Too Bad to be Gifted: Gifts Denied for Black Males with Emotional and Behavioral Needs
Most students identified with an emotional disorder (ED) are Black males (U.S Department of Education, 2015) and Black males are least likely to be formally identified as needing gifted and talented education (GATE) opportunities. Essentially, Black students identified with ED are not "too bad" to also be identified as gifted. We do not negate the existence of significant social and emotional deficits but rather establish Black students' capabilities of demonstrating strengths that need appropriate recognition and service. High achieving Black males with significant social and emotional problems are likely twice exceptional. Like most twice exceptional students, Black twice exceptional students are at risk for being misidentified, mislabeled, and miseducated while receiving services that do not sufficiently address all of their learning needs (Eklund, Tanner, Stoll, Anway, 2015; Karnes, Shaunessy, Bisland, 2004; Missett, 2013; Webb, 2004) We examine how high achieving Black students identified with ED are receiving inadequate academic instruction and are more likely to drop out of high school, less likely to find steady employment, and very likely to have a criminal record (Wagner Newman, 2012) As a result, improving the education of these at risk students is a national priority. Through the case study of Donovan, a highly intelligent Black child identified with ED, we make this case in opposition to arguments that minorities are disproportionately underrepresented in special education (Morgan, Farkas, Hillemeier, Mattison, Maczuga, Li, Cook, 2015) Donovan's story exemplifies the overwhelming findings at federal, state, and local levels about minorities disproportionality in special education.