Identification of Gifted and Talented Students Essay

In 2015, I wrote about my personal philosophy of the gifted learner. I stated in my paper that, “Giftedness is not a one, set definition. The definition of gifted must encompass intellect, ability, creative talent as well as emotional awareness. It cannot be micro-managed and be a “one size fits all” definition” (Dauber, 2015). People, who are gifted, need differentiation and opportunity to express, demonstrate and show their giftedness. Educators must be able to provide opportunities for the gifted learner to express his/her abilities and/or talents. Gifted students learn differently and require special educational experiences in order to grow academically and achieve their highest potential. Therefore, the education field must be able to understand not only the cognitive side of a gifted learner but the affective or social/emotional aspects too.

One would assume that intelligence testing in the United States began with psychiatrists or government officials. It was actually a football coach who coached the University of South California at the start of the century. He

     Since the development of the intelligence quotient, schools in every part of the world have been using the IQ test to categorize millions of students into three groups. These three groups, which are the gifted, the average, and the retarded, are falsifications that perpetuate in our world culture and cause many gifted students to be deemed retarded and vice a versa. Why then is the IQ test so heavily relied on in our school systems? For schools the answer is simple, an I.Q. test is a reliable predictor of a students later performance in academics. This answer is relatively true, but where the I.Q. test falls extremely short is with testing the multiple

One of the difficulties in identifying the needs of low-income students is the profound cultural barriers which exist that prevent their strengths and deficits from being identified. Children from low-income homes frequently have poorer vocabularies and a weaker basis of the type of knowledge that is frequently considered 'intelligence' on most forms of assessment. A low-income child's IQ may be high, even though he lacks a framework of accepted middle-class knowledge. "In January 2003, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on the seeming overrepresentation of minorities in special education and underrepresentation of those students in gifted education. The NRC reported that, nationwide, 7.47 percent of all white students and 9.9 percent of Asian students are placed in gifted programs. Meanwhile, 3.04 percent of African-American students, 3.57 percent of Hispanic students, and 4.86 percent of American Indian students are classified as gifted" (GT-minority identification, 2003, ERIC Clearinghouse). The discrepancy, the NAS believed, could not be solely explained by talent alone but was at least partially rooted in the methods of identifying students labeled as gifted. Biases in standardized and other tests identifying student strengths, combined with prejudices, however unintentional, amongst educators and administrators lead to under-identification of the gifted

Middle school is a period of transition for adolescents. Students are no longer the children were once were in elementary school; they are beginning to mature into the adults they will need to become. Gifted learners at the middle-school level face the same developmental and tasks tasks and challenges that their peers do. Yet, gifted learners also possess traits that are different from their peers, which often make them misunderstood or ignored. The need for teachers to identify these students and differentiate instruction in a way that addresses the needs of the gifted students in the classroom is becoming more crucial than ever.

Van Tassel-Baska, J. (2000). Theory and research on curriculum development for the gifted. In K.A. Heller, F.J. Monks, R. J. Sternberg & R.F. Subotnik (Eds.). International handbook of giftedness and talent (2nd ed., pp. 365–386). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Adams County public school system’s current program doesn’t seem to recognize any minority or poor students who could be considered gifted. Educators in this district and committee members seem to lack any motivation to include diverse learners in their program. The fact that Adams County only recognized three out of four hundred thirty-eight over a five-year span is appalling. I feel Adams County need some major changes to extend their idea of giftedness. It needs to start with intensive and in-depth teacher training along with community outreach and awareness programs to help educate parents about giftedness. For instance, parent could learn ways to better support their children and help identify their child’s areas of giftedness.

As a principal I find the limitations to this program are within the scope and sequence. Although separated by grade level, there is no in-depth research of a subject. Critical thinking is not of the highest level; critical thinking is that of evaluation and not of creating. Another concern is that the scope and sequence is not detail and concise with project and research expectations. The way the current scope and sequence is written it leaves the teacher with the understanding that projects are optional and can be completed at any Bloom's level. I argue that if a student is nominated and invited to be in the Gifted and Talented Program their work needs to exceed that of their peers. Class work as well as research projects must meet a higher Depth of Knowledge (DOK).

Over time standardized testing has become a main focus of class time. According to Micah L. Issitt and Maureen McMahon, it is impossible to create a test that accurately measures intelligence. Students express themselves and intake information in different ways than others. This makes the idea of measuring intelligence based on testing a very unrealistic standard (n. pag.). As a result of the increase of testing many students are beginning to feel as if only their test scores matter. The scores of these tests are said to help students get into good universities and lead them to a brighter post secondary future. Students are focusing a lot of their time studying for tests that will help them get an education after high school. However, many colleges are interested in things other than the scores from tests. Laura-Lee Kearns, who examined the impact failing a standardized test had on students, explains that these tests are used to determine who is thriving but they fail to see creativity (n. pag.). Many post secondary pathways are interested in creativity and innovation, not only scores from mandatory standardized tests. Kamenetz Anya and Steve Inskeep explain that many teachers feel as though they are unable to focus on important subjects that could be useful to their students. They are forced to devote much of their time to preparing lessons based on the standards created by testing. These teachers are focusing most of their class time trying to prepare students for standardized testing while other topics are being ignored, such as creativity (n. pag.). Standardized testing focuses mostly on math, English and science, but fails to recognize the creativity of

In the society of today, there are various educators who believe in assessment as proper method to measure the performance of a child in school as well as the overall achievement of a specific school system. The assessment may be presented in the form of verbal, written, or multiple choice, and it usually pertains to certain academic subjects in the school curriculum. Recently, many educators began to issue standardized tests to measure the intelligence of a common student body. (Rudner, 1989) These standardized tests were initially created to reveal the success in institutional school programs, and exhibit the abilities of students today. The standardized tests can reveal the strengths and weaknesses

Typically gifted and talented programs are intended to challenge fast pace learners and recognize their special abilities, however the innocuous separation between peers can prevent other students’ talents from being acknowledged and advanced. While the gifted and talented students are applauded for their intellectual capabilities and natural talents, other students are labeled as average or less skilled. Placement into these programs are rooted from the results of standardized testing, which students and teachers spend a great amount of time preparing for. Preparation for these exams alter the curriculum and objective for learning all together. Some education systems seem to focus more on teaching to test rather than teaching to educate. In Cathy Davidson essay, “Project Classroom Makeover,” she explores how there should be more emphases on the relevance, relationship and rigor in the classroom and how this can teach students more efficiently and improve our school. Within the past 15 years, advancements in technology alone theoretically have created new prospective ways of learning, therefore standardized testing may be an inadequate method of testing students’ talents and abilities. Because each student’s future is so heavily weighted on their performance throughout grade school, education systems should have a well-rounded system in place that allows students to support and learn from each other rather than creating a divide between the strong versus the poor test

With IQ testing and the commonly-held belief that intelligence is fixed and static, receiving those test scores can positively or negatively impact a student. Trained psychologists are required to administer and examine IQ tests, however this task is often given to undertrained teachers. With a lower score, students may stop trying in school, thus it is crucial for educators to realize the limitations of a test score (Law, 1995, p. 9). Any test or combination thereof will only provide an estimate of knowledge and not an absolute. As quoted in Ford (2004), the Office of Civil Rights (2000) stated “No single test score can be considered a definitive measure of a student’s knowledge” (p. 15). Also, many believe that IQ equals innate ability, leading to discrimination. Gregory (2004), as quoted in Ford, recognized that a test score is neutral until we assign it value (2004, p. 7). The national and global impact of identification procedures is huge. Underutilized talent is not developed properly in school, leading to less overall contribution to society and especially the economy (Warne 2013 p. 488). Consequently, the country as a whole would benefit from reformed gifted identification

Many parents and educators are intrigued to note that gifted children often function on several different levels of intelligence and development at the same time. It is not unusual to find a six year old that can read at a seventh grade level, but has the comprehension of a fourth grader with the temperament of a three year old. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that adults who work closely with the gifted realize that this discrepancy is common and to be

Over time, the tests were standardized to correspond to a priori conceptions of intelligence by including items that correlated well with school performance. Test items that differentiated between gender

Pupils who exhibit gifted characteristics along with another disability are referred to as ‘twice-exceptional students’ (Morrison, 2001; Nielsen 2002). This term is used in the article that I have chosen to review, which analyzes the responses and perceptions through interview, of one particular individual (Andrew) who was identified as being gifted and talented (G/T) and who had emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). What the researchers aimed to accomplish through this analysis was a clearer understanding of Andrew’s community and school experiences, as they stated that there was a lack of empirical data focusing upon pupils who displayed such behaviors.