Underachieving Gifted and Talented Minority Students in a Continuation Education Setting: an Interpretive Exploration

Underachieving Gifted and Talented Minority Students in a Continuation Education Setting: An Interpretive Exploration Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Faith Okeoghene Mowoe, M.A. Graduate Program in Education The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Robert F. Lawson, Co-Advisor Binaya Subedi, Co-Advisor Sebnem Cilesiz Copyright by Faith O. Mowoe 2011 Abstract The phrase “the achievement gap,” as used in the United States, usually refers to the description of the level of academic discrepancy among the students of various ethnic groups, especially Whites/Asians and African Americans and Latino students. This persistent nagging reality has left a lot of educational researchers and pundits befuddled, giving rise to a variety of conflicting possible reasons for its existence. Within this broad generality lies an even more puzzling conundrum --- that of students who though identified as gifted and talented (GATE), and should therefore be undisputedly successful achievers, end up as “underachieving GATE students.” This group of students present their own version of the “achievement gap” that transverses all ethnic groups. This interpretive case study sought to understand how these students understand their educational lives in an alternative program --- a continuation high school --- that is designed to forestall their downward decline into possibly becoming part of the minority high school dropout statistic. ii Dedication Dedicated to my parents, Chief James Amudia and Mrs. Rhoda Oseawhaire Mowoe My brothers: Immanue Efe Mowoe, Peter Uchebruoghene Mowoe, Abraham Mowoe, and Israel Obatharhe Mowoe And sister: Rachael Mowoe iii Acknowledgments First, I want to thank God for His infinite grace and abiding love for me. It is because of Him that I am able to thank the following people. My parents – you were the best pair ever. You have always been my most precious and treasured gifts from God. My brothers and sisters: Isaac, Perpetual, Immanuel, Gladys, Peter, Abraham and Rita, thanks for your support of and faith in me that took me to and over the mountain. Bobbie, you are one sister-in-law I wish my parents could have met. Mr. John and Mrs. Charlotte Clarke --- thank you for making me feel at home in your home in Avon Lake. Professor (Sister) Elizabeth M. Burns, my parents sowed the seeds of my spiritual growth and thirst for God in me; you showed me how He lives within and among us. My spiritual strength developed from watching you exercise yours. Ginny Clarke, thanks for being your parents’ child. My friends at the St.Thomas More Newman Center, The Ohio State University, my spiritual home. Sharon, you are a friend indeed --- “How great is thy friendship,” my dear friend. You and Ravin are two in a million. Professors Slotnick and Subedi, you are my dissertation guardian angels. This would not have materialized without your intervention. Prof. Lawson, thanks for hanging in there with me. Prof. Cilesiz, thanks for your calm, encouraging manner. Dr. Philip Smith, thanks for your words of advice. Dr. McMahon, my grad school representative for my supplemental candidacy exam, thank you for infusing your personal experience iv with my program into our conversation. Dr. Helen Chamberlin, thanks for your words of encouragement as you served as my graduate school defense representative. Prof. Antoinette Miranda, thank you for taking time away from your extremely busy schedule to serve on my supplemental committee on such short notice. Jake Stoddard, thank you, thank you, for your annual guidance through my human subjects review renewals. Like you, I am truly thankful that they are over --- for now at least. The Educational Policy and Leadership office crew: Deb Zabloudil, Nadine Denton, Jennifer Mantes, and Amber Lindsay. Beth A. Bucher, Graduate School, thanks for answering my seemingly unending stream of questions, and Mr. Tim Watson, for your invaluable tips on my dissertation preparation. Prof. Reba Page, thank you for giving me, a total stranger, permission to join your methodology class at The University of California, Riverside. Ms. Reynolds, thanks for guiding me through the process of registering for my UCR classes. Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Dai Ho Chun of Honolulu for the scholarship award that I used to purchase my transcribing machine and Omni directional microphone. The Aiyerus --- thank you for helping me keep alive the spirit of the Nigeria in which we grew up. Charles Shipley, III, Verger, Grace Cathedral, San Francisco; Keith and the Saltsman family; Cleon Richmond, Carol Voshall, and Tom Bowers, thank you! My deepest thanks go to my fellow professional and student research participants and their parents, especially Pete whose genuine love for me as a v second year teacher served as a catalyst for this research study. And to the teachers at Beechcroft and Northland High Schools, Columbus, OH and of Idia College, Benin City, Nigeria, with whom I worked on my first research project. I also extend my gratitude to the long list of television and radio programs and magazine articles that both provided contemplative, fortuitous discussions that challenged my thinking as I wrote, or just served as background companions during those quiet late night/early morning hours. vi Vita June 1984.………………………………….……..…Idia College, Benin City, Nigeria 1988……….……..............B.A. English and Literature, University of Benin, Nigeria 1989 to 1992………….Graduate Administrative Assistant, College of Humanities, The Ohio State University 1992.………………M.A., African American Literature, The Ohio State University 1994…….……………………M.A., English Education, The Ohio State University 1998 to present…………English Teacher, Rialto Unified School District, Rialto, California Publications “The Roles of Women in the Novels of Paule Marshall,” Master’s Thesis, Department of African American and African Studies, The Ohio State University, June 1992. Fields of Study Major Field: Education vii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................. ii Dedication............................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. iv Vita ...................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ........................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………………………………………………14 Chapter 3: Methodology………………………………………………………………53 Chapter 4: Findings...…………………………………………………………………94 Chapter 5: Conclusion………………………………………………………………162 Bibliography: ......…………………………………………………………………….188 Appendix A: ………………………………………………………………………….196 Appendix B: ….………………………………………………………………………198 Appendix C:…………………………………………………………………………..203 viii List of Tables Table 1. List of Absences…………………………………………………….123 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION At no other time in the nation’s public education history has the phrase “the achievement gap” taken on a more urgent call to action. Usually defined as an educational gap between the achievement of white and black and/or Hispanic students (often referred to as minority students), the alarm seems to have been sounded more loudly now because of persistent test scores that show this disturbing pattern (Ford, 2004; O’Connell, 2008; Duncan, 2009; Hernandez, 2009; Ravitch, 2010; Rose, 2009; Thernstroms, 2003; The National Urban League, Time, February 21, 2011). The No Child Left Behind Law of 2002 mandates that all students must be proficient in English and math by 2014 (Ravitch, 2010). That Law is currently under review in preparation for its reauthorization, with some provisions being made to reduce its adherence to just college attendance but also on career choices (Paulson, The Christian Science Monitor (2/2/10). The focus has been so much on the “underachievement” of these students, yet there are smaller sub-groups of gifted and talented students within these groups who remain invisible/”unresearched.” They are the smaller sub- groups of gifted and talented students. Such students, whether part of this 1 underachieving minority groups or from the dominant white student population, are often placed in gifted and talented education (GATE) programs. Students who are identified as GATE are usually about two levels above their chronological peers. However, not every student who has been certified GATE is academically successful, resulting in the designation known as the gifted underachiever (Whitmore, 1980; Ford, 1996; Reis, 1998; Reis and McCoach, 2000; Rimm, 2004; Robinson, 2004). Gifted underachievers are those students whose academic production is not commensurate with their identified talents, resulting in poor scholastic performance. They, therefore, do not fully realize their full potential. Research Focus The main focus of this research study was the exploration of how minority underachieving GATE students interpret their giftedness in a continuation education setting. A continuation education setting is often referred to as one of the alternative education options for students who were not successful at the comprehensive/regular high

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