Identifying Gifted Students
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Identifying Gifted Students

A Practical Guide

Susan K. Johnsen, Susan K. Johnsen

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eBook - ePub

Identifying Gifted Students

A Practical Guide

Susan K. Johnsen, Susan K. Johnsen

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About This Book

This revision of Identifying Gifted Students: A Practical Guide is aligned with both the updated National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards and the NAGC and The Association for the Gifted, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC-TAG) professional development standards. This book is relevant in any state or setting that intends to meet these national standards and uses multiple assessments to identify gifted students within an increasingly diverse population. Designed for practicing professionals, such as teachers, counselors, psychologists, and administrators, Identifying Gifted Students addresses definitions, models, and characteristics of gifted students; qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessment; culturally fair and nonbiased assessment; and how to evaluate the effectiveness of identification procedures. In addition, the book provides an updated summary of all major assessment instruments, including scoring information, reliability, and validity.

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Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2021
ISBN
9781000493542
Edition
3

Chapter 1
Definitions, Models, and Characteristics of Gifted Students

DOI: 10.4324/9781003235682-1
Susan K. Johnsen
Andrea is a kindergarten child, full of energy and excitement like most children her age, except that she is already reading at a fourth-grade level and understands mathematics concepts at a fifth-grade level. She likes to play games with the other children in her classroom, but she is interested in black holes, a topic most children her age don’t understand. Because she is social, she has established a learning center about black holes for her classmates and has become the editor of a schoolwide newsletter. Although very accomplished for a 6-year-old, Andrea is quite humble about her prodigious abilities and appears to enjoy each day with her classmates.
After failing two grades in his elementary school, Burton is 13 and has finally made it to the sixth grade. Although Burton doesn’t turn in much work, his sixth-grade teacher has noticed that he seems to have a mathematical mind and catches on to new concepts easily. In fact, he aced a nationally normed analogies test and enjoyed talking about how each of the items was designed. His friends know that he has built a working roller coaster in his backyard out of scrap lumber and electronic equipment. However, because of his lack of interest in grades and schoolwork, the teacher did not refer Burton to the gifted and talented program because he doesn’t do the work that will prepare him for the state-mandated test.
Ryan, a high school student, is a challenge for his parents and teachers alike. It’s not unusual for him to wear Christmas lights to school to attract attention from his girlfriend, to dye his hair several colors, or to wear red gloves to a band concert. Although he scores well on national tests, recently making a 1350 on his SAT, he performs at a minimal level in his classes and is not even in the top 10% of his class. He loves music and plays three different instruments proficiently: the tuba, the cello, and the bass guitar. Outside of school, he has organized and leads two jazz bands and recently recorded his first album. The summer following his senior year, he has been accepted to the Drum Corps International before beginning college.

Definitions

These three vignettes, based on true stories, describe children who are gifted and talented. Although not always shown in school, each one has particular abilities that manifested in a variety of ways—one through academic performance, another through his reasoning and constructions, and the third through his music and leadership. Andrea’s teachers would clearly identify her as gifted and talented, but Burton and Ryan might not be selected because of their lack of interest in school. The students are indeed different from one another, yet they all show high performance in the areas included in the federal definition of gifted and talented students (Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988):
The term “gifted and talented,” when used with respect to students, children or youth, means students, children or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.
The major characteristics of this definition are (a) diversity of areas in which performance may be exhibited (e.g., intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, academic); (b) the comparison with other groups (e.g., high achievement or services/activities not ordinarily provided by the school); and (c) the use of terms that imply a need for the development of the gift (e.g., capability). Of the 42 states that responded to the State of the States survey (National Association for Gifted Children [NAGC], & Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted [CSDPG] & 2015), these characteristics are evident. First, multiple areas are included in state definitions: intellectually gifted (n = 32), creatively gifted (n = 23), performing and visual arts (n = 27), academically gifted (n = 28), specific academic areas (n = 29), and leadership (n = 21). Some states also note specific populations of students with gifts and talents: students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds (n = 9), students from culturally or ethnically diverse backgrounds (n = 8), students who are English language learners or have English as a second language (n = 8), students with disabilities (n = 6), students who are geographically isolated (n = 3), students who are underachieving (n = 4), and students who are highly or profoundly gifted (n = 1). Second, within their definitions, the majority of states use the term potential and/or capability when describing gifted and talented students. Finally, 28 states mandate both identification and services that address each student’s gifts and talents. Some of the states require specific components in these services, such as differentiation (n = 12), social-emotional support (n = 9), content-based acceleration (n = 8), requirements on contact time (n = 7), and academic guidance and counseling (n = 6). Some states also include gifted students within Response to Intervention frameworks.

Models

This concept of capability or potential is addressed in Gagné’s (1995, 2009, 2010) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent 2.0 (see Figure 1.1). Gagné (2010) proposed that “gifts,” which are natural abilities or aptitudes, must be developed to become “talents,” which emerge through systematic “developed competencies (knowledge and skills) in at least one field of human activity to a degree that places an individual at least among the top 10% of ‘learning peers’ (those who have accumulated a similar amount of learning time from either current or past training)” (p. 82). The development of gifts into talents has three subcomponents that include access to a systematic program of activities; the investment of time, money, and psychological energy; and progress from novice to expert. The developmental process may be facilitated or hindered by two types of catalysts: intrapersonal and environmental. Intrapersonal catalysts are divided into traits (physical and mental) and goal management (e.g., awareness, motivation, and volition), all of which are influenced by genetic background. Environmental catalysts are milieu (e.g., physical, cultural, social, familial); individuals (e.g., parents, family, teachers, peers, mentors); and provisions (e.g., enrichment curriculum, pedagogy, grouping, acceleration). All of the components of the model (i.e., gifts, talents, talent development process, intrapersonal catalysts, environmental catalysts) are influenced by chance, such as being born in a particular family and the school the individual attends. Although the interactions among the components can be complex, Gagné suggested that any program a school develops for gifted and talented students should recognize the domain or field in which the gift is exhibited and the level of the student’s giftedness or talent (e.g., performing in the top 10%, 5%, 2%, 1%, or less than 1%).
Similarly, Tannenbaum (2003) viewed giftedness as an interaction of five different factors (see Figure 1.2): general ability (e.g., “g” or general intelligence); special ability (e.g., aptitude in a specific area); non-intellective facilitators (e.g., metalearning, dedication to a chosen field, strong self-concept, willingness to sacrifice, mental health); environmental influences (e.g., parents, classroom, peers, culture, social class); and chance (e.g., accidental, general exploratory, sagacity, personalized action). All of these factors need to work together for a student to achieve his or her potential.
FIGURE 1.1. Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent 2.0 (DMGT 2.0; 2008 update). Reprinted with permission of the author.
Given the importance of developing gifts into talents, school districts and the community should be involved in identifying at an early age students who exhibit characteristics in specific areas and plan their programs around these characteristics. Teachers, administrators, counselors, school psychologists, parents, siblings, peers, neighbors, and others who have contact with gifted children may assist in the nomination process if they are observant and learn about the variety of characteristics that may be exhibited in situations inside and outside of school. School personnel do not have opportunities to observe each student’s talents and gifts in all settings. For example, professionals in the school may be unaware of Ryan’s leadership in two jazz bands or Burton’s operational roller coaster in his backyard. Parents, peers, and the gifted student may need to advocate for services that will develop potential in each youth’s area of interest.
FIGURE 1.2.The five factors that “mesh” into excellence. From “Nature and Nurture of Giftedness” (p. 47), by A. Tannenbaum, in Handbook of Gifted Education (3rd ed.), by N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), 2003, Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Copyright 2003 by Pearson Education. Reprinted with permission of Pearson Education, Inc.

Characteristics

Many authors have described characteristics of gifted and talented students, some in general terms across several domains, whereas others have described them for specific areas cited in the federal and state definitions. Because most school districts identify children for programs that are related to the definition, this chapter organizes the characteristics according to these specific areas. Professionals who are primarily responsible for the identification process must remember that gifted and talented students must have an opportunity to perform. Students who are in classrooms where no differentiation is present are less likely to exhibit these characteristics. In addition, gifted and talented students will demonstrate many, but not all, of the characteristics that are listed in each area or may show potential or performance in only one area. It is important that professionals, parents, and others involved in the identification process look for these characteristics over a period of time and in a variety of situations.

General Intellectual Ability

Gifted and talented students with general intellectual ability tend to perform or show the po...

Table of contents