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Socioeconomic status Students from economically disadvantaged homes are among the most underserved students in gifted programs. Kids from the bottom quartile in family income made up less than 10 percent of students in gifted programs. In contrast to this finding, almost 50 percent of gifted program participants were from the top income quartile (Sherman, 1997). It was not that there are less gifted individuals from low income homes versus high income homes or that African Americans do not have as many gifted individuals than the corresponding white Anglo Saxon Americans, but rather that these populations were not discovered, recognized, or identified as gifted nearly as often as the middle/upper class of the white population (Sherman, 1997). Again, it needs to be pointed out that many underachieving gifted students are considered high risk because of situational factors that put them in a class that would be considered a double or even triple minority, such as an African American gifted girl from inner city Harlem. Single Parent Homes The third factor which often goes hand in hand with low socioeconomic status is that of the single parent home. Gifted children from single parent homes tend to underachieve at a much higher rate than gifted students from two parent households. Students who achieve at or above ability level usually have parents who are highly involved and on top of their child’s progress and school performance. The parent-child relationship tends to be one of trust and open communication and the parents are confident in their parenting abilities as well as are monumental in setting realistic boundaries and expectations for their child (Ford/Thomas, 1997). It is not that single parents love their children any less or care any less about their school performance, however, single parents tend to be stretched a little thinner than their two parent home counterparts in that most hold at least one full time job and life becomes an endless series of trying to make ends meet and fulfill everyday obligations and the focus on the child becomes secondary to the basic needs of life. Especially where a gifted child is concerned, parental concern and involvement, in both educational and social settings, is a must to help the child grow and develop into a successful, achieving adult (Ford/Thomas, 1997). In single parent households there is only one person to be the caretaker, breadwinner, and emotional supporter. With the stressful lives of many households today, the emotional needs of many children are not completely or fully met. Hence, we have a generation of stressed out children. These stresses are common in many two parent, two income households, so the stress of a single parent, one income household is capitalized to a great extent. Under involved and nonencouraging parents, negative parental attitudes, family conflict, lack of career direction, and family transitions were all found to be associated with underachievement (Peterson, 2001).
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