Is Gifted Or Not Gifted?

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.

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence’s (MI theory) is a valuable resource for teachers, if they understood how they could apply this in the classroom (Snowman & McCown, 2012). In this class, there are multiple intelligences observed amongst the students; however, there is minimal differentiated instruction to allow the students the best opportunities for success. It is critical that teachers understand that their teaching methods may not be wrong, but they

Mala Morrow is a gifted student. She was identified as being gifted after she scored in the 98 percentile on the Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS). She maintained an A average while she was enrolled in elementary school, now as a middle schooler she has a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.9. Mala’s ethnicity is Indian. She is actively learning, English, German, and she is fluent in two different Arabic dialects. These attributes clearly define that Mala is properly labeled as a gifted and talented student.

The questions of learning and intelligence have long been debated since education has ever existed. That learning leads directly to intelligence is an assumption which has not been subject to adequate scrutiny. Typically, a fixed mindset believes that an "intelligent" student is one who invests less of almost about everything to not only succeed but also to achieve outstanding results. That is, by studying less an intelligent student is expected to know about study subjects enough, which requires the least effort possible of him or her. Talent, moreover, has long been praised as an exceptional gift which one is helpless to develop, let alone initiate. The ideas about learning, intelligence and talent are challenged by prominent psychologists and education scholars Angela Lee Duckworth, Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Pennsylvania and Carol S. Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.

Using teachers to screen for potential gifted students gives a basis for more formal testing of the students. However, the district must first define their own requirements for a gifted program. Primarily, a higher than average IQ score, general good grades, leadership abilities, and creative abilities should be considered when looking to identify gifted students. While all of these characteristics are important, it is also important to note that students may not possess all of them, and may only have a gifted talent in one specific area of study. When a teacher suspects giftedness, they should refer the student to the guidance counselor or school psychologist, who can then set up a formal assessment to determine if the student has enough of the characteristics to qualify as gifted by the state. After students have been identified, it is then important to secure a GIEP (Gifted Individual Education Plan) and make greater opportunities available. However, as mentioned above, the first step is to use the tools described above to identify students in need of the gifted

In the article, the term “gifted” is a very precise, yet very broad; it is more than a number on an IQ test, hence is termed by the U.S Department of Education as children and youth with outstanding talents and accomplishments, in comparison to others of their age, experience of the environment.

There have been many changes over the past 50-75 years in the provision of services to gifted children. They discuss the ethical and professional cited with the provision of educational assessment and intervention service to gifted children. The research has reviewed the various ethical and professional issues that may arise in the delivery of services to gifted and talented students. The first issue that they mention is that was addressed involved the definitions of giftedness, and how such definitions are becoming sufficiently broad nationally to include students having exceptional abilities, such as creativity, artistic, and leadership potential.

The United States Congress has slightly altered the definition of giftedness presented in 1972, mainly to remedy the problem that talent was being too narrowly defined, but even in recent revisions the first five characteristics listed in the Marland Report remain almost exactly the same, the only one that has been removed is the sixth: psychomotor ability. This last characteristic was removed from the list because officials felt that school athletic programs could meet students’ needs in that specific area and that gifted and talented programs should be instituted to help develop skills and capabilities which are not being satisfactorily provided by a school’s standard curriculum and programs (Eby and Smutny, 1990, p. 5). Defining these five or six areas as the guidelines for evaluating talent is not problematic. What is troublesome is that most gifted and talent program admissions are based on a high stakes type of IQ test, rather than any combination of the characteristics decided by US officials to define talent (Shore, Cornell, Robinson, and Ward, 1991, p. 42).

I after reading this chapter I can now fully understand why teachers don’t like having gifted students in the classroom. Considering all the extra things they need to provide and do just for a couple or maybe

This challenge has proven to be easier said than done, and its solution varies from state to state. For the purpose of this paper, the state of Delaware’s method will suffice. Delaware uses a combination of standardized assessments and teacher nominations in order to suss these children out (Hansen 9). While the state does not promote one method over the other, the Legislative Task Force For Gifted and Talented Education does claim that a physical, tangible measure of intelligence, such as a standardardized assessment score, may be a more concrete identifier (Hansen 9). However, as any high schooler who didn’t score as highly as they had hoped on the SAT can attest to, standardized tests can’t measure everything, and this is why administrators must take additional information into account, such as class performance and recommendations, to determine who is gifted and who is

In conclusion, the research team suggests that studies be carried out at other universities on gifted underachievers to help determine what can be done to help these students become more successful. Then, a study should taken of High school students to see how they feel about their academic success thus far and also how they feel about the rigors of classes, their current studying skills, engagement to tasks, and time

First, the use of local norming when identifying students for gifted programs. As Worrell (2013) points out, academic performance is substantially influenced by socio-economic factors, and social and cultural issues in the home and school, thus “relative strengths are as important for identifying talent as absolute strengths for students in under-represented subgroups” (p.392). It is important to use local norms and opportunity-based norms (e.g. similar SES, ELL, parent education levels) as well as national norms to find the students that are achieving at the top of their subgroup. Another strategy may be to use performance task to measure achievement, as they are domain specific, assess fluency and complexity of responses, allow for multiple correct responses, focus on problem solving, encourage the use of metacognition, and require a dynamic assessment approach on the part of the assessor (VanTassel-Baska, Johnson, & Avery (2002). Instituting differentiation and other instructional models in the classroom, as well as in gifted programs is a strategy that can be utilized to ensure a student’s specific interests and needs are being met with respect and knowledge of potential social and cultural differences/backgrounds. Lastly, I believe that Rimm’s Trifocal Model (2008) could be a great strategy for supporting and encouraging success amongst these underrepresented groups. Dr. Sylvia Rimm created her Trifocal Model to assist underachieving students, however gifted students from underrepresented groups are just that, in some ways. In short, Rimm suggests that we make school and education meaningful by accessing a student’s interests. For these subgroups, this could mean infusing curriculum and instruction with content meaningful to their culture. Next, she states that parents and teachers should stop reinforcing underachieving behaviors,

The topic of gifted and talented education is one that has always sparked debates among parents and teachers, and recent movements towards totally integrating classrooms have added to this debate. For many years now, "average" children, gifted and

Toni Noble’s 2004 study asks the implied question of: How can the Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy benefit children with academic weakness? The rationale for study was curriculum differentiation, for special education and gifted education within the regular classroom. The study was based on sixteen K-6 teachers in two single stream elementary schools. The two schools studied were similar in population but different in “ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic status.” and were in the same school district. (Nobel 2004, pg. 195). First school encompassed 75% families with English as a Second Language; with 59% in trade or unskilled professions and 39% unemployed. The second school encompassed 46% families with English as a Second Language and parents were predominately employed in professional occupations. The relevance of the study was to determine if Multiple Intelligences (MI) improved student awareness of their own “spatial visual, musical, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist intelligence” (pg. 193-194). In conjunction with the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (RBT) of educational objectives; from “simple remembering to higher order critical and creative thinking” (pg. 194). The revised levels from simple to complex thinking are Remember. Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create” Anderson, Anderson & Krathwohl, (as cited in Nobel, 2004, pg. 194). In this study the tool teachers used was a “two-dimensional

Challenges occur to all students, even the gifted. A crucial matter is that gifted students simply aren’t challenged enough. Gifted students have such special abilities that they can master content at an earlier and more rapid rate than other general education students. Gifted learners, although possessing higher levels of intelligence than their peers, are disadvantaged in the sense that they frequently do not, or are not given the opportunity, to reach their full potential (Cited in Page, 2010) (Farmer, 1993)). Gifted children have special learning needs, which if not met, can lead to frustration, a loss of self-esteem, boredom, laziness and underachievement (Crocker, 2004; after Knight & Becker (2000)). If the gifted child is not