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Why would you expect the sample of gifted children to be representative of the population. By almost every measure Hispanic and Black students fall behind other

Why would you expect the sample of gifted children to be representative of the population. By almost every measure Hispanic and Black students fall behind other students. The achievement gap is very well studied. The challenge is fixing the problem, not pretending it doesn’t exit by making white and Asian students educations worse. This is like the Boston PD issuing orders to shoot more unarmed Asians since black and Hispanics are shot more disproportionately.

Kim_Bruning 6y ago
In this case the skew is pretty extreme though. In combination with other indicators, a strong gender/racial skew relative to the underlying population can be a predictor that your program or organization will be in trouble soon. Indeed, it seems to be in trouble at this time: The article states: "Cassellius says interest in the program had declined over several years[...]". So there are clearly more issues. My understanding of the article is that they're going on a one year hiatus to figure out the issues and fix them.
- rayiner 6y ago
  The populations in these urban school districts are very skewed due to middle class Black and Latino populations migrating to the suburbs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_flight. So the district comprises rich white yuppies, and lower income people of color, often recent immigrants, with little in-between. The school district addressed in Nice White Parents (great podcast) exemplifies this dynamic: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-paren....
  - Kim_Bruning 6y ago
    So according to you, it's due to demographics, where people are actually becoming more affluent! That does seem rather hopeful for the future. Thank you for taking the time to explain. Are you predicting that schools will have a rough time for the next generation or so, until the current generation (or the one after) become parents themselves?
    - rayiner 6y ago
      Yes and no. Immigrants are constantly coming in, and cities like Boston will probably continue to be a first waypoint for immigrants getting their legs under them. So in that sense, school districts in cities will continue to face these disparities. Apart from that, even as the Black middle class grows, there is persistent multi-generational poverty among Black people in urban areas that has proven nearly impossible to improve. Schools will continue to deal with that as well.
  - hshshs2 6y ago
    important to note that is not really a clear cut case in boston, most kids in the boston public school system are not white (largely due to white flight to the suburbs when the city tried to desegregate schools)... this is despite the fact that boston itself has recently become predominately white (and white kids are going to private schools at a higher rate since... forever) this is changing slowly as the city gentrifies and the traditionally black neighborhoods are becoming less affordable for black people (who have an average net worth of only $8)... which I suppose is black flight, but the term is problematic because it’s evocative if white flight (which was a choice to avoid integration)... black flight largely is the lack of choice due to racial inequity
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  Two other Asian kids and I were at a public school of several hundred kids of mostly minority groups. We three were consistently in the top 5 ranks and none of us were especially well off. Is there a racial issue here?

Kim_Bruning 6y ago

In this case the skew is pretty extreme though. In combination with other indicators, a strong gender/racial skew relative to the underlying population can be a predictor that your program or organization will be in trouble soon. Indeed, it seems to be in trouble at this time: The article states: "Cassellius says interest in the program had declined over several years[...]". So there are clearly more issues. My understanding of the article is that they're going on a one year hiatus to figure out the issues and fix them.

rayiner 6y ago
The populations in these urban school districts are very skewed due to middle class Black and Latino populations migrating to the suburbs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_flight. So the district comprises rich white yuppies, and lower income people of color, often recent immigrants, with little in-between. The school district addressed in Nice White Parents (great podcast) exemplifies this dynamic: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-parents-serial.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/podcasts/nice-white-paren....
- Kim_Bruning 6y ago
  So according to you, it's due to demographics, where people are actually becoming more affluent! That does seem rather hopeful for the future. Thank you for taking the time to explain. Are you predicting that schools will have a rough time for the next generation or so, until the current generation (or the one after) become parents themselves?
  - rayiner 6y ago
    Yes and no. Immigrants are constantly coming in, and cities like Boston will probably continue to be a first waypoint for immigrants getting their legs under them. So in that sense, school districts in cities will continue to face these disparities. Apart from that, even as the Black middle class grows, there is persistent multi-generational poverty among Black people in urban areas that has proven nearly impossible to improve. Schools will continue to deal with that as well.
- hshshs2 6y ago
  important to note that is not really a clear cut case in boston, most kids in the boston public school system are not white (largely due to white flight to the suburbs when the city tried to desegregate schools)... this is despite the fact that boston itself has recently become predominately white (and white kids are going to private schools at a higher rate since... forever) this is changing slowly as the city gentrifies and the traditionally black neighborhoods are becoming less affordable for black people (who have an average net worth of only $8)... which I suppose is black flight, but the term is problematic because it’s evocative if white flight (which was a choice to avoid integration)... black flight largely is the lack of choice due to racial inequity
NikolaeVarius 6y ago
Two other Asian kids and I were at a public school of several hundred kids of mostly minority groups. We three were consistently in the top 5 ranks and none of us were especially well off. Is there a racial issue here?