Parents of Mexican American children can provide vital information regarding the education of their gifted children. They can become involved in identifying giftedness once the characteristics are agreed upon. Parents may then request assessment of their child to ascertain whether placement in a special program is appropriate. Parents must give permission for testing. Once the assessment results are considered in a placement decision, parents must also approve the final action. In programming, parents of minority children can help teachers capitalize on the child's cultural background. Parent involvement may be direct (participation in the classroom) or indirect (through communication with the school and/or teacher). (CL)