This document is a "theme" issue of a quarterly serial publication. It focuses on identifying and serving gifted children from diverse populations. The first article, "Eliminating Four Barriers to the Identification of Gifted Minority Students" by Mary Frasier, notes that: (1) not every impoverished home is illiterate; (2) limited opportunities for learning should not be assumed to restrict the child's achievement; (3) there are common mental traits of giftedness regardless of the child's background; and (4) giftedness may manifest itself differently in different children. The second article, "Gifted Learning Disabled Students: Questions and Answers," by Anne J. Udall, answers questions concerning the characteristics of such students, their prevalence, and the best ways to meet their curriculum needs. Next, Mary T. Kolesinski in "The Bilingual Gifted: Viable Strategies for Effective Programming" proposes strategies for improving the identification process and teaching strategies to address the special needs of these students. In the fourth paper, "An Update on the Javits Project: Identifying and Serving Disadvantaged Gifted Youth," Evelyn L. Hiatt presents preliminary information on the Texas Student Portfolio (TSP), a measure designed to provide unbiased assessment of characteristics associated with gifted students, especially as they pertain to critical and creative thinking. (The TSP is part of a 3-year project undertaken by the Texas Education Agency with funding from the Jacob K. Javits Gifted Students Education Act of 1988. The project's purpose is to fulfill the grant's objective to investigate nontraditional approaches to identifying and serving underrepresented populations in programs for the gifted.) Finally, Evelyn Hiatt and Jeanette Covington respond to common questions on identifying and serving diverse populations. (DB)