I feel that I do a pretty good job of look at the individual child's abilities. That certainly doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement and that I do a great job of being culturally responsive in my classroom; however, I do think I view students fairly and equally no matter what their race or background. Having grown up in a multicultural family (white, Filipino and Spanish) and now being in an interracial relationship myself, race and background has never been difficult for me to understand and see within other families. But like I mentioned, I should do a better job of being more responsive to different cultures.

    Whenever I should get a public school classroom and have the ability to test my students, I will be sure to keep these things in mind and be sure to be sensitive to various cultures and ethnicity.

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    1. I agree with you, Mercedes, I'm in a 'kind-of' private school situation as well. My school is only open to military children. The military schools were created during segregation to give all children of military parents an equal education. In DoDEA, parents and teachers can recommend gifted testing which may lead to gifted services. One reason I chose gifted, other than getting certified in another area, is the fact that I teach music. I believe anyone has the talent for something related to the fine arts. Music curriculum allows for exploration and various ways to get to the final product; I can easily differentiate to accommodate any student. Some children really shine in the fine arts area and I get to see that happen, it's so exciting! Some kids are natural performers.
      Music can easily cross cultures and races and I try to do a good job of exposing the students to various cultures and allowing them to see the BIG picture.
      I know I'm teaching military children and the first priority is making sure they transition well or are transitions well to new their new setting; moving your whole life and making new friends and meeting new teachers can be very tough.

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  3. As I reflect on my middle school gifted classes in my rural school district, I am pleased to see a varied group of students ethnically and by socioeconomic background including whites, blacks, Hispanics, and one Asian. I feel very positive about my school’s recognition of gifted traits from all backgrounds as is reflected by the differences within my classes. I have not had opportunity to review the original TABS forms filled out by other teachers when my students were referred, but I do feel that most of my students demonstrate many of the traits, aptitudes, and behaviors of giftedness regardless of their barriers of having traits as described by Project Aspire on Rural poverty (Burney & Cross, 2006 p.30). However, there is also a population of white middle class at my school; and I have observed a possible over-identification of some of those students in my classes, for a select few do not perform above average on many of the characteristics on the TABS.
    I do view my students differently now than before the readings in this course. As an open-minded, non-discriminatory teacher, I try to see all my students as the same, as in without racial bias. However, I have become aware that I actually need to see them differently and tap into allowing my students share and appreciate one another’s differences in order to grow and learn to his/her best potential. The Table on p. 33 in our text, “Characteristics of Gifted Children: Traditional, Appalachian, Hispanic, and African American” was very helpful in seeing the differences that teachers need to consider when teaching gifted students in rural communities. In particular, the fact rural, disadvantaged Hispanic and African American gifted children tend to show a preference for kinesthetic modality is very helpful for me in future lesson planning. In addition, the lower motivation in the classroom, the low standardized test scores, and the below performance in written work, as placed on the table, is a match to many of the students in my school. I do observe, although my students demonstrate high creativity, problem-solving ability, etc., that it is in written work/grammar and low motivation during structured classroom instruction that sets them apart from advantaged White gifted children who perform well in performance tasks, standardized tests, and written work.

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    1. I really like Telura's comment in the second paragraph: "I try to see all my students as the same, as in without racial bias. However, I have become aware that I actually need to see them differently and tap into allowing my students share and appreciate one another’s differences in order to grow and learn to his/her best potential." I think she put into words something I am starting to realize...that I have been color-blind and culture-blind, which I always thought was a good thing, but I am now starting to realize that in order to be culturally responsive I actually must be very aware of differences and strive to teach according to them. It's the idea again from the video of "salad" versus "melting pot."

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    2. I totally relate to what both Telura and Elizabeth about being color blind and culture blind and believing it to be a good thing. I was taught to not view people by their race or background and that everyone should be treated the same. However, by doing this, we are overlooking sometimes what could be considered the core of the child. Someone's culture heavily impacts who they are, how they learn, react and view different situations. By being culturally sensitive and responsive, I am learning to dig deeper into my students' stories, backgrounds and cultures. I believe that is the most successful way I will be able to reach these kids and tap into their potential to learn and be successful. I no longer put on my "blinders" with my students, but instead look at them as individuals with vivid, different and important backgrounds that contribute to the overall success of my classroom.

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  4. I think our school can definitely do a better job of identifying African American students for gifted services. Similar to what Elizabeth said, our school is made up of an upper middle class white population, and then sort of on the "other side of the tracks"--literally, in another direction from the school--lower SES population of African American students who live in "the apartments." One of the things that I have been disappointed in is how many teachers at my school automatically categorize the students' abilities by whether or not they live in "the apartments." I think this DEFINITELY affects our perceptions of these students and how they interact and teach them, despite all of our school's focus on cultural responsiveness!

    One area I know I have now started to look at in a different way on the TABs is the "humor" section. I think this is one area where cultural background greatly influences how this trait is demonstrated in students' personalities. I see it in my every day classroom, in that some of my upper middle class white students don't "get" the jokes of my African American students and vice versa.

    Last year I participated in a book study on the book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria" (http://www.amazon.com/Black-Kids-Sitting-Together-Cafeteria/dp/0465083617) and it provided me with some great insight into the cultural norms and backgrounds of this population of students and helped me understand how they identify with each other. I think my learning in this class thus far as prompted me to not only have this knowledge, but to take action because of it.

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  5. In response of a federal mandate by the Office of Civil Rights, Alabama uses a Traits, Aptitudes, and Behaviors Observation Form to aid in the identification of students who may otherwise be overlooked through traditional testing. Since beginning my journey last semester, my eyes have been opened to the vast characteristics exhibited by gifted students of various backgrounds and the ambiguous definitions that are representative of gifted and talented students. It’s not black and white nor is it all wrapped up in a neat little box like I had expected. After being introduced to my gifted students, there were noticeable differences in their abilities and talents. Some teachers even questioned me as to why a particular student was even in the gifted program. After all, their classroom scores were not at the top of the class and their some of their behaviors were simply unacceptable. At the beginning of this school year, I did not have a clue as to how to respond to these questions. However, I now am equipped to answer these many questions teachers present about some of my students. Well, maybe not as many answers to their questions, but questions for them so they stop and think of their characteristics. I can think of two particular students that are currently in my class whose TABS scores should be higher than were previously ranked. My gifted third grade class is very off balanced. I have six white students, one black student, and one biracial student. Since this is my first year teaching in the gifted program, I looked through each of the student’s files to get an idea about each individual’s ability before class began. Of course, the TABS Form seemed to give the most information because their previous classroom teacher had filled it out. However, I quickly noticed that my two minority students didn’t score as well on the TABS and just barely made the screening on the matrix. I admit I wondered if they were pushed over the edge to attempt to balance out the numbers. Since I have in class and working with them, I do not feel they were adequately ranked in the area areas of humor and communication. Both of these students are great oral story-tellers. Although, their written products did not convey this talent. The teacher should have looked past the classroom performance and listened more closely to casual conversations with peers.

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  6. In one of my placements, I was in a relatively rural school that had a mixed population (about half Black and half White). I observed that there were no African American children that were identified as gifted in the entire school. In the fourth grade, where I was placed there were at least three African American students that I came across that I believed surely should have been in gifted programming. They were not only smart academically, but quick witted, insightful, and mature for their age.
    Similar to Emily’s situation, these kids lived in the projects. Their teachers had not expected as much from them because of that, yet they succeeded in spite of the stereotype. When I asked my cooperating teacher about them, she explained to me the second-grade child-find process and dropped it. I was really disappointed that there was not more being done for these students. With these students I tried to always push them to do better than just getting by because it was easy and to instill in them the importance of doing their best because they should.

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  7. When I began as a gifted teacher this year I did not have a clear understanding as to how gifted students learn or how they are identified. My son was identified as gifted in the second grade. As I read and study I not only obtain a better understanding of my students , but also of my son. The things like fidgeting and moving around constantly in my room do not bother me anymore. I have changed the way that I deliver instruction to support those needs that I never understood were needs. I have also realized that not all gifted students are the best academic performers. Katrina

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  8. As a new student to the Gifted and Talented program, I have not yet had the opportunity to learn about TABs. I took the time to do a little research and found out that TABs is a form developed by Frasier that helps identify students into the gifted program. There are 10 "traits, aptitudes, and behaviors" listed on the form that regular classroom teachers observe for identifying gifted students. This background knowledge helps me to be able to answer the blog question a little better.
    Is it also a little different for me answering this question because I teach 11th grade U.S. History and students that are labeled as gifted do not get any special treatment. They are not pulled out of the regular classroom and they are not in any special classes. I had to look up on my roster the students formally listed as gifted. There were 9 students listed a gifted out of a class of around 110 students total. Four females and five males. All students were white middle class except for one black male. This is not a fair representation of the black population at the rural school system in which I teach. We are about 30% black in our demographics. We have no Asians or Hispanics. I believe by looking at the characteristics of the students that I teach, there would be at least 1 or 2 more African American students that would have qualified as gifted by using TABs. I can't say for sure because I do not know how their personalities might have changed since elementary school.
    Since the beginning of this course, my view of diversity has drastically changed. Not only do I look at race, but I also look at gender, religion, socioeconomic status, etc. I understand from a rural school system perspective that a lot of these kids are not like me. Over half of them do not want to attend college, but would rather learn a trade. I need to appreciate that diversity of my students and understand where they are coming from as a person from a different background than my own. I can also see how my expectations have changed. I came into to this school system having high expectations for all leathers. I still have high expectations and want them all to succeed, but I now realize that being successful means something different to everyone. I look more at progress now than I do at the grade. Growing in their knowledge as a diverse individual is more important than a perfect score.

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  9. As I have previously stated all the students that I teach in my gifted program grades 6-8 are African American. They are racially, ethnically, and linguistically similar. The differences that I am finding deal with socio-economic status. Most of the white children in our system tend to withdraw at the end of the fifth grade Since this is my first year serving the gifted children, I decided to look closely at their TABs. I believe the teachers did an accurate job of identifying their strengths and weaknesses. This particular group had very high scores on the NNAT.
    I am learning a lot about my gifted students especially as I read , "Bright, Talented, and Black." I have a seventh grade boy in my gifted class that I taught last year in the regular classroom. He was a true challenge for me. I could never understand how he could possibly be gifted .The readings are helping me to understand him more this year. I am also sharing what I have learned with his regular education teachers this year as they struggle to work effectively with him.
    As I began working with the other gifted specialist on second grade testing, I paid close attention to the diversity of the students. Only one school out of eight had white students and there was only one Asian student. The Asian student did not perform well enough on the NNAT to automatically qualify. However, after looking carefully at the TABs on this student, talking with his teacher, and sharing what I have learned about Asian students in chapter one of our textbook, my co-worker and I decided that further testing needs to be done on this child. I do believe our system does a good job making sure that we don't over look anyone.
    Demisha Stough

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  10. Reflecting on the make up of my gifted classes, I am excited to see such a culturally diverse group of students. Although this is my first year teaching gifted learners! it is evident the groups of teachers at my school have a strong recognition of gifted traits from culturally diverse backgrounds. During. Second grade child find, I have encouraged our teachers to keep an open mind and not to allow personal feelings and/or conflicts sway a decision on the TABS report.
    However, there is one student that the TABS report should have scored higher. After further investigation, there was in fact a personality conflict. Thankfully the student products, etc. showed the students abilities.
    Teresa Harris

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  11. I have to agree with Emily on this one as I am also new to the program, so I have very little experience with TABS. I am currently placed at a predominantly white school. I have fifty four students total and two African American students, in which one is identified as gifted. I have enjoyed reading about the multiple cultures and demographics in Castellano and Frazier's book. I hope to apply their research if I ever find myself in a multicultural school again. I must admit that my views on my classes in particular have not changed. When I reflect on my time at previous schools where the environment was much more diverse, I wish that I would have had the knowledge that I do now because I do believe that some of my former students could have been identified as gifted. I can think of three students in particular that were Asian, African American and Hispanic. I believe that by reviewing some of the TABS information I researched and reading through some of the chapters in our text, their humor, creativity and curiosity could have been considered gifted traits. This semester has opened my eyes to the impact of cultural awareness in the classroom and its major role that it plays when reaching out to my students.

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  12. This is my 2nd year of teaching gifted, and my first year of doing second grade child find so I am still learning about the TABS. I teach in a rural county grades 3-8 and travel to different schools. With that being said, I do not teach a very diverse group of students. All of my students with the expectation of one are middle class white. I have one Asian student. As I have been taking classes I have learned a lot about the TABS and diverse cultural that has helped me be able to help teachers refer diverse students. As I administrated second grade child find, I encouraged each teacher to look at their Hispanics and refer them if they thought they would possibly be candidates for the gifted program. I am hoping next year I will have a more diverse group of students.

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  13. With my current position, I do not personally fill out TABs, but like Teresa said I do encourage my teachers to not let certain aspects sway their decisions about the students. Where I have before spoken to them before about behavior and personal feelings, I now feel more confident in speaking with them also about cultural differences. Some commented about the humor section of TABs. Whether or not a teacher understood a student's humor would not have been something that I necessarily would have thought about before.

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  14. In my first few years teaching, I have not had much experience with TABs because I have only referred two children to the GT program. Both were parent requests, and though I did not agree with the parents, I tried to score each child as accurately as possible. However, looking back on those experiences, I see how cultural biases could have played a factor into my scoring. Until I began this course, I thought I was able to look at children individually and refrain from comparisons. But as I learn and read more, I see that just treating children as individuals does not mean I am respecting, welcoming, and encouraging their cultural differences. Moving forward, I hope to eliminate these biases in my classroom and create an environment that is welcoming and challenging to all students. Hopefully this will also help as I learn to identify gifted students in the future.

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  15. At the beginning of the school year, I looked at my gifted students as children that were going to be ready to just soak up knowledge like little sponges. I looked forward to seeing what challenges they wanted to face in the classroom and how far I was going to be able to take them curriculum wise. I was not prepared to go into a community that was so small with a median income of $25,000 and almost 70% free/reduced lunch. I even had a homeless student that was transient and has since withdrawn....though I have been told by the other students that he will eventually come back because it has been his history to do so. I now realize that these students ( who are eager to learn for the most part) have been raised in a culture where an education is not the focus. Learning a trade and making a wage is all they are taught. Some of them have never been as far as Birmingham.
    Now, I am learning to focus on learning the ins and outs of their specific cultures and beginning to expose them to other cultures. Cultures where education is key and going to college a reality.

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  16. I am not in a classroom, nor have I ever had the opportunity to use any of the identification practices available to identify any gifted student. However, from what I have learned thus far, and with some research on my own, it seems that we must be careful in the identification process of our gifted students so as not to create a bias in any particular method. According to Mary Ruth Coleman’s article, “The Identification of Students Who Are Gifted” (Gifted Education Digests, 2003), appropriate identification practices must be of, “multiple types of information (e.g., indicators of student's cognitive abilities, academic achievement, performance in a variety of settings, interests, creativity, motivation; and learning characteristics/behaviors)”, from “multiple sources of information (e.g., test scores, school grades, and comments by classroom teachers, specialty area teachers, counselors, parents, peers, and the students themselves)”; and from, “multiple time periods to ensure that students are not missed by "one shot" identification procedures that often take place at the end of second or third grade.” I think the “multiple types” from “multiple sources” and “multiple time periods” should reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity represented in our learners. I also think that this is much easier said than done. I think, as teachers, we must be in tune with our students, understanding the different levels and abilities of giftedness that students may exhibit, many specific to their cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds. I think we must also be keen observers of student behavior as it relates to the developmental milestones exhibited by the general student population, as we seek to identify not only RELD Giftedness, but the special population of gifted students, in general.

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  17. I think that the TABS are a pretty subjective means of measuring students, but what I have noticed for sure is that a child who excels in one subject will have higher TABS ratings in that subject. For instance, a student we are currently testing ranked very high (nearly all 5s) from the math teacher, but the English teacher ranked the same student at all 3s. Though the TABS is clearly subjective, it is very useful for me because I can make the assumption that the student might be more mathematically gifted than language gifted.
    The subjectivity of the TABS can be affected by cultural bias. The student we are currently testing is from a different ethnic and racial background than all of the teachers who serve him. In the case of the language arts teacher, whose focus is writing, it is possible that this difference in background is part of the reason he was ranked as average. However, mathematics is a universal “language” and those barriers are more easily crossed, which might explain why he was ranked with mostly fives.
    Personally, I have never had to fill out a TABS form on a student, but having seen them, I am able to consider what I might have scored each of my gifted students. I definitely think that due to the way our system services gifted children (by placing them into a gifted English class with the understanding that the English teacher will also service gifted needs), the rankings would have been seriously affected if they were only considered when coming from the ELA teacher. It is clearly important to have multiple perspectives when utilizing the TABS forms for evaluation.

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  18. I have recently been hired as a Gifted Education teacher in our county. I have no prior experience with TABS, but I know that it is a form used by the regular classroom teacher to help identify students for the gifted program. The teacher ranks each child based on the characteristics listed. Knowing this helps me to visualize part of the process that is in place to identify these students.

    In the past couple of weeks, I have come to realize that some of the testing procedures to admit a student into the GT program could be very subjective for any student, especially RELD students. Without learning the information in this course, I can see where my views of the students could be skewed. As I continue working with the children in my classes, I will make a concerted effort to be accepting of all cultures and to create an environment that allows each student to be proud of their heritage.

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  19. I am currently teaching at a private school with no defined gifted program, so I have not used TABS (except for during last semester's case study). However, I do think that in reading Castellano and Frazier's findings, I am seeing that my students' diversity, while I thought it minor just one moth ago, is much wider. I see that I need to be addressing much more in my curriculum. I also need to make more of an effort to address even more learning styles as I am certain that they exist even in my small, high-achieving classroom. I am excited to see my mind broaden and I look forward to continuing this process.

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  20. In terms of the TABS form, the classroom teacher is required to fill them out for each student. I believe we, as the GT teachers, give the classroom teachers the forms as well as the characteristics, both positive and negative, in early September. I firmly believe that the TABS should be filled out much later in the semester as the teachers are really getting to know the "real" child - not the first impression of that child.
    We do resubmit the TABS for the teachers to review for all students who are in the 1st and 2nd quadrants of the screening process. Since I have just finished scoring one group of forms, I looked at them with quite a different set of eyes since I am working on becoming more culturally responsive. I believe that some teachers drastically underscore several areas, specifically motivation, inquiry, humor, and communication in RELD students. Since I conduct the CF classes in these 2nd grade classrooms, I have gotten to know the students quite well. I was quite surprised at the low scores of several students - one an EXED student with a reading disability and two with racially different backgrounds. I do not believe that the teacher took into account the cultural diversity or these students. The student who is LD in reading obviously communicates differently than the students who aren't. Yet her communication skills are quite good, in my opinion. Her score on the TABS was a 2. The students with racially different backgrounds scored quite low on humor and inquiry as well as motivation.
    While I believe the TABS form is a good checklist, I do think it is quite subjective.
    I believe that more training needs to be offered to the teachers prior to their filling the forms out.

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  21. In terms of the GT students in my classroom, I cannot speak to whether I would change their scores since I did not fill them out originally. However, since beginning the class and taking in the wide variety of characteristics in RELD students, I have begun to look at what I used to consider a couple of negative characteristics into positive ones. While my students are mostly white, I do have several RELD students whose characteristics - specifically in humor and motivation are different than the general population. Now that I am more aware of their differences, I am working towards teaching to those differences by altering some of the projects and discussions. I have noticed a change in motivation specifically. I believe it is my responsibility to learn about their differences and offer opportunities that allow these students to have a chance to express their differences rather than having to give up who they are. The Canadian Culture seems to do just that - allow people from all over to bring with them their differences, share these differences, and incorporate them into the Canadian culture. That is my goal in terms of becoming a more culturally responsive teacher. I believe it simply means listening to students and allowing them to teach me about themselves.

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  22. In terms of the students in my classroom, I cannot address whether or not I would change their scores. I have recently moved into a gifted teaching position; therefore, my students' TABS would've been completed by their previous classroom teachers. However, I can address the ways I would change TABS scores for students from my previous years in the regular classroom, as well as how some of my perceptions have changed throughout the semester.

    First of all, TABS and I have a love/hate relationship. This particular document is extremely subjective, and occasionally, the information that is gained from viewing TABS is confusing in terms of the other scoring that is available. With gifted students having a particularly different social skills set, it is often-times difficult to discern whether the scoring is accurate- or whether there is some strife in the regular classroom, which can lead to lower scores. In general, I believe that teachers try their best to help the students that they are filling out the TABS for; however, I do feel that regular classroom teachers need more training concerning the accurate scoring of TABS and both sides of the gifted spectrum, both "negative" and positive traits. In my short time in the gifted classroom, I have also found that the TABS scores do not always reflect the ability of the student- based on additional testing.

    In general, when teachers (my previous self included) do not understand the particular cultural norms of a certain area, place, people, etc., there may be traits that are missed due to the teacher trying to make the child assimilate to the American way. I do think that I have missed opportunities in the past to score children higher or refer them for GT simply because perhaps I misunderstood their differences. I do think that teachers tend to score RELD students lower in areas such as humor, motivation, and communication, when really the issue could be a cultural one. The communication section, for example, is one that could cause issue for RELD students if the scoring teacher does not take into account nonverbal means of communication.

    In going forward, as with other aspects of the class, I am looking at ways to become more culturally responsive (proactive) versus culturally sensitive (seeing differences, but not acting on them).

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  23. The TABs is used in the identification process for all students. I agree with my classmates that it is subjective and probably even more so in the case of RELD students. Proper teacher training is key for having them completed appropriately. I have no doubt that this class has already changed the way I view RELD students. I find that in wrapping up the Child Find process I have started to really focus on proper identification of RELD students. I will be placing 5 ELL students who represent 3 different ethnicities which is exciting for me. I did revisit each of those student's classroom teachers to have them revisit their original TABs scores. After some discussion, I could literally see the light bulb go off with each of their teachers. I will be including a section on RELD students in my faculty training at the end of February.

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  24. I am new to the Gifted & Talented program, so I have very little knowledge of the TABS. I do, however, get to complete the forms for the current gifted teacher. Since I teach creative writing, it’s interesting to see how I have previously rated certain students. Based on what we’ve already learned about different cultures, I’m certain that I’ve missed several chances to score gifted students higher simply because I didn’t understand them, their culture, or their background.

    I’m blown away by how quickly my thoughts on diversity have changed - there is so much to be considered when talking about a diverse population. Earlier in the semester, I only viewed surface level differences to be weighed; now, however, I understand that there are sundry factors to think about when discussing diversity. I hate to say that at the beginning of the semester, I was pretty blind to so much. I love how much I’ve learned about being culturally responsive and that giftedness, much like many other things, doesn’t have a cookie cutter image.

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  25. My students come into my class with unique skills, characteristics and personalities shaped by their culture. When teachers complete the TABs observations for the students, their perspectives are limited to the classroom. Our district only has the teacher to complete a TABs form on a student when being evaluated for the gifted program. After what I’ve read and studied, it would be beneficial and provide additional insight on the student if the parent and/or a student peer were given the opportunity to add their input. One specific student comes to mind when I think of the TABs observation. Of the ten indicators, imaginative creativity, W.W. was given a score of three, but now that I know him, a score of five would have been a more accurate score. He has wild, silly ideas that are highly original and elaborate. In the schedule of a regular classroom, that quality/characteristic was difficult to be seen.

    My understanding and appreciation of my students has deepened over the past semesters. I see them now more as unique individuals instead of a group of third, fourth or fifth graders.

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  26. This is my first year teaching, and prior to taking graduate classes in the fall I had never seen nor heard of TABs. I do agree with many of my classmates that this form of assessment is very subjective. I have a hard time scoring students on these types of assessments. If I were to actually administer TABs, I’m sure that there are several students that I would rank higher now that I know more about RELD students. I am still getting to know my students, and I find out more about them each day. My students have the opportunities to attend six classes of specials (art, music, spanish) each week. They also all go to enrichment for an hour weekly. Since they have these opportunities, I get to see their diverse strengths developed. I know that if I were to administer TABs, I would need to speak with the “specials” teachers in order to help me understand the traits that they show in the other classrooms.
    Through taking this course, my eyes have been opened to the way that I view RELD students. At first, I believed that I was culturally responsive and sensitive, but I am learning that there is so much more to it than I originally expected. Even though I plan for many lessons that are culturally responsive with diverse modes of learning styles and differentiation, I still need to be a learner of my students’ cultures. Listening to the video of the melting pot of American culture really inspires me to get to know individual students rather than seeing them as what I think their culture represents.

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  27. I am actually still working on my TABs for this year. However, so far I have more students this year with racial and ethnical diversities then I have ever had before. Several of the students are currently ranked in the top two quadrants. I still worry if I am providing them with enough variety in my screenings to offer them the best opportunities to shine. With that being said, I do feel that the requirements for TABs and 2nd grade child find offer students with diverse backgrounds to shine without depriving them of their heritage or limit them due to their cultural differences. The squiggles, the NNAT-2, the transformations and even the story starters all offer students ways to express themselves without being insensitive to their culture. I do think that there is always room to improve and better service all children throughout the screening process and beyond. I think the number one most difficult obstacle I face during screening is… when I see something in the work samples of a student who is not listed in the top two quadrants and getting the teacher to back me up for further testing. I must admit I am not always right when I think I see something there but I want to ensure that child I have given them every opportunity to shine.

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  28. I do not currently teach G/T nor have I had the opportunity to complete TABs. The knowledge I have gained from learning about racially, ethnically, and linguistically different populations will be used in the future to ensure that I can supply my students with the most comprehensive and understanding analysis of their abilities.

    While I cannot speak to my views varying on my G/T students from the beginning of the spring semester to now, I have taken a new approach to getting to know my students and applying that knowledge to my classroom. Earlier this semester I began a unit on culture and perception with my eighth graders. When we kicked off the unit, I had the students reflect on their own culture and how their backgrounds affect the perception on the world. After individual reflection, the students created small groups to compare/contrast their cultures. I did not feel that I came from a ‘diverse’ school at the start of this school year; however, following this assignment both my opinion and my students’ opinions were significantly changed. Armed with my new knowledge of my students, we have begun integrating their different backgrounds and cultures into the curriculum. This has created a new classroom atmosphere that is empowering my students with self-assurance and self-confidence.

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  29. My current classroom is at the recognition statues – I see their different cultural needs, but I have not yet become a fully culturally responsive classroom. I need to work on active involvement in cultural activities for all my students – bringing culture in. I have started having the students invite me in to their cultural habits, but my classroom still needs some work.

    I don’t complete TABs for my students, but my “gut feelings” about certain kids have certainly proven incorrect for some. I would definitely change my mental TABS now – I know them better. I know who works well together and which activities get them excited and which kids I need to contact home right away and which students need to work it out one-on-one with me.
    -Anna Miller

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  30. This is my 2nd year teaching gifted students, as well as going through the process of the 2nd Grade Child Find. The TABS are a very important part of gifted recognition. As I am wrapping up my Child Find process for this year, I take time to read over the TABS and mentally make notes as to what I think about students through my observations. Communication with the teacher for correlation of thoughts is sometimes difficult. Classroom teachers know their students better than I do, and I am only with them for a very short time, so I feel the classroom teacher has more say. However, sometimes, gut instincts tell us different things and we must be adamant with our mind set of why a student should receive a particular score in one area or another. I, like many others of my classmates, want each child to have the opportunity to shine. Although my classes are hardly diverse in appearance, my observations of students that I have come in contact with through Child Find have been very diverse. I have had more contact with RELD students this year than last, and each bring something completely different to the activities that we do. I believe that teachers focus now more on the diversity of their students, as our classrooms have now become more diverse. I agree with Karen, about how students and parents should be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the TABS and not limit it to the classroom teacher. This would give a window view of what we don't see other than the classroom. How are they in sports, music, art, dance, etc? These are things that are limited based upon the TABS. I do feel that the TABS are beneficial in some ways, but also, limits the opportunity of some students to demonstrate their gifts and talents.

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  31. As a second grade teacher, I had to complete TABs. I did not have a very racially diverse classroom, but since the beginning of SPE 584, I have learned to look at many other aspects besides race such as home life, socioeconomic status, and culture. I feel that what I have learned in the beginning part of this class will help me complete the TABs sheet more accurately concerning the students. This will enhance my ability to provide a more equitable assessment and education for my students. As the class continues, I will strive to learn as much as possible, and improve even further with my abilities.

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  32. Thinking about my placements in gifted education classes, I have not seen a culturally diverse group of students if diversity is judged by race or national origin. Although I have not had experience with TABS, I can say that my assumptions about cultural diversity have changed throughout this course. Before, I would have looked at the classes I have been involved with and said that they were not culturally diverse. Now, I realize that cultural diversity is not apparent just by sight. I realize, as well, that characteristics of gifted students are more complex than I first thought. Just knowing the characteristics of gifted students in the dominant culture is not enough to identify students of minority cultures.

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  33. This is my first year as a teacher of gifted and talented students but I was a second grade teacher for two years prior to my current position. I filled out quite a few TABS forms while in the classroom and now see that I really didn’t understand what I should be marking for those students. This realization has brought me to the conclusion that, as a teacher of gifted and talented students, I need to train my teachers on “What does a gifted student look like”!
    Since beginning this class, my understanding of gifted and talented students has changed based on the learning we have experienced. I have been able to look at my students through a completely different lens than I did when I began this job in August. The greatest tool that I have learned to use, and that I plan to pass on to my students’ regular education teachers, is to understand that all giftedness doesn’t look the same. We all come from different backgrounds and cultures, even if it doesn’t appear so at first glance. We pull from our own experiences and expect our gifted and talented students to all perform the same. This couldn’t be further from the truth! I hope to continue my classroom journey of becoming a more culturally responsive teacher in everyday interactions and lessons, as well as guide the teachers that interact with my gifted and talented students on a regular basis in the same direction by helping them identify exactly where and how my students are gifted.

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  34. As I progress through this class, it is very clear to me that I am developing a deeper sense of who each of my children actually are as individuals. I am understanding that culture runs much deeper than the color of skin, a spoken language, or a celebration. While most of the students in my school and program are white, I am seeing their is much more when you look at their family life, religious beliefs, morals, attitudes, expectations, experiences, and personalities. I feel that I have always been accepting of the student as an individual, but this class has taught me to really make the connections with my students that explain who they are, what they think, what they want to learn, and who they want to become. Social/emotional and learning needs also become more apparent when I notice "the little things."

    We use TABS and Renzulli's Behavior Rating Scales to help us better identify gifted students. As I said previously, I have looked more closely at students because this class has forced me to pay attention to the details. While this does make it more time intensive, I feel that I can guide my teachers to be more accurate when making referrals. They examine the students based on their in-depth knowledge of gifted characteristics and who each child is in a classroom full of many students. I feel like we are asking ourselves a little bit more of the harder questions and digging a little bit deeper. We still have a long way to go, but we have made some baby steps.

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  35. i have been a second grade teacher for 7 years now. i have filled out TABS forms 7 times in that tenure. i have not really ever been given lessons on what exactly it means and what clarifications, traits or personality shows these areas. the little paper with the explainations is not enough! regular education teachers need a lot more training for this. if i weren't taking these classes now with you all, i would still be blissfully ignorant. even though our school doesn't really rank very high on the "diversity meter" we can still make an effort to make sure that each case and each child and their background and culture and how that relates to the other children in our classrooms is considered while assessing children for gifted. i do agree that i have always been trained to be "color blind" as far as race is concerned so this is a HUGE shift for me to be really CONCENTRATING on culture. i hope that coming from being a teacher who has to deal with TABS to being a teacher giving out the TABS that i can have compassion for the teachers that help us assess and maybe give a clearer vision of what a "gifted child" looks like and how your answers might change :)

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  36. I appreciate how we are learning to see cultures in their learning and experiences so that we can better understand their learning styles and patterns. Thinking about the different students in my GATE classes, although they seem very demographically similar, there are some that stand out... Some that come from troubling home lives and low socioeconomic statuses. A specific student who has not been referred for GATE screening comes to mind. His many visits to the counselor for his home life situation plus the fact that he can fail or ace a math test depending on the day he has had makes me wonder if he would qualify. Keeping In mind the individuality of student struggles allows me to consider the individuality of a student's gifted mess.

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  37. As I reflect on my current classes in several schools, I am satisfied with the students I currently service. If I could have evaluated them in the 2nd grade, I would have used several different activities to give all students a fair chance. While the TABs focus mainly on the students unique abilities, I would have loved to see the results of the other students in the classes as well. I’ve found the African American population as well as the Hispanic populations are still largely underrepresented groups in my district. I think our school district can definitely do a better job of identifying African American students for gifted services. Even with the information provided by the past classroom teachers, I’ve found that these forms are not completed to fidelity because general education teachers are feeling overwhelmed with paperwork and simply do not take the time to rate each child truly based on the TABs. Most teachers just simple put anything which aides in the misrepresentation of the underrepresented groups.

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  38. After reading the material that has been assigned thus far I would reassess my notations about RELD students in at least two areas of TAB’s. The research and articles have helped me realize how much of my own middle class white background I bring to my teaching and identifying. Naturally teachers bend toward what we know and are comfortable with but as teachers we must not settle there. The chapters in Special Populations in Gifted Education have helped deepen my understanding of different cultures and how to identify giftedness of RELD students.
    The first area I would revisit (if I could go back and reassess students) would be the communication piece. Traditionally I have thought of good communication as having a large vocabulary, being articulate, and expressive while using standard English well. I now realize that different cultures have different varieties of English. I knew that students could still have excellent communication and speak a language other than English but I had not considered the students who come from cultures that speak a different subset of English to be good communicators. I now would consider a lot more students to score high in the area of communication because I would be willing to set aside my notation that it must be standard English (or another standard language) without any cultural variance.
    The second area I would revisit is the interest section of the TAB’s. I had a very narrow understanding of what interests looked like in a gifted student. I assumed they would be highly interested in the academic or creative sphere. But this definition is lacking in many ways. We must consider cultural backgrounds when considering interests. A student may have a serious interest in model cars which originally I would not have thought of as being an appropriate interest. Therefore I would not have marked them high in that area of TAB’s but I know realize that cultural backgrounds play a huge part. I need to be willing to view deep interests in any area as a high score for that TAB’s section.
    Lydia Hinshaw

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  39. I do not fill out TABS on my students, but when evaluating students for the program I definitely feel more purposeful in looking at culture as a barrier. The psychometrist and myself always try to identify the best test for the whole child. We seem to get in a rut and give RIAS after RIAS as a process instead of an evaluation of the whole child. Having discussions with the children definitely allow me to dig deeper into the TABS that have been filled out by their teachers. I have went back to teachers many a time to discuss behaviors I see when I pull the student versus how they rate them. A lot of the time the teachers are overlooking student behaviors or not seeing them as gifted characteristics,

    I do believe I see a change in the relationship with my students. I am now taking more time out of my class for conversations with the students. Having these discussions has definitely made our relationship better because they see that I care about them and want to know about them as a person.

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  40. As a teacher of 6th-8th grade gifted students, I honestly do not look at their TABs from 2nd grade. So, I had to consider answering this question a bit differently. I pictured my students as they were when I first met them and thought of how I would score their traits and attributes using the TABs. I also tried to picture them through the eyes of a regular classroom teacher. I teach a population of low socioeconomic, majority white students. Gifted students are thought by many to have a kind of culture of their own in school. They are "gifted," "geeks," "nerds," "straight A-making teacher pleasers," "snotty-nosed, untied shoelaces" kids. They do make up a kind of culture of their own, but it is nothing like the stereotype figure in many teachers' minds. So, I now view my students as having unique subcultures under one large "gifted culture" umbrella. I can, after getting to know them, identify their TABS characteristics. After identifying their strongest characteristics, I can develop learning activities which are tailored to those characteristics.

    My students may not be racially or ethnically different, but one could argue the point about some being linguistically different. There aren't many weeks which pass without at least one of my students using "old" (old to me, anyway) or "country" vocabulary - perhaps from the culture in which they are being raised.

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  41. The biggest change I have experienced is my attention to students' lives outside of the school environment. Before taking this course, I was woefully uneducated about my students' cultures. I made assumptions based on stereotypes, such as "He is Hispanic, therefore his family speaks Spanish." Since beginning this course, I have been intentional about learning more about my students, their families, and their backgrounds. For example, I learned that the aforementioned student does not speak Spanish at home, and I needed to be sending home English forms and notes instead of Spanish ones! I also learned more about their parents' educational and childhood experiences from a parent interview project I did.
    Last, I have implemented some teaching strategies recommended in the special populations text. A few students who I thought were strugglers in vocabulary absolutely blossomed when I used a visual-spatial strategy to show understanding of the vocabulary words. I have seen more creativity and communication skills since changing a few of my activities and strategies. Those would certainly affect TABS scores.

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  42. TABS is a fluid indicator for me as I work with 4th and 5th grade referrals. The classroom teachers (including anyone that may work with the students) complete the TABS. After I have worked with students on 3 different products, and administered an aptitude test such as the NNAT2, I reflect on the characteristics I noticed during the screening process. So if I observe more-defined characteristics, I will change the scores on the TABS. Classrooms that are more traditional with the learning environment, tend to score students less on the behaviors noted on TABS.
    I also get to know the students being referred. They are invited to visit the ACE classroom before school and during their PE time. Then I can observe their interests and have conversations with them allowing them to become comfortable. I feel this supports the testing process. A challenge I'm facing currently with a 4th grade referral is overcoming a low score on the TABS. With the exception of his math teacher, he received low scores on most behaviors. After administering the Slosson, he got every math problem correct and finished the entire test. However, he struggles with specialized voc words and content knowledge. TABS is the one area on the eligibility matrix that will prevent him from qualifying for gifted. How do I work around that barrier?

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  43. I have definitely changed my viewpoint of those students who are culturally different than me during this course already. Like I have mentioned before, growing up in a very culturally un-diverse small rural town, I was not exposed to any diversity, and have had to learn it through my adult eyes and filter, rather than as a child. I have intentionally, this year, began to reach out and branch out to learn more about the students' families and invite them to share their cultures. In doing so, I have become more aware of certain students' talents and abilities that I would not have otherwise known. One question that I still have, is what are the specific talents in minority students that I should be looking for, and what would it look like? For example, I have an African American female student which has been identified as gifted at her previous school. She is struggling greatly in the classroom at this time, and both the gifted specialist and I are struggling to see where her giftedness lies. I would love to be able to find it, and tap into it to be able to motivate her in the classroom, but as of now, I'm not having much luck.
    As far as the TABS goes, I think there are definitely certain categories in which I would look at more closely when filling it out for my classroom for the culturally different students. I am trying to provide opportunities for creativity and open ended writings so that I can get to know my students on a more personal level. Hopefully this will help me to be able to tap into more talent in the group.

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  44. Personally, my school system can definitely do a better job of identifying African American students for gifted services. The school system is made up of predominantly white middle and lower socioeconomic students. I will be completing my second year of teaching gifted students and I haven’t experienced completing the TABS from the general education teacher’s perspective. The experience I have obtained is through reading and evaluating the scores given by the 2nd grade teachers. I value the opinion of the teachers because they know their students better than anyone else. However, I feel that training the 2nd grade teachers about the characteristics of their gifted students would help in the identification process. I feel that the identification of RELD students would benefit from this training.
    I do think the TABS is beneficial in some areas, but it limits some students to demonstrate their talents. Certainly as educators and gifted teachers we want students to have the opportunity to shine and demonstrate their talents.

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  45. As a general education teacher, my eyes have definitely been opened to the importance when ranking students on a TABS form. Prior to my experiences in SPE 584 and 581, I had never been given any information about how a TABs form is scored and the significance this form has in the referral process for GT. I now understand how important it is to evaluate each student in each category more deliberately. This new knowledge has affected how I score students on TABs, specifically RELD students. I see gifted characteristics in students that I may not have previously thought were gifted. I currently have 2 identified gifted students in my class; one white male and one Hispanic male. I wish that my district would provide more professional development to general education teachers to help them understand the challenges that RELD students have in expressing their giftedness. If teachers knew what characteristics to look for in these students, I feel that more RELD students would be referred and identified gifted. I would also like to see teachers learn about how the TABs is scored. I think that many teachers, like myself, do not realize how it can affect a student's referral.

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  46. I have to admit that there was not much to compare my thinking of my gifted and possible gifted students before taking both of your courses compared to my awareness of so many characteristics, issues in identification, and challenges identifying RELD students. As a general education teacher I can honestly say that I have never received any kind of training either in PD form or teachings in my undergraduate degree on gifted students, much less RELD gifted students. The few times giftedness came up it was the popular thought process of, well you know….that's the students that soar academically above the others. In my experience teaching third grade only that has not always been the case with the students I have received that have already been identified as GT students. I have has two female students and one male that did meet that criteria, but I have also had the boy students that are major behavior issues and several boys that were also twice exceptional students. I will admit though that in all four years of teaching third grade all my GT students with the exception of one Native American female, have all been white students. This is particularly shocking since the majority of my school population is African American. I am learning through the readings to look past my initial thoughts of what is a GT student and use some of the strategies to possibly identify RELD students. In regards to scoring students on the TABS form, I had no idea how much that particular score played into the total score that determines whether a student 'makes it in or not'. Before taking GT courses the TABS form was just an annoying piece of paperwork and something else I was being asked to do. Now I really take time to fill out TABS forms and reflect and put true representations on each line item to represent the student. I especially have to stop myself when scoring students that do not meet the typical teacher friendly student, but the one that drives me crazy and is a possible behavior issue.

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  47. When I first began teaching, I taught in an area of South Florida where thousands of people immigrated each year. We would typically get several new students each week, many of whom did not speak English. These students were from all parts of the world and many different cultures. I watched these students as they adapted and developed an identity in this country. I watched the "turn on", as they first began to understand and then to be able to communicate with their teachers and fellow students. It was exciting to be a part of, but in some ways, it was also discouraging. Once these students learned to speak English, many of them would no longer speak their home language. They tried to erase all signs of their differences in order to fit in.

    The school I taught in was in a high socioeconomic with one or two gifted classes at each grade level. This students at this school were academically talented, artistic, and most were high achievers. The parents were mostly professionals, including those parents who had recently immigrated to our country. However, the parents who immigrated were most times not able to pursue their former careers. They were not able to practice law or medicine. They were not able to get jobs as engineers. Our country does not recognize the degrees earned and achievements made in other countries. Many times, these people had to work as common laborers. This stigmatized their families, and their children suffered for this. They were often placed in the "lower" classes. I don't often remember seeing a minority student in the gifted classes. Even as a teacher with little experience, I remember disagreeing with this practice. I felt strongly that these students should be assessed in their own language and placed accordingly. Instead, they were put in the remedial classes and given low expectations.

    As the music teacher in the school, I was often given a TABS form to fill out while I was working in South Florida. The form was not explained to me, and I really had no idea how to assess the students or how to fill out the form. Often the TABS was given for a minority student. I realize now how important those forms were for the students that were being assessed. I always tried to fill them out to the best of my ability, but I don't think my assessment was really valid for these students, since I didn't really know anything about TABS.

    The knowledge I've gained in my GT courses has helped me to be able to better assess my students. I look at my students with new eyes. Although I have always been a forward thinker when it comes to minority students and ESL students, I feel better equipped to assess my students. I also realize how important it is to give multiple assessments and to look at all students, not just those who are always on task.

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  48. Since I am now a gifted teacher (grades 3-5), I am not typically the one filling out the TABS; however, looking back at scores that I gave last year as a fourth grade teacher, I now see how I should have ranked them much higher than I did. I was incredibly misinformed about not only gifted students but also gifted students from different backgrounds. The more I learn in class and on the job, the more able I am to look outside of my “white middle class blinders.” I’m finally able to see differences in each child and not jump to conclusions or be quick to stereotype based on race, ethnicity, religion, etc. It would be interesting to pull out a TABs form that I filled out from last year and see how differently I would score that child. I’m sure the “interests”, “communication” and “creativity” sections would be higher. When scoring, I was thinking about my background and what I believed were “appropriate” interests, or “correct” forms of communication or what I believed to be creative abilities. Even at the beginning of the school year/UA semester I learned so much so quickly that I referred 5 of my students from last year. I was departmentalized, so not all of them came from my homeroom but sure enough all 5 were accepted. It may be their last year in LinC, but it’s never too late to get them accepted!

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  49. I would actually disagree with the man in the video who suggests the stereotype that America’s “melting pot” is a negative connotation. I think the fact that we have so many different cultures added to the basic “American” culture is what makes it so great. Just as Canadian culture “mixes” and “blends” ours does in the same way. Every new culture adds to what is already there to make it into an ever-evolving culture among all. We can in this way learn so much from each other. I do think it is a shame when groups of people lose their original language, traditions, etc., but know of a lot of people who also work to instill those heirloom qualities to their children.
    As far as the use of TABS goes, I have filled them out for a student in my case study, but do think they are so subjective that teachers should be given more training on what each trait really means and how to correctly identify and score each one. Also, teachers should know what impact the use of TABS has on the identification process. Filling out TABS at the beginning of the year puts the student and teacher at a disadvantage because the full relationship has not been established yet. I know I have a completely different view from the beginning of the year to a few months or mid-year point on my students’ potential and true ability. I would want to get more training as a classroom teacher to fill them out correctly and then revisit them farther through the year to adjust as needed. This will be a focus of mine when using them as a gifted advocate, support, and bridge to the regular classroom teacher.
    Focusing on being more culturally responsive in my classroom has helped me see so many parts of my students’ cultural differences that I might have not initially considered a cultural difference. Things such as home life especially. I multiracial students, adopted students, students with bitterly divorcing parents who feel abandoned, some being raised by grandparents, students with learning disabilities, and some with more complex physical disabilities. I also have more general students and very advanced students. Most of them are a combination of many of these types. They are all different and have varying needs that should be met through responsive action in teaching.

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  50. If I did a TABS form on a child before the course reading, I don't think there would be a significant change in my assessments. This is not a reflection of some sort of heightened cultural sensitivity on my part, but instead a rather skeptical outlook that I have on the TABs form, in general. I do not pretend to be free of my own cultural blinders, but the attributes listed on the TABs do not seem to me to be as observable or as protectable from cultural biases as one might hope.

    Many of the teachers that I know who fill out the TABs forms know the student, one of a couple of dozen in the class, for about 4 months. While I'm sure teachers consume as much information as they possibly can about their children, I think many of them feel hesitant about rating things such as "humor" and "inquiry" when perhaps the teacher hasn't had enough relevant experience with the child to assess that specific trait because of, you know, all the other crap that teachers have to do.

    I do believe that people have biases that influence them in ways that are difficult to recognize and I'm certain that I am chief among sinners when it comes to these types of cultural insensitivities, but I don't think that even at my most insensitive I could rate a child of a different cultural background lower on something like "creativity" just because I didn't witness any sparks of what I thought of as creative. One reason is my irritating habit of asking questions like, "Well, what is this creativity thing actually all about anyway? How is the TABs culturally informed about what it considers attributes of gifted children?" I don't mean to dismiss the TABs casually. Research backs up that the traits listed on it are, by definition, attributes of what our educational culture chooses to see as attributes of gifted. But if we sit down together and discuss what things like reasoning, leadership, and creativity actually are, we are not going to be able to solidify meaning for any of these concepts. So, a soft skepticism about what the traits, aptitudes, and behaviors of gifted children would inform my TABs utilization. I hope that this would elevate my sensitivity a bit.

    I also find it difficult to assess many of the traits. How do I transcend what I think is funny and analyze the humor of other cultures? How could I convey attributes of humor from various cultures without overgeneralizing? How could I learn what other cultures consider humorous and could I then assume that it applies to a fair enough number of people from that culture to justify labeling them together?

    I'm pretty wary of the TABs form and I approach it with more than a grain of salt. I hope my hesitations leave me openminded enough to analyze my class in a less subjective way.

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  51. The TABs Model refers to Traits, Aptitude, and Behavior. The basic principles of the TABs include: motivation, interest, communication skills, problem solving ability, memory, inquiry, insight, reasoning, imagination/creativity, and humor. I have not been able to view my students TABs scores. I struggle with the scoring of subjective tools like this one. I appreciate its place in identifying students who may previously be overlooked for gifted placement. After learning about the TABs, I feel like many of my students from general education should be identifying as gifted. Previously, I felt that many of my GT students identified with many of the same aspects that the TABs outlines. However, after further study I see even more how my students fall into multiple aspects of the TABs. TABs also helped me to identify students who I felt were “less gifted” are actually extremely gifted based on TABs criteria.

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  52. TABs is fairly new to me… When I taught 8th grade I didn’t have any experience with it. And then I was in a kindergarten classroom where once again I didn’t have any experience with it. My first encounter with TABS is when I interviewed my student and had her classroom teacher complete the tabs portion. I had never really studied it up until that point. I found it pretty shocking because it really is so subjective. I immediately thought of some of my kindergarteners… when they get to 2nd grade, how will their classroom teacher determine the outcome of their gifted future. There is an African American boy in particular in my kindergarten class that I wholeheartedly believe should be in the gifted program and I am honestly worried that he might fall through the cracks one day. I’m worried that might happen because he is African American, because he is the boy that finishes his work and then gets bored. These are all things that I picked up on, but I am not the one asked to fill out the TABS, his 2nd grade teacher will be. To some, he could be that student who might always be in trouble if he remains bored. The school I am at now only goes up to 2nd grade and I have yet to even meet the enrichment teacher. I know she has done child find for the second graders but she doesn’t pull any of them as of now which concerns me a bit.
    And as I have said before, I always think about my 8th graders. I know several of them should have been tested gifted and they were never given the opportunity. I of course believe it is because of the racial and economic status of the students.

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  53. Even though we have not been in this course very long, I already see many of my students differently now having read many of the required chapters. I also have not personally filled out a TABS form yet, nor had the opportunity to see a TABS form done on any of my students. That being said, I do worry that some of my students who are different culturally at my school could have been easily passed over. As far as my current gifted students go, I know that I would have scored them much differently than i would now that I have gone through part of this course. It has been very eye opening.

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  54. Unfortunately, my school district has pulled away from using the TABS as a means of teachers rating students on their behaviors displayed in the classroom. I just began teaching gifted classes this year, so I haven't dealt with the TABS. My school district now uses Renzulli's SRBCSS for teacher behavior scales. However, I have heard about the TABS and seen sample TABS, and I feel it would be very easy for students, especially RELD students, to accidentally be overlooked or not have in depth ratings because it is not a single, personal behavior scale for each child. Either way, I really haven't been through this process so it is hard for me to say.

    On the other hand, I think it is exceptionally easy for RELD students to "fall through the gap" so to speak. I believe it is crucial for gifted teachers to always pay close attention and remember that RELD students may not "stand" out as much as other students when it comes to gifted characteristics.

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  55. Many variables are built into Alabama’s gifted eligibility process. It takes training and experience to understand them all. Before I started this degree program I thought the MA degree was just another hoop to jump through. I now realize how important it is to the stability and uniformity of the Alabama’s gifted program. Each system has the opportunity to develop its own program with very few mandates. Local norms are frequently passed down from a veteran specialist (with or without a degree in gifted) as she leaves the program to a new specialist that is taking the program over but has little or no experience in gifted education. On top of that many elementary teachers view the program as elitist and an intrusion to their classroom flow, a program that gives unnecessary time to students that are already getting the work. They may not realize that every child deserves to be engaged in challenging work throughout the school day, that when we fail to require engagement in challenging work and frequent opportunities for students to be engaged in challenging work of their own choosing throughout the year we are failing not only these children but society.
    With this being said it becomes even more important for gifted specialists to develop good relationships with the teachers of the students they screen and serve. Because they are on the front line developing relationships and screening students on a daily basis, because without the regular classroom teachers we do not even have a chance of identifying and serving all talented, gifted, and/or high ability students in our systems including our RELD students. Educating faculty and staff is another role of the gifted specialist and should be and ongoing process.
    Another huge component of screening is the visits, work samples and screeners done by the specialist in second grade. Presenting materials in an inclusive way, using samples and read-alouds that reflect the cultural, gender, and interests of the students is important in encouraging student’s best work on samples. Noticing students that are reluctant to write and may be more verbal in their story telling, children that may need you to help them write their titles and thoughts down is also important. Using a variety of screeners, on multiple days, in a relaxing environment, and with good motivators is also crucial to obtain from RELD students.

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  56. This is my third year to teach gifted students. My first year I taught at a school system in which the three schools I was assigned to were very diverse from each other. I have taught my second and third years in a school system where the student population at my two schools are mainly white, with a high Hispanic population. During my first year, the gifted coordinator's office was at my home school. She worked with me to help me understand TABs and how to rate students. I feel with each year I get better at rating my RELD students and helping the classroom teachers rate them also.

    I am not sure that I would necessarily rate them differently.

    The way I view my students since the beginning of the semester is I try to be more aware of the cultures and what they bring to the classroom.

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  57. Based on my knowledge of TABS as a general education classroom teacher and the knowledge I have gained as a gifted education teacher for the last two years, along with the information gained through my Masters studies on Gifted and Talented, I have become much more comfortable with the TABS form and rating students using the TABS form. As a general education teacher I had the misconception of thinking that my strongest academic achievers should be the students that qualified for the gifted class. I now have a better understanding of who may be the best candidates for gifted along with what it takes for them to qualify. I have always taught in a system that has very low percentages of RELD students. Through my teaching in the gifted program I have been able to work with a greater number of RELD students and see how important their culture and heritage is to these students. I would definitely score some students differently based on the knowledge I have now versus the way that I scored students before teaching gifted. As a classroom teacher I always thought that my highest achievers were the best candidates for gifted. I now know that this is not always the case. This is also one reason that general education teachers need to be informed of how important the information they include on the TABS is. All students have always mattered to me, I think now I have a better understanding of how qualification and TABS work to place the most qualified students into the gifted program. I also have a greater appreciation for the RELD students within our system because I have had the opportunity to work with many of them and see how they value their culture and heritage. As teachers it is easy to value other cultures but we never actually learn the ways of the culture until we immerse our students into the culture itself. The students that come to us from different cultures are usually the perfect individuals to inform us on these cultures.

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  58. I think that the TABS are very subjective. I believe they are subjective due to the teacher ranking the students. What happens if you do not see creativity in your classroom because you don’t allow them to be creative? What about motivation? Are you presenting opportunities for the students to be motivated, humorous, etc.?

    I have filled out several of these since I have been teaching for 7 years. Knowing what I know now about the form, I wish I could go back and take a workshop or a class to know exactly what I was doing when I started filling them out years ago.

    When it comes to diversity, my gifted students are very diverse. They come from all ethnicity, cultural differences, and diverse backgrounds.

    I understand that there has to be a procedure and form to help identify gifted students, but I wish it wasn’t so subjective.

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  59. Since inquiring about the gifted program in our school district and witnessing the child find process within our school, I have become well acquainted with the gifted teacher in our area. She has been very helpful in answering questions and I have been allowed to help with the screening process. Through conversations with different members of our staff I feel that the general education teachers tend to overlook many characteristics of gifted students. I have found that their ratings on TABS seem to vary from the results of the actual screening results obtained from the gifted teacher.

    According to text our screenings must reliable and valid and not one size fits all. Chapter three was really an awakening for me by addressing the visual/spatial learners that may not necessarily perform well on standardized tests. In order to be proficient in the identification process one will have to be culturally competent and also be apt at addressing and assessing multiple intelligence s and diverse learning styles.

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  60. Specifically with regards to RELD students or students who are on the introvert scale rather than extrovert scale in personality, the TABS on the face of it seems biased against them. To accommodate these differences, I look for appropriate leadership, for example, within their unique situation. For some Hispanic students, in the classroom, they may be very quite and unlikely to lead peers (not all, but some), however, when it comes to translating for Mom and Dad, being on top of everything themselves, etc., that shows above average or exceptional leadership. For students who are quiet in general, the TABS seems to be biased against them as well, regardless of RELD status. There, for Communication skills, I may look at written instead of verbal skills to accommodate their unique abilities.

    Whether RELD or just not extrovert students, we need to look at each child individually when completing the TABS. I think each child, each person has their unique characteristics that we need to take the time to observe and suss out.

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  61. In my internship 5th grade gifted classroom, there is a student who has a severe learning disability. When I first saw examples of her work, I thought, “Whoever referred this girl to gifted education has some real insight.” Her ideas are barely legible- exhibiting the spelling level of a 6 year old. She told me she relies on videos to get information because reading is so difficult for her. My heart broke for her, because I would have never guessed that she struggled so much in these areas. Her verbal communication is far above average; her creativity and innovative inquiry is consistent and persistent; I’ve watched her show a deep connectedness to and appreciation for beauty. She is a motivated self-starter who is highly flexible in her cognitive processes and stands ahead of her gifted peers in ability to understand complex ideas. She seems overwhelmed with the sheer mass of creative ideas that hits her. When this happens (often), it is hard for her to contain herself in class. She could have easily been overlooked due to her difficulty with written communication and could easily have had her ideas dismissed because they tend to overflow in a hyperactive way. However, the parent or teacher who referred her was able to interpret her behaviors astutely. I don’t know how much I have changed, in terms of how I see giftedness, however I’m happy to see that I’m not alone in recognizing that LD/ADHD are gifted too.

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  62. This is my first year teaching and do not have much background of teaching gifted. I am still learning about TABS and I have not given TABS yet.
    One of the main things that I have found most interesting are the behaviors of the gifted students. I really enjoyed Chapter 15 of Frazier's book: Misdiagnosing Students, because I felt that was one thing I had the most schema about. We talked a lot about gifted behavior last semester. There is so much that I am learning about the diverse backgrounds and their different learning styles that I have not been exposed to before. I will be able to use this knowledge when I begin teaching gifted and begin to give the TABS. At the beginning of the semester I found some of my students quite difficult to deal with and only thought about their problem behaviors, now I think about why they act that way and what I can do to help them express themselves the appropriate way and challenge them to a more enriching learning environment. It brought me to truly appreciate the “problem” students.

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  63. I have taught for many years, but I only taught second grade for one year. This gave me the opportunity to be involved with the second grade child find before becoming the gifted specialist for my school district. While teaching the second grade, I didn't really know what exactly I was looking for when I completed the tabs. I fear that I may have ranked some students lower than what they deserved because I was considering academics as the main focus of giftedness. With that being said, as the gifted specialist now, I make sure to meet with the second grade teachers and explain the process. We discuss what to look for and how every child should be considered regardless of academic performance. Even after receiving the TABS from the teachers, I have gone back to discuss some students rankings if I saw some things the teacher may have ranked them low in (especially creativity). I must admit some teachers still consider giftedness as being for academically bright students and not consider students who are capable at critical thinking skills or students who have strengths in other subjects that are not taught by them. For example, at the beginning of this school year I had a third grade teacher pull me aside and ask me if I made a mistake when I asked for a certain student. She said he struggled in reading and writing. He couldn't be gifted because he does not perform as well as the other gifted students in her class. At first I was upset because again students in this program are being put on pedestals and made to feel like they must be perfect and make perfect grades. This is unfair to them and cause unnecessary pressure. I informed this third grade teacher that this particular student has strong critical thinking skills and shows a lot of creativity especially when he is asked to design or create products in unconventional ways. I must admit I had to grow as a teacher and recognize potential in students in different ways. I hope that as the gifted specialist I am helping the second grade teachers see that giftedness comes in many forms and all students should be considered.

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  65. When I first read this question my instinct response was to say I view my students the same now as I always have. I believe I try to look at all of my students equally no matter their diversity. However when I really think about it, I would rate my students differently. I now understand more how my views or my students views could have me rate the TABS incorrectly. That means I have a duty to research and understand each child’s culture, especially if I’m asked to fill a TABS out on them. A socially isolated child could just be misinterpreted by others including the teacher. I believe the TABS is so subjective and teachers aren’t properly trained in filling them out. I’m a classroom teacher and have never received any official training on TABS. In my first year of teaching I was handed a TABS and was told to fill it out very early in the school year and didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing. In my view this is one of the reasons our RELD students fall between the cracks. Teachers need more training on how to identify their students and how to better understand their diversity.

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  66. This is my second year teaching second grade and I have to say that filling out TABS is still a bit confusing to me. I feel that it can sometimes be more of a “teacher judgement” then an accountability of a student’s ability. I have some very bright children who are very quiet. They work well with others and show great potential, however; they are still so afraid of ridicule, failure, rejection, and lack of self-confidence to shine in certain areas. I create a safe environment from day 1, but feel that some are still so shy and unsure that they don’t “stand out”. Since beginning this program, I have found TABS easier to fill out, however; I still believe it has too much room for “teacher judgement”. I feel that all teachers need more experience/training when it comes to the “help” of identifying those who are truly gifted.

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  67. The population of our school is approximately 99% African-American and 1% Hispanic. Although I am an advocate of gifted individuals, some students may remain unidentified either because of their underachievement or because of their cultural difference. We are in the process of improving our gifted class which meets weekly and is 100% African-American. None of these gifted students exhibit traits of giftedness in every area (cognitive, creative, affective, and behavioral); however, there are many traits that they share. During my coursework and practicum, I have had limited exposure to the TABS. Furthermore, I had limited exposure to gifted education prior to my first graduate course in gifted and talented education. Although I had specialized training in gifted education, the program was neither fully developed nor implemented in my previous school district. As a result of my gifted and talented studies, I now have a clearer understanding of the characteristics of giftedness across a few RELD populations. Thus, I view each of our students as unique individuals with potential traits of giftedness.

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