Students Who Are Gifted and Talented

Angeline BoyceLaura Charlesduc

Heidi DoxyHillary DoxyLouis Merola

Early definitions of giftedness primarily depended on

Wechsler or Stanford-Binet intelligence tests. Factors like intelligence, creativity, and talent are key to

many definitions, but they are not universal factors for every kind of giftedness.

The qualifications for giftedness vary from state to state. Multiple evaluations are given to determine

exceptionality, and family members, the community, and school personnel are encouraged to collaborate on the services needed for each individual.

Gifted implies that the student has a mature or developed intellect or talent rather than a developing ability.

Gifted and Talented

Reasons why a definition of giftedness is important:

It provides a number of how many students are labeled to receive services.

It impacts the choice of tests used to evaluate potential gifted students.

It gives the cutoff scores needed to qualify. It impacts the type of education provided and the

funding needed for programs for gifted and talented students.

It influences the necessary qualifications of teachers who wish to teach gifted and talented students.

Gifted and Talented

Creativity: the ability to sense relationships that are not

readily apparent, ask critical questions, and generate novel or unexpected responses to situations

Analytical understanding: allows for dividing problems into their critical components

Synthetic insights: the intuitive ability to cope with novel situations

Practical application skills: usage of the analytical and synthetic skills to solve problems

Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory Sternberg’s Triarchic Model: intelligence, experience,

and context

Gifted and Talented

Etiology:

Heredity Environment

Identification Process Testing

Achievement tests Aptitude or intelligence tests Tests of creativity Ex: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking; Subcultural Indices

of Academic Potential; Kranz Talent Identification Instrument Nominations Artifacts

Gifted and Talented

Binet and Simon created the first developmental assessment. In 1916 the term IQ test was created.

1,500 students with outstanding IQ scores were considered gifted. Gifted is considered by memory, divergent thinking, vocabulary and

visual and performance arts. During the cold war with sputnik, there was short term talent

mobilization which emphasized teaching gifted and talented students math and science primarily at high school levels.

No federal law is required for services or protection for gifted and talented students. They are put into curriculum enriched classes, but there are no “formal” designated classes for them. National Association for gifted children gives advice on how to help teach them. 21 states provide funding for gifted programs. However there are state laws in 29 states.

Curriculum enrichment. Allow students to be challenged, but still maintain their social bonds and friends

Compacting curriculum- intimate knowledge of the curriculum and mastery of it. 1.) Define the outcomes from planes instruction. 2.) Identify the students who have already mastered the objectives. 3.) Decide on the activities to be put in place for students who opt out of the general curriculum.

Gifted and Talented

Self-contained classroom.-rare needed enough students to fill

the classroom, providing funding for additional teacher. In addition not all gifted students are gifted in every subject, and it fosters elitism in the school environment. Resource room is also used more common. Students are pulled out of the classroom and given specific instruction, usually for 1-2 hours.

What teachers should do? Resources, accessible in the classroom. Let gifted students display the research they have learned and

teach to the class. Ask librarians to give out more complex books for the gifted. Make sure the gifted students have a firm grasp on the learned

material.

Gifted and Talented

Some characteristics of Gifted and talented students

High degree of morality. Concern for others. Heightened emotional sensitively in general.

Special Experiences Students who are gifted and talented are often eligible for

special education experiences. The most controversial special experience is acceleration They receive more recognition of their accomplishments and

complete higher levels of education in less time. Acceleration with dual enrollment in high school and college. The extracurricular (Odyssey of the mind) program.

Gifted and Talented

What every teacher should know about technology

Palm-sized computers can assist in note taking. Digital audio and video players can be used to download newscasts

and lectures. ‘’Podcasting’’ can give students access to information in a timely manner.

Encourage creativity by encouraging students to create Web spaces or Web pages.

International communication through email. Princeton Review has launched an SAT-preparation product that is

accessible on cellphone.  Responsible for Providing Service

To support the development of talent in the United States, the U.S Congress passed the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act in 1988.

This legislation authorizes the U.S. Department of education to fund grants provide leadership, and sponsor a national research center on the education of gifted and talented students.

Gifted and Talented

Underachievement: Females do not achieve potential as often as male counterparts, even

though there is little biological evidence as to why. Minorities are also at risk simply because of the failure to identify

them, at all. Gifted children are not immune to the factors that contribute to

underachievement for all of us. The “fear of success” hangs over their heads.

Early Identification: Early intervention in areas of exceptionality may lead to a more

successful career. However, there is no equivalent to Project Child Find for the early

years of life. Diversity:

Minority groups are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs and overrepresented in other categories of disabilities.

Attributed to program planners’ failure to search hard enough and the interaction between tests, teachers, and opportunities.

Grades and graduation rates higher for gifted students. Tests tend to be language and culturally biased. If basic needs aren’t met (medical, monetary, language etc.),

opportunities are stressed.

Gifted and Talented

Professionals: Most states do not have any specific requirements for teaching

gifted children. Teachers need not be gifted themselves, they just need to

understand certain qualities … Need to be facilitators, not directors and need to …

Advice for teachers: Gifted children need to have their talents addressed before they

develop poor attitudes toward the learning environment. Females need to be shown strong, female role models that challenge

gender stereotyping and informed on careers that circumvent the same thing.

Single-sex math and science classrooms are suggested, as a means of letting females flourish in those areas.

Pay attention to your early childhood kids, and whether or not they need to be encouraged in areas that they have high progressions in.

Have a positive attitude!

Gifted and Talented