ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to fill the void, describing factors that can hold promise for increasing the recruitment and retention of minority students in gifted education programs. These recruitment and retention recommendations include having equitable screening and identification instruments and procedures, providing minority students with a quality education, addressing problems that interfere with students' achievement, and better preparation of educators in gifted and urban/multicultural education. The recruitment and retention of gifted minority students are incomplete without early, ongoing, and substantive family involvement. Most of the literature on gifted minority students concentrates on recruitment—finding better ways to screen and identify minority students for gifted education programs. A recurring recommendation for increasing the representation of racially and culturally diverse students in gifted education programs is to use multiple identification criteria and sources. The persistent and pervasive underrepresentation of minority students is a tragic and unnecessary waste of human potential and promise.
