Donna Ford

Professor of Special Education

Ph.D., Cleveland State University, 1991

Research Area

Gifted with emphasis on minority children and youth; recruitment and retention of diverse students in gifted education; underachievement among diverse students; equity issues in testing and assessment; multicultural education; issues in urban education.

Short Biography

Donna Y. Ford, Ph.D., is Professor of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University. She teaches in the Department of Special Education. Dr. Ford has been a Professor of Special Education at the Ohio State University, an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia, and a researcher with the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. She also taught at the University of Kentucky.

Professor Ford earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Urban Education (educational psychology) (1991), Masters of Education degree (counseling) (1988), and Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and Spanish (1984) from Cleveland State University.

Professor Ford conducts research primarily in gifted education and multicultural/urban education. Specifically, her work focuses on: (1) recruiting and retaining culturally diverse students in gifted education; (2) multicultural and urban education; (3) minority student achievement and underachievement; and (4) family involvement. She consults with school districts, educational, and legal organizations in the areas of gifted education, Advanced Placement, and multicultural/urban education.

She is the author/co-author of several books, including Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students (1996, 2010) Multicultural Gifted Education (1999, 2011), In Search of the Dream: Designing Schools and Classrooms that Work for High Potential Students from Diverse Cultural backgrounds (2004), Diverse learners with exceptionalities: Culturally responsive teaching in the inclusive classroom (2008), and Teaching Culturally Diverse Gifted Students (2005). Several other books are in progress. Professor Ford has written over 120 articles and book chapters; she has made more than 600 presentations at professional conferences and in school districts.

Dr. Ford's work has been recognized by various professional organizations: Research Award from the Shannon Center for Advanced Studies; the Early Career Award and the Career Award from The American Educational Research Association; Senior Scholar Award and Early Scholar Award from The National Association for Gifted Children; the Esteemed Scholarship Award from The National Association of Black Psychologists; the Outstanding Service Award from the Council for Exceptional Children-The Association for the Gifted. She is even more proud and humbled by awards received from student organizations (Black Student Alliance Distinguished Faulty Award, and Jimmie Franklin Outstanding Vanderbilt Faculty Award, Vanderbilt University, 2011).

Dr. Ford is co-founder of the Scholar Identity Institute for Black Males (SIM) with Dr. Gilman Whiting, and creator of The Female Achievement Model of Excellence (FAME). Donna is a two-time board member of the National Association for Gifted Children, and has served on numerous editorial boards, such as Gifted Child Quarterly, Exceptional Children, Roeper Review, Journal of Negro Education, Gifted Child Today, and Journal of Educational Psychology. She also reviews for several journals in such disciplines and topics as urban education, the achievement gap, educational psychology, and counseling and development. Professional development includes membership in professional organizations, including the National Association for Gifted Children, Council for Exceptional Children, American Educational Research Association, National Association for Multicultural Education, American Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators, and others. -- DYF 5/11.

Learn More about Donna Ford:

Courses Taught | Selected Publications
Awards | CV | Media Mentions

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• Black male teens attend Scholar Institute

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