Creating inclusive environments for African American children and youth with gifts and talents.

While African American children in general have been widely discussed in the literature, those with academic gifts and talents have not (Frasier, 1989; Patton & Baytops, 1995). In comparison with their cognitive development, even less attention is placed on these children's sociocultural and psychosocial development (Ford, 1992; Shade, 1990; Patton & Baytops, 1995). Increasingly, African American learners with gifts and talents are being educated in general class settings. For these settings to be genuinely inclusive, the sociocultural and psychosocial needs of African American children and youth should be addressed. Hence, this discussion identifies several sociocultural and psychosocial needs unique to gifted African American learners. Classrooms aiming to be inclusive should respond to those needs. Thus, strategies are suggested to create inclusive environments for African American learners. The authors believe that inclusive environments for gifted African American learners result when educators become knowledgeable of African American cultural traditions and history and translate that knowledge into effective pedagogy. In addition, inclusive educators can be equipped to forge collaborations with other professionals, the learners' families, and their communities. These deliberate actions are hallmarks of inclusive environments for gifted African American children and youth.

African American children are widely discussed in professional and popular literature (i.e., Anderson & Webb-Johnson, 1995; Ford, Obiakor, & Patton, 1992; Hale-Benson, 1986; Harris & Russo, 1994; Lomotey, 1990; Woodson, 1990). Such discourses focus generally on African American children and youth with disabilities (Ford, Obiakor, & Patton; 1995), African American children at risk for negative outcomes (Connell, Spencer, & Aber, 1994), and African American learners in general education settings (Franklin, 1992). This spotlight of attention, however, shines less often on African American children with gifts and talents (Frasier, 1989; Patton & Baytops, 1995). When discussed, these children's cognitive needs are typically emphasized. The cultural and psychosocial needs of dominant and ethnic minority learners are often ignored in public school classes. Gifted African American children's cultural and psychosocial development is especially overlooked in the literature (Ford, 1992; Shade, 1990). In effect, their affective, social, cultural, spiritual, and motivational needs may be misinterpreted. Consequently, to create inclusive learning environments, educators must respond to those social needs in addition to their cognitive needs.

It is widely held that African American children with disabilities, those considered at risk, and those of normally-achieving ability, often have cognitive orientations and preferences that are strikingly different from European American children. To this end, traditional instructional and social development practices aimed at dominant culture and middle class children may be less effective with African American learners. Further, the demands of conventional approaches may conflict with those inherent in nonschool settings, thus creating cultural discontinuities between schools and learners' experiences. Culturally responsive cognitive and social development practices have been advocated for non-identified gifted African American learners in general and in special education settings (Gay, 1993a; Johnson, 1976). Similarly, gifted African American learners can also benefit from teaching practices which respond to their unique cultural styles and preferences. Thus, the purpose of this article is to discuss conceptual considerations for enhancing the cultural and psychosocial development of gifted African American learners in inclusive settings. In addition, useful practices are identified for transforming classrooms into environments that are inclusive and affirming of gifted African American learners (Patton & Baytops, 1995).

The inclusive movement aimed to... create schools and other social institutions that are based on acceptance, belonging, and community (Salend, 1994, p. 49). Stainback and Stainback (1990) characterized inclusive schools as those where everyone belongs, is accepted, supports, and is supported by his or her peers and other members of the school community in the course of having his or her educational needs met (p. 3). Inclusive environments were advocated originally for learners with disabilities, many of whom were ethnic minority children placed in self-contained settings. At that time, learners in self-contained gifted classes were not initially considered in the inclusive movement. However, fueled by a political climate in which self-contained gifted classes were reduced or eliminated, inclusive classrooms have become the primary instructional setting for students with gifts and talents (Smith, Polloway, Patton, & Dowdy, 1995).

For African American students in inclusive settings to be valued and affirmed, their unique sociocultural and psychosocial needs must be addressed. Examples of sociocultural considerations for African American children are their field-sensitive nature, spirituality, oral tradition, cooperative and collective world views, and propensities for movement (Anderson, 1988; Boykin, 1986; Hilliard, 1976; Nobles, 1987). In this regard, discussions of characteristics of gifted African American learners must not be limited to cognitive and affective domains without recognizing the influences of cultural styles and preferences. The following discussion identifies African American children's sociocultural and psychosocial needs that should be considered when promoting their inclusion in general education settings. Additionally, strategies are discussed for creating inclusive classroom environments for these learners.

Sociocultural and Psychosocial Needs of African American Gifted Learners

The sociocultural and psychosocial development of all gifted and talented learners must be addressed when planning instructional delivery in inclusive classrooms. Regardless of ethnicity, most children with extreme academic ability experience social dilemmas and some degree of stigma based upon their giftedness (i.e., Cross, Coleman, & Terhar-Yonkers, 1991). For example, some may feel tension as a result of the elitism often associated with gifted learners. Further, many gifted learners express feelings of isolation and alienation. These experiences and conflicts may be even more pronounced for academically talented African American children, particularly considering the unique historical status of African Americans that continues to affect their development. According to Ogbu (1988), African Americans are the only involuntary minority immigrants who were uprooted, enslaved, and disconnected culturally and psychosocially from Africa, their nation of origin. Knowledge of historical events such as these are important considerations to properly understand and to respond to these learners' sociocultural and psychosocial needs.

Additionally, these children experience psychosocial dilemmas within their own African American culture. Fordham and Ogbu (1986) suggested that, in response to racism, prejudice, and subordination, some African Americans may develop an oppositional social identity and cultural frame of reference which, consciously and unconsciously, causes them to associate certain achievement orientations, attitudes, motivations, and behaviors (e.g., speaking standard English, getting good grades, working hard in school, and generally striving for academic excellence) as betraying African American culture and acting white. Based on this theory, many potentially gifted African American learners develop an anti-achievement ethic and engage in behaviors that sabotage or mask their real academic talents (Fordham & Ogbu, 1986).

It is not unusual for African Americans who are good students to be called nerds or brainiacs by their same-ethnicity peers fostering the false notion that one cannot be academically gifted and African American at the same time. This phenomenon among their peers often creates social, emotional, and psychological conflicts (Chimezie, 1985; Fordham, 1988; Hare, 1965; Petroni, 1970; Townsend & Patton, 1995). Fordham (1988) further proposed that many high-achieving African American learners adopt a racelessness persona that dissociates them from their African American culture in order to cope with tensions arising from conflicts associated with being African American and achievement oriented.

To describe tensions experienced by African Americans, Dubois (1961) proposed that African Americans experience warring souls as a result of negotiating with and interacting simultaneously in two cultures--mainstream culture and African American culture. Boykin (1986) extended this analogy to suggest that a triple quandary exists for African Americans in negotiating simultaneously among their oppressed ethnic minority, mainstream, and African American cultures. For gifted African American learners, an additional quandary occurs as they simultaneously negotiate African American culture, mainstream culture, and a culture of giftedness (Townsend & Patton, 1995).

As a result of the small national percentage of African Americans identified as gifted in school systems (Zappia, 1989), those identified are usually enrolled in classrooms with predominantly European American teachers and students. Given their extreme minority status in these gifted education classrooms, these learners often express concern about teacher and student skepticism regarding the legitimacy of their placement (Townsend & Patton, 1995). In addition, these learners often are faced with lowered teacher and student expectations of their academic and social abilities (Ewing, 1995). Focus group interviews conducted with gifted African American high school students in predominately white classes revealed some interesting findings. These students believed they constantly needed to prove to their teachers and peers that they had the academic skills to be successful and to excel in gifted programs. Several students described their efforts to demonstrate their extreme ability and recalled their secret delight when they did achieve, much to the chagrin of some of their teachers and peers (Townsend & Patton, 1995). Conversely, these youth perceived that their African American family and community members held raised expectations for their performance. In fact, these youth noted the pressure they experienced as a result of the extremely high expectations and standards set for them by significant African American individuals in their lives. Apparently, those students were confronted with inconsistent expectations among their school, home, and community settings.

Racial identity development is another aspect of social development that these students must negotiate (Ford-Harris, Schuerger, & Harris, 1991). Often times they believe they must develop a strong African American racial identity while being pressured to maintain and negotiate identity demands reflective of dominant cultur(Townsend & Patton, 1995). African Americans vary in the degree to which they accept or reject their African American culture. It has been found that when gifted African American students are in predominately white schools or classes, a dilemma may be created regarding with which culture to identify (Ford-Harris, Schuerger, & Harris, 1991). Depending on their choice, African American learners may frequently engage in behaviors that are dissonant with behaviors more characteristic of African American culture. For example, the youth in the previously noted focus groups who attended classes that were predominately white spoke frequently of feeling pressured to engage in communication styles and behavior that clearly did not match their preferred cultural styles. On the other hand, other African American gifted learners who were in settings in which they were the ethnic majority expressed comfort maintaining their cultural integrity while, at the same time, excelling academically. That is, the latter believed that they could attain their academic goals, simultaneously affirm their own culture, and differentially respond to various setting demands (Townsend & Patton, 1995).

Responding to multiple setting demands is often facilitated by students' ability to code switch. Code-switching describes the process that allows individuals to alter behaviors in order to meet demands that are specific to a particular setting (Perry, 1993). For example, language used at home and in the community may be appropriate for those settings, but not appropriate for school settings. Students in the focus groups reported deliberately code-switching their language, walk, and dress depending on whether they were at school, home, or somewhere else in the community. Focus group results revealed that African American gifted learners deliberately or automatically met setting demands that in some instances were incompatible with their cultural styles and preferences, while, at the same time, maintaining their African American cultural identity (Townsend & Patton, 1995).

Strategies for Creating Inclusive Environments for African American Learners

Based on the previous discussion, several strategies can be identified to create authentic inclusive environments for African American gifted learners. Specifically, these strategies include: valuing and affirming African American learners, altering school practices regarding diverse learners, promoting leadership and prosocial skill development, and forging authentic partnerships among professionals, students, families, and communities.

Classroom environments can be more inclusive of African American learners with gifts and talents by valuing and affirming their culture, history, heritage and ethos. Positive growth for gifted African American learners is enhanced when teachers and administrators expand their knowledge about history and sociocultural characteristics of African Americans. It is helpful when they understand, appreciate, and respect the impact their students' unique culture and history has on their academic and social development (Ewing, 1995; Patton & Baytops, 1995). In addition to gaining information about these learners, professionals must be able to use that information to develop instructional and communication practices that are culturally relevant(Anderson & Webb-Johnson, 1995; Gay, 1993b).

School personnel, especially in inclusive settings, are called upon to be cultural brokers (Gentemann & Whitehead, 1983). Gay (1993b) described the cultural broker as:

... one who thoroughly understands different cultural systems,

is able to interpret cultural symbols from one frame of

reference to another, can mediate cultural incompatibilities,

and knows how to build bridges or establish linkages across

cultures that facilitate the instructional process. (p. 48)

Cultural brokers have acquired some cultural knowledge of African American gifted learners and can translate this knowledge into appropriate pedagogy. There is no expectation that teachers can learn everything there is to know about all the cultures represented in their classrooms. It is expected, however, that they do become trained enough to develop instructional practices that affirm their cultural experiences. Some of this knowledge and training can be obtained through first-hand experiences with African American families and communities.

When school-home relationships have been strengthened, school personnel can collaborate with students, families, and communities so that African American culture, history, and heritage are infused in the curriculum. For example, teachers may want to ask family or community members to suggest books, field trips, speakers, and activities that reflect their African American culture and enhance the class curriculum. Teachers and administrators can solicit African American organizations for their participation in curriculum development. This may involve coordinating school efforts with community-based programs or special interest groups. As an example, schools may want to learn about various celebrations and male and female rites of passage programs within African American communities or about the local heroes and heroines who have provided significant contributions. A caution is to avoid only including athletes and entertainers, as this may further stereotypes that African Americans primarily excel in those arenas.

Altering Practices to Meet the Needs of Gifted African American Learners

For many African American gifted learners to be successfully included in learning, environments, alternative strategies are needed. Many pre-service teacher preparation programs continue to espouse instructional methods designed for European American and middle class children. These teachers, then, often do not have a reservoir of strategies designed to meet the needs of gifted African American learners.

First, strategies are needed that help teachers and administrators to develop positive and respectful attitudes and expectations relative to these learners and their families. For instance, negative attitudes and beliefs held about African American learners and families can be changed by emphasizing their strengths and positive historical contributions. One reason African American students are seldom identified as gifted is because African American children are not readily and automatically' associated with being gifted. To create inclusive environments where students feel accepted and affirmed, it is important that educators first believe that these youngsters are gifted or have academic potential that must be nurtured.

Second, school personnel should maintain and model high and obtainable expectations of the performance and abilities of African American learners. Often expectations of the physical and cognitive abilities of African American youth held by school personnel and non-African American students are diametrically opposed. African Americans enjoy high expectations regarding their athletic abilities, at the same time, they often face lowered expectations of their academic prowess. Traditional school practices may not provide mechanisms for discovering these learners' strengths that might be either manifested or masked in different ways.

Promoting leadership and prosocial skill development While academic goals are explicitly communicated in many classrooms, social goals are not (Gresham, 1981). For gifted learners it is often assumed that they are socially competent and need little instruction in that area. As noted previously, African American learners with gifts and talents often experience myriad conflicts and tensions resulting from the intersection of their ethnicity and their giftedness. Social and leadership skills can be deliberately taught to aid these students as they negotiate their interactions among African American, mainstream, and gifted cultures. The following prosocial skills development areas are particularly relevant to African American learners in their school, home, and community settings. They are: understanding social and emotional issues, code-switching, addressing issues of power, authority, and control, establishing self-determination, self-control, and conflict resolution skills.

Understanding social and emotional issues African American students must become explicitly aware of the tensions and conflicts they experience as they interact across school, home, and community settings. School personnel can facilitate this process by establishing small groups, or mini-communities of 5-10 students, to address these issues through group discussion experiences. Shared goals and values can be established while these students engage in self-assessment and future educational and career planning (for more information, see Alamprese et. al., 1988). Individuals who play vital roles in their school, home, and community settings can be called upon to facilitate group discussions and role play social and leadership skills.

Switching linguistic and cultural codes Often times settings demand behaviors and actions that may be less familiar to gifted African American students. In fact, those demands may even clash with students' cultural values and beliefs. Teachers are often challenged to teach and to reinforce the setting-specific behavior, while, at the same time, valuing their students' unique cultural experiences. A strategy for valuing, and not sacrificing, the cultural experiences of gifted African American learners while teaching setting-appropriate or contextual behaviors is to teach them to code-switch. This provides school personnel excellent opportunities to involve families and communities as equal partners in their children's educational process. Allowing students to role-play how they would conduct themselves (i.e., verbal and nonverbal communication, dress, and social graces) across school, work, home, and community settings is an effective technique. For example, students would demonstrate how they differentially talk to their peers on a community center playground, school classroom, in church, and at an after-school job. Observant school personnel would utilize those role-play experiences, corroborated by students, family and community members, to assess the effectiveness, appropriateness, and utility of their social skills in each setting. Inclusive classrooms might aim to maximize these learner's situational competence.

Addressing issues of power, authority, and control Issues of power, authority, and control are manifested routinely in classrooms. Teachers are challenged to engage in instructional and management practices that reduce feelings of isolation, alienation, and powerlessness reported by many African American gifted learners (Patton & Baytops, 1995; Wilson, 1992). When working with African American learners, especially those from low-income families, some teachers mistakenly believe that absolute control must be exerted over these students to effectively instruct and manage their behaviors (Townsend et al., in press). Unfortunately, when the emphasis is on control a restrictive and oppressive environment is often created. Consequently, both student dependency and resistance may take place. This emphasis can be counteracted by allowing students to share in the proper exercise of power and leadership. To this end, students can select tasks which allow them to make and evaluate choices and assume positive leadership roles and responsibilities. Over time, these guided experiences will model a willingness to transform school power, authority, and control into classroom ethics of care, respect, and dignity. Essentially, school practices aiming to meet the social and emotional needs of gifted African American learners should reflect shared power in the classroom, cultural affirmation, and ethical soundness.

Developing self-determination and regulation Self-determination is the ability to define oneself and direct one's thinking and behavior to impact life events (Karenga, 1989). Implicit in this definition is a sense of self-responsibility and self-regulation. Historically, African Americans, as a result of their involuntary minority status and oppression, too often have allowed themselves to be negatively defined by society's dominant culture. Consequently, in some cases, African American learners have engaged in behaviors in accord with those negative perceptions, causing these negative prophecies to be fulfilled. In schools where teachers emphasize power and control over students, African American learners, including those with gifts and talents, lack opportunities to monitor and to regulate their own behaviors. Yet, African American gifted learners need multiple experiences in using metacognition strategies that allow them to assess, and to reinforce their own behaviors instead of relying on others (Patton, 1992). Given the combined effects of racism, oppression (controlling environments), minority status in schools, and past self-fulfilling prophecies, opportunities need to be provided so that gifted African American learners develop skills in self-determination and self-regulation.

One activity for developing self-determination and regulation is to assign students to interview relatives or community members about actions they took that contributed to their achievements. Recurring themes associated with the interviewees' development of self-determination and regulation would then be identified, analyzed, and discussed individually and in groups. A second activity is having students write auto biographies and identify similar recurrent themes in their lives. These autobiographies could be shared, analyzed, and discussed in class. Accomplished African Americans from all walks of life could be invited to the classroom and asked to share examples of how they actualized their goals. Through a question and answer format students could then construct concept maps from their interviews, autobiographies, and guest speaker presentations and identify themes associated with self-determination and regulation among accomplished African Americans.

Resolving conflict and fostering cooperation The previously discussed tensions, conflicts, and psycho-social challenges that many of these learners face reinforce the importance of teaching conflict resolution skills and cooperative interaction strategies. It is important to understand the nature of conflicts among children and youth. Conflicts, in and of themselves, are not necessarily negative, as they can be used to analyze and construct teachable moments, or meaningful opportunities to model and teach socially acceptable responses (Epanchin, Townsend, & Stoddard, 1994, p.313). How these conflicts are addressed becomes critical.

Teachers should be careful observers of experiences occurring among African American gifted learners and their reactions to those experiences. Ideally, teachers can prevent some emotional crises by providing opportunities for students to openly process their thoughts and feelings. When crises do occur, school personnel can facilitate students' insight of events and their subsequent feelings and actions. Typical social skill approaches and interventions (i.e., role-play, modeling, and self-talk) can be used with modifications for African American gifted learners. Further, life space interviewing techniques (Redl, 1971), often effective with children and youth in dealing with emotional crises, may be enhanced by considering the students' cultural experiences that may affect their behaviors.

To illustrate, Jamaal, an African American student council officer, becomes upset because he believes that the student council president, Ethan, who is European American, disregarded his suggestions during a council discussion on improving school climate. Whenever Jamaal wanted to make a point or interject a comment he did so. Apparently, Ethan did not like what he perceived as Jamaal's constant interruptions of the discussion. On the other hand, Jamaal believed that Ethan constantly refused to acknowledge his comments in meetings. A teacher listening to Jamaal and Ethan express their frustration with each other's communication processes could help Jamaal and Ethan understand that communication practices may be culturally determined and help both students to develop and practice a problem-solving plan. For example, African American communication style is often characterized by simultaneous talk, whereby one speaker may start talking before another one stops. European Americans, however, are more likely to engage in alternating talk, or taking turns in conversations (Bessant-Byrd, 1995).

Once aware of these differences, the teacher could teach and model the steps for resolving conflicts. Jamaal and Ethan could modify those conflict resolution steps to specifically address their communication misunderstanding. Perhaps, they could meet privately to mutually identify the problem, discuss communication differences, explore and select solutions, and plan time for monitoring solution effectiveness. When handled in this manner, the teacher would have implemented a culturally-mediated intervention that would value, respect, and affirm both Jamaal and Ethan. Moreover, she would have enhanced the cultural competence of both students.

Inclusive environments can provide many opportunities for African American children to practice the leadership skills of conflict resolution, consensus-building, and negotiation that will promote cooperation among diverse individuals. In sum, the goal is for these students to become skilled in identifying, implementing, and evaluating their own plans for reconciling interpersonal conflicts and tensions that may arise from their interactions in their school, home, and community settings.

Forging Authentic Partnerships among Professionals, Students, Families, and Communities Inclusive school environments require effective group and intergroup collaborations across diverse professionals, students, families, and community stakeholders. Open dialogue among general, special, and gifted educators around the needs and strengths of African American learners with diverse gifts should characterize inclusive settings.

While it is critical for general, special, and gifted educators to collaborate, it is equally important for students, families, and communities to become respected and valued partners in the educational enterprise. In some cases, African American families and communities have been excluded from key decision-making processes and provided surface-level school involvement roles (Townsend et al., in press). When minimal involvement opportunities (i.e., attendance at school meetings and events, returning written school correspondence) are not taken advantage of by parents, negative assumptions are readily made. Instead of concluding that these individuals' absence results from a lack of caring about their children' s education, school personnel must be willing to objectively examine their attitudes and school climates. Many African American adults distrust school personnel and feel disconnected from the educational system (Harry, 1995; Marion, 1980; Patton & Braithwaite, 1984). Such negative feelings and perceptions held by African Americans can be mitigated by school personnel regaining trust and restoring positive and meaningful relationships with these families and communities.

In sum, this article addressed several considerations for. meeting the sociocultural and psychosocial needs of gifted African American children and youth. It also identified strategies for creating inclusive environments for these learners. We believe that educators must become knowledgeable of African American sociocultural histories and experiences to effectively teach these learners and enhance their social development. The development of positive teacher and staff attitudes and perceptions is a precursor to altering teacher practices. Pedagogy that values and affirms these students' gifts and talents is critical to inclusive education. Increasingly, educators are called upon to forge truly collaborative partnerships with students' families, friends, and community. To respond to this call, many inclusive educators will need to extend their knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral boundaries beyond their usual comfort zones. In a sense, communication, teaching and school practices will need to be re-engineered to create optimally inclusive classrooms for African American gifted learners.

REFERENCES

Alamprese, J. A., Erlanger, W. J., & Brigham, N. (1988). No gift wasted: Effective strategies for educating highly able. Disadvantaged students in mathematics and science (Vol. 1). Washington, DC:Cosmos Corporation.

Anderson, J. A. (1988). Cognitive styles and multicultural populations. Journal of Teacher Education, 39 (1), 2-9.

Anderson, M. G., & Webb-Johnson, G. (1995). Cultural contexts, the seriously emotionally disturbed classification, and African American learners. In B. A. Ford, F. E. Obiakor, & J. M. Patton (Eds.), Effective education of African American exceptional learners: New Perspectives. (pp. 151-187). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Bessant-Byrd, H. (1995). Curricular and pedagogical procedures for African American learners with academic and cognitive disabilities. In B. A. Ford, F. E. Obiakor, & J. M. Patton (Eds.), Effective education of African American exceptional learners: New perspectives (pp. 123-150). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Boykin, A. W. (1986). The triple quandary and the schooling of Afro-American children, In U. Nessier (Ed.), The school achievement of minority children (pp. 57-91). Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Chimezie, A. (1985). Black bi-ulturality. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 2 (4), 224-235.

Connell, J. P., Spencer, M. B., & Abet, J. L. (1994). Educational risk and resilience in African American youth: Context, self, action, and outcomes in school Child Development, 65, 493-506.

Cross, T. L., Coleman, L. J., & Terhar-Yonkers, M. (1991). The social cognition of gifted adolescents in schools: Managing the stigma of giftedness. Journal of the Education of the Gifted, 15 (1), 44-55.

DuBois, W. E. (1961). The souls of black folk. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett.

Epanchin, B. C., Townsend, B., & Stoddard, K. (1994). Constructive classroom management: Strategies for creating positive learning environments. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Ewing, N. J. (1995). Restructured teacher education for inclusiveness: A dream deferred for African American children. In B. A. Ford, F. E. Obiakor, & J. M. Patton, Effective education of African American exceptional learners: New perspectives (pp. 189-207). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Ford, B. A., Obiakor, F. E., & Patton, J. M. (Eds.).(1992). Issues in the education of African-American youth in special education settings. Exceptional Children, 59 (2), 107-167.

Ford, B. A., Obiakor, F. E., & Patton, J. M. (Eds.). (1995). Effective education of African American exceptional learners: New perspectives. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Ford, D. Y. (1992). Determinants of underachievement as perceived by gifted, above-average, and average black students. Roeper Review, 14 (3), 130-136.

Fordham, S. (1988). Racelessness as a factor in black students' school success: Pragmatic strategy or pyrrhic victory? Harvard Educational Review, 58 (1), 54-83.

Fordham, S. & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students' school success: Coping with the burden of acting white. The Urban Review, 18 (3), 176-206.

Ford-Harris, D. Y., Schuerger, J. M., & Harris, J. J., III. (1991). Meeting the psychological needs of gifted black students: A cultural perspective. Journal of Counseling and Development, 69, 577-580.

Franklin, M. E. (1992). Culturally sensitive instructional practices for African American learners with disabilities. Exceptional Children, 59 (2), 115-122.

Frasier, M. (1989). Identification of gifted black students: Developing new perspectives. In C.J. Maher & S. W. Schievel (Eds.), Critical issues in gifted education: Defensible programs for cultural and ethnic minorities (vol. 2, pp. 213-225). Austin, TS: PRO-ED.

Gay, G. (1993a). Ethnic minorities and educational equity. In J. A. Banks, & C. A. McGee Banks (Eds.), Multicultural Education (pp. 171-194). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Gay, G. (1993b). Building cultural bridges. Education and urban society, 25 (3), 285-299.

Gentemann, K. M. & Whitehead, T. L. (1983). The cultural broker concept in bicultural education. Journal of Negro Education, 54, 118-129.

Gresham, F. (1981). Social skills training with handicapped children: A review. Review of Educational Research, 51, 139-176.

Hale-Benson, J. (1986). Black children: Their roots, culture and learning styles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hare, N. (1965). The Black Anglo-Saxons. New York: Marzani & Munsell, Inc.

Harris, J. J., & Russo, C. J. (1994). Brown v. Board of Education at 40: A commemorative issue dedicated to the late Thurgood Marshall. Journal of Negro Education, 63 (3), 1994.

Harry, B. (1995). African American families. In B. A. Ford, F. E. Obiakor, & J. M. Patton (Eds.), Effective education of African American exceptional learners: New perspectives(pp. 211-233). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Hilliard, A. (1976). Alternative to IQ testing: An approach to the identification of the gifted in minority children (Report No. 75175). San Francisco: San Francisco State University.

Johnson, J. L. (1976). Mainstreaming black children. In R. L. Jones (Ed.). Mainstreaming and the minority child (pp. 159-180). Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.

Karenga, M. (1989). The African American holiday of Kwanzaa Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press.

Lomotey, K. (1990)). Going to school: The African American experience. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Marion, R. L. (1980). Communicating with parents of diverse exceptional children. Exceptional Children, 46 (8), 616-623.

Nobles, W. W. (1987). Psychometrics and African American reality: A question of cultural antimony The Negro educational review, 38, 45-55.

Ogbu, J. (1988). Human intelligence testing: A cultural-ecological perspective. National Forum, 68 (2), 23-29.

Parham, T. A. (1993). Psychological storms: The African American struggle for identity. Chicago: African American Images.

Petroni, F. A. (1970). "Uncle Toms": White stereotypes in the black movement. Human Organization, 29 (4), 260-266.

Patton, J. M. (1992). Assessment and identification of African-American llearners with gift and talents. The Council for Exceptional Children, 59, 150-159.

Patton, J. M., & Baytops, J. L. (1995). Identifying and transforming the potential of young, gifted African Americans: A clarion call for action. In B. A. Ford, F. E. Obiakor, & J. M. Patton (Eds.), Effective Education of African American Exceptional Learners: New perspectives. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Patton, J. M., & Braithwaite, R. L. (1984). Obstacles to the participation of black parents in the education of their handicapped children. Centering Teacher Education, 34-37.

Perry, T. (1993). How racial and ethnic family and community characteristics affect children's achievement. Research and Development Report. March, 1993(3).

Redl, F. (1971). The concept of the life-space interview. In N. Long, W. Morse & R. Newman (Eds.), Conflict in the classroom (pp. 257-266). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Salend, S. J. (1994). Effective mainstreaming: Creative inclusive classrooms. New York: Macmillan.

Shade, B. J. (1990). Engaging the battle of African American minds (commissioned paper). National Alliance of Black School Educators.

Smith, T., Polloway, E., Patton, J., & Dowdy, C. (1995). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive settings. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Stainback, S., & Stainback, W. (1990). Support networks for inclusive schooling: Interdependent, integrated education. Baltimore, MD: Brookes.

Townsend, B. L., Lee, R., Thomas, D. D., & Witty, J. P. (in press). Diversity and school restructuring: Creating partnerships in a world of difference. Teacher Education and Special Education.

Townsend, B. L., & Patton, J. M. (1995). Three "warring souls" of African American high school students. International Association of Special Education monograph. (pp. 1-8)

Wilson, A. (1992). Understanding black adolescent male violence: Its remediation and prevention. New York: Arikan World Infosystems.

Woodson, C. G. (1990). The mis-education of the Negro. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.

Zappia, I. A. (1989). Identification of gifted Hispanic students: A multidimensional view. In C. J. Maker & S. W. Schiever (Eds.), Critical issues in gifted education (pp. 19-26). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

James M. Patton is Associate Professor, Special Education and Associate Dean of Academic Programs at the College of William and Mary, Virginia where he is Director of Project Mandala aimed at identifying and serving selected students who exhibit at-risk and at-promise characteristics. Brenda L. Townsend is Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, University of South Florida where she directs Project PILOT, a federally-funded initiative to prepare African American men for urban special education teaching positions.

Manuscript submitted January, 1996. Revision accepted February, 1997.