Essentials of Gifted Assessment

Steven I. Pfeiffer, Alan S. Kaufman, Nadeen L. Kaufman

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781118589205
• eBook ISBN: 9781118873168
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Research & Methodology in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

An Up-to-Date Overview of the Theory and Practice Underlying Gifted Assessment

Essentials of Gifted Assessment introduces readers to the theory and practice underlying gifted assessment. Steven Pfeiffer, a leading expert in the field of gifted assessment, discusses what it means to be gifted, why we should identify gifted students, and the purposes of gifted assessment.

Well-organized and engaging, the book examines key principles of gifted assessment and provides an up-to-date overview of gifted assessment measures. Topics include the use of local norms, measuring creativity and motivation, nonverbal measures, the importance of recurring gifted assessment, multi-potentiality, gifted testing and minority group students, and evaluating the twice-exceptional student. Early identification and intervention greatly benefits gifted students, who may otherwise never realize their full potential. Throughout the book, Pfeiffer equips school psychologists with the tools they need to:

• Identify and assess uniquely bright and talented students
• Integrate multiple assessment measures including intelligence, cognitive ability, and achievement tests
• Assess gifted students with coexisting disabilities and disorders
• Promote the abilities of gifted students using evidence-based strategies

The book also includes extensive illustrative material, such as callout boxes and case examples, that facilitate use as a quick reference, plus end-of-chapter "Test Yourself" questions that help reinforce key concepts. Essentials of Gifted Assessment helps new and seasoned school psychologists and other professionals acquire the skills and knowledge needed for ethical, evidence-based, and informed clinical practice with high-ability students.

One
Introduction to Gifted Assessment

Who Are the Gifted?

At first blush, it might seem as though we can quickly dispense with the question, exactly who are the gifted? If you work in the schools, then you know exactly who they are. The gifted are those students who meet the eligibility criteria that your school district and state have stipulated for this group. And if you are a graduate student in psychology, then you also know who the gifted are. They are those students who have obtained an IQ test score that exceeds a certain threshold, according to what you learned in your assessment of intelligence course. These are the views of a great many practitioners and graduate students, according to a recent national survey (McClain & Pfeiffer, 2012) and as gathered from informal conversations at school psychology conferences and workshops here in the United States and also internationally.

As you will quickly learn, however, this book departs from the traditional and some might argue outdated and even archaic view of who the gifted are and suggests a more nuanced perspective of what is meant by giftedness. High IQ equals gifted was the view that dominated twentieth-century thinking in both psychology and education. But we are now in a new millennium and have learned much from research in developmental psychology, the cognitive neurosciences, and the talent development field since the early days of gifted education, and this new information better informs our understanding of high-ability students—the gifted (Pfeiffer, 2002, 2003). In the next chapter, we will examine a few models of giftedness that lead to different ways to conceptualize giftedness and define the gifted student. Most would agree that the young child who is reading at age 3, excelling at competitive chess by age 6, or playing the violin in an orchestra at age 10 is gifted. These examples are indicative of children who are developmentally advanced, one hallmark of giftedness (Pfeiffer, 2002, 2012). Most authorities on giftedness agree that academically gifted students are those in the upper 3–5% to 10–15% (the exact range depending on the authority) compared to their same-age peers in general intellectual ability, distinguished performance in one or more academic domains, and evidence of creative work (Pfeiffer, 2003, 2012). Not surprisingly, there is a genetic influence in the expression of giftedness, at least at the high end of the IQ continuum (Plomin & Spinath, 2004). For example, the fields of music and mathematics are particularly rich with examples of child prodigies. Evidence also comes from the emergence of eminence among young children from impoverished environments (Nisbett, 2009). However, most developmental psychologists and behavioral geneticists also agree that the unfolding of gifts requires a nurturing and supportive environment, available resources, certain personality characteristics, and even good fortune (Nicpon & Pfeiffer, 2011; Pfeiffer, 2012, 2013b). More on the topic of who exactly the gifted are will be presented in Chapter 2.

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Caution

There is no one absolutely correct way to define or conceptualize the construct of giftedness.

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What follows are working definitions that begin to answer the question of who the gifted are. These definitions are based on my tripartite model of giftedness, which I will explain shortly. The first is a definition of the gifted child:

The gifted child demonstrates a greater likelihood, when compared to other students of the same age, experience and opportunity, to achieve extraordinary accomplishments in one or more culturally valued domains [Pfeiffer, 2013b].

According to this definition, a child's gifts can be in any culturally valued domain, such as academics, athletics, the performing arts, leadership and student government, or even community volunteerism. The list of gifts is almost inexhaustible, limited only by what the community and the culture value and deem important. In most cultures and societies, as the child gets older there is increased opportunity for exposure to a growing number of domains in which the adolescent and young adult can come to excel and even gain expertise and eminence. For example, the young girl who demonstrates precocious mathematical abilities at age 6 or 7 will likely find a wide variety of academic and career domains to excel and become distinguished in as a young adult.

This definition of the gifted child reflects the view that this child demonstrates a greater likelihood of achieving extraordinary accomplishments in one or more culturally valued domains than other children of the same age and with the same opportunity (Pfeiffer, 2013b). The next definition describes the academically gifted student. It is conceptually similar to the definition of the gifted child, and fully consistent with the tripartite model of giftedness that you will be introduced to shortly. This second definition of the gifted is intentionally more narrowly focused on academics and schooling:

The academically gifted student demonstrates outstanding performance or evidence of potential for outstanding academic performance, when compared with other students of the same age, experience and opportunity,…and a thirst to excel in one or more academic domains…. [T]he academically gifted student is likely to benefit from special educational programs or resources, especially if they align with their unique profile of abilities and interests [Pfeiffer, 2013b].

Frequently the academically gifted student's academic needs are not being substantially met in the classroom or school, and quite often this student requires specialized programs, services, or activities not ordinarily provided in the regular classroom—not always, but oftentimes. This failure points to what really should be the primary rationale and justification for gifted assessment in the schools—to determine whether a student has uncanny intellectual abilities and/or outstanding academic performance or evidence of potential for outstanding academic performance, frequently indicative of a need for special educational programs or resources not presently available in the regular classroom.

Brief History of Gifted Education

Much has been written about the history of giftedness and gifted assessment (e.g., Mönks, Heller, & Passow, 2000; Robinson & Clinkenbeard, 2008; Tannenbaum, 1983, 2000). Anyone working with high-ability students should take the time to become familiar with this literature. I am reminded of the warning that those who don't study or respect history are more likely to repeat the mistakes of the past. The same is true for gifted assessment and gifted education. An appreciation of the history of gifted education over the past one hundred years will enlighten the practitioner about what has been tried and has worked, as well as what has been tried and has failed. With this knowledge we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past!

As far back as Confucius in China and Plato in Greece, philosophers wrote about “heavenly” (gifted) children. Their writings not only theorized about what constituted high ability but also provided practical recommendations for how society should go about identifying and nurturing these special young citizens (Mönks et al., 2000). Early philosophers embraced views that giftedness constituted a set of special attributes that we today would view as aspects of cognitive ability (Pfeiffer, 2013b).

In the United States we trace the early roots of attention to the gifted to the research conducted by Lewis Terman, a professor at Stanford University. Terman conducted a large longitudinal study in California that followed a cohort of students who had tested with IQ scores at or above 140. Terman collected tons of data on these students over the course of fifty years. He stated that the “twofold purpose of the project was, first of all, to find what traits characterize children of high IQ, and secondly, to follow them for as many years as possible to see what kind of adults they might become” (Terman, 1925, p. 223; Terman & Oden, 1951, p. 21). Terman concluded that children of high IQ (140 or higher) were healthier, better-adjusted, and higher achievers than unselected children (Robinson & Clinkenbeard, 2008). This early work set the stage for establishing within the education and psychology community what Dai (2010) calls a gifted child focus.

There are other early scientific studies and writings on the gifted, such as Galton's Hereditary Genius (1869) and Cattell's A Statistical Study of American Men of Science (a series of articles published from 1906 to 1910) (Whipple, 1924). However, nothing quite captured the imagination of the public as Terman's Genetic Studies of Genius did (Mönks et al., 2000). More than any other individual, Terman helped to define and conceptualize giftedness as high IQ. Almost one hundred years later, Terman's influence on the gifted field remains prominent. The gifted child focus emphasizes general intelligence and assumes that the gifted constitute a clearly demarcated and fixed category of exceptional individuals who differ in a number of quantitative and qualitative ways from their nongifted peers. The gifted child focus dominated twentieth-century thinking. It has been the major zeitgeist in gifted education up until the last ten to fifteen years. A relatively new focus is now emerging and is beginning to challenge the predominant gifted child focus. This new focus has been labeled a talent development perspective (Dai, 2010; Pfeiffer, 2013b). More will be said about this second perspective shortly and in the next chapter.

Another influential figure in the history of gifted education, and one of my former professors and mentors at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, is James Gallagher. In 1960 Gallagher submitted a report to the Illinois state legislature whose purpose was “to review and summarize all of the information now available relating to the education of gifted children” (Gallagher, 1960, p. 3). Gallagher's report, Analysis of Research on the Education of Gifted Children, concluded that “special programming for gifted children requires additional personnel and services” (p. 131). Gallagher pointed out that only 2 cents out of every 100 dollars spent on K–12 education in the United States supports the gifted, and that existing programs for the gifted do not reach nearly enough of the gifted students in America's schools. He added that special programs for the gifted are a low priority at all levels of government, that the federal role in services to the gifted is all but nonexistent, and...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Essentials of Psychological Assessment Series
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Series Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter One: Introduction to Gifted Assessment
• Chapter Two: Conceptions of Giftedness Guide Gifted Assessment
• Chapter Three: Gifted Assessment: Guiding Principles and Fundamental Beliefs
• Chapter Four: Measuring Intellectual and Academic Ability
• Chapter Five: Identifying and Assessing Creativity
• Chapter Six: Alternative Gifted Assessment Methods
• Chapter Seven: Frequently Asked Questions About Gifted Assessment
• References
• About the Author
• Index
• End User License Agreement