ABSTRACT
Universal screening is the "systematic assessment of all children within a given class, grade, school building, or school district on academic and/or social-emotional indicators that the school personnel and community have agreed are important". The biggest challenge for school districts in identifying students for gifted services is ensuring that Culturally, Linguistically, and Economically Diverse (CLED) students are given equity of access to opportunities. With the exception of students who are Asian or Asian American, students from CLED backgrounds are less likely to be identified for gifted programs. With students from diverse backgrounds, teachers may also focus more on student deficits rather than on cultural differences and individual strengths. These challenges result in classroom teachers over-referring non-CLED students and under-referring CLED students for advanced learning opportunities, including gifted services. Because of the long-term issue of underrepresentation of CLED students in gifted and advanced services, many administrators spend much time working on practices to have an identified population].
