Ford has a specific research focus on understanding the achievement gap and related issues among gifted students from diverse cultural backgrounds and has proposed various strategies to address this gap. In her research on the underachievement of African American males in urban schools, she emphasizes the importance of adopting a social justice and civil rights approach among urban educators to reverse the trend of underachievement. In her book Reversing Underachievement Among Gifted Black Students: Promising Practices and Programs explores various actions that can be taken to eliminate underachievement among Black students. Geoffrey D. Borman commended this book for its practical approach towards the education sector and added, "is one of the few sources of practical information about what schools and other can do to advance the representation of minorities among the nation’s most gifted and successful students." One of her substantial work in this area includes the presentation of the Elgin court case where she discussed the necessity of taking appropriate measures to address the needs of gifted students, particularly those belonging to minority groups who are significantly underrepresented in educational programs.
