· Discuss how you would share your solution with others in order to become a leader in developing inclusive settings.

Students Who Are Gifted and Talented

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Pre-Test:

1. “Twice-exceptional” students have a disability comorbid with being gifted. T/F

2. Identifying gifted students became easier with the creation of the IQ test. T/F

3. The primary cause of giftedness is genetics. T/F

4. Identification of gifted students should occur with a variety of assessments. T/F

5. Schools advance gifted students a grade level to address the needs of the student. T/F

Answers can be found at the end of the chapter.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define and explain the terms “gifted” and “ talented.”

2. Explain important advances in assessment that have benefitted gifted students.

3. Discuss the characteristics of students with giftedness.

4. Explain some potential causes of giftedness.

5. Explain how gifted students are identified by schools.

6. Explain how gifted students differ based on grade level.

7. Discuss classroom strategies that are helpful for teaching students with giftedness.

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.1 What Is Gifted and Talented?

Introduction

You might be wondering: Why is “gifted and talented” in this book? Gifted students don’t have disabilities! And gifted and talented is not considered a disability under the IDEA 2004. How-ever, there are three reasons to include gifted and talented in a book on special education: 1. Many gifted students receive individualized instruction through special education ser-

vices in schools. In fact, some districts even develop individualized educational plans for their gifted students. (These individualized educational plans do not fall under the IDEA 2004, though, as you’ll learn in this chapter.)

2. Many strategies used to individualize instruction for students with disabilities can also be used to individualize instruction for gifted students.

3. Students called “twice gifted” or “twice exceptional” are those who are both gifted and have a disability, so they do qualify for special education services under the IDEA 2004.

Please note that the gifted community does not adhere to people-first language. It is acceptable to say either “gifted students” or “students who are gifted.” Some people also say, “students who exhibit gifted behaviors.” This chapter will use several variations.

This chapter first discusses formal definitions of gifted and talented and the prevalence of gifted students in U.S. schools. It highlights the historical context for providing educational services to gifted students and the characteristics of students with giftedness. The next sections explore possible causes for giftedness, the diagnosis of students in schools, and suggestions for teaching students who are gifted.

7.1 What Is Gifted and Talented?

This section provides definitions of gifted and talented. These definitions do not come from IDEA 2004 because this legislation does not cover students who are gifted. The section con-tinues with a discussion of the prevalence of gifted and talented students in schools. Defining Gifted and Talented Gifted is often used as an umbrella term that describes individuals who are gifted or talented. Stu- dents who are gifted demonstrate innate abilities that are exceptional. Students who are talented demonstrate exceptional performance related to their ability. Most people use the terms gifted and talented interchangeably.

While there are no universal definitions of gifted or talented, the primary organization that represents gifted students, the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), provides the following guideline:

Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented perfor- mance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports). (2008)

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.1 What Is Gifted and Talented?

From My Perspective: Being Gifted Hi, I’m Garrett, and I’ve been on Earth for 10 years. We excep- tionally/profoundly gifted kids may seem like troublemakers. We get distracted easily during normal school curricula, and just don’t seem normal. That’s mainly because we aren’t nor- mal. While most kids are happy when they get easier classes, we aren’t jumping for joy. We’re doing just the opposite. We want to be challenged. We enjoy having our abilities put to the test, no matter if it is science or history or the molecu- lar structure of platypi. We seem distracted because it takes every ounce of our power not to fall asleep during a subject we’ve already studied.

Most of us require nontraditional teaching or extracurricular academic activities to stay pleased. The majority of us have trouble interacting socially, too. In my eye, a kid either gets one or the other. You may have an honor-roll, international-spelling-bee champion student with an IQ well into the upper 100s, but chances are, he or she is socially clueless. Other kids are fairly bright, and most of them are probably going to be kids you want to be around, usually with great humor and personality. Those of us in the first group are usually picked on. We have the spot of “useless geek” cut out for us. The thing is, we’re not. Those of us in the first group need a little extra help, both academically and socially. Teach- ers (and parents, too!) are in the best spot to give one of us a little assistance. You just might find how helpful and fun we can be.

According to the NAGC definition, gifted and talented students demonstrate or have the potential for exceptional abilities in one or more areas.

Another definition, this one from a federal statute, explains that gifted and talented students demonstrate higher performance or are capable of higher performance in intellectual, creative, or leadership domains. According to these definitions, which also vary from state to state, gifted and talented students need specialized instruction, activities, or services in order to develop their exceptional abilities above and beyond general classroom instruction (Stephens & Karnes, 2000).

Gifted and Talented and IDEA 2004 Giftedness is not a category under IDEA 2004, but many school districts serve gifted students through special education offices or programs. The thinking is that students with disabilities require individualized instruction to meet their learning needs, and the same should be true for gifted students. The wide variability in definitions of gifted by both states and districts, though, means that many gifted students are not identified and are underserved (Robertson, Pfeiffer, & Taylor, 2011).

Furthermore, money to provide specialized programs to gifted students does not come from funds provided to school districts under IDEA 2004. Districts provide services through their district bud- gets; some schools apply for grant funding or work with private organizations to provide programs for gifted students.

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.2 How Has the Gifted and Talented Field Evolved?

Prevalence of Gifted and Talented According to state-reported data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (2008), more than 3 million American students qualified as gifted in 2006. Each school or district, however, determines its own criteria and process for determining giftedness in both academic and nonaca- demic areas. Thus, the statistical prevalence of giftedness is difficult to determine and compare between schools, districts, and state populations (Callahan, 2011). As with students with disabili- ties, giftedness persists into adulthood (Fiedler, 2012).

Minorities tend to be underrepre- sented in gifted programs (Ford, 2013), as opposed to overrep- resented in disability categories (Bollmer, Bethel, Garrison-Mogren, & Brauen, 2007). Reasons for the underrepresentation of minori- ties include fewer referrals from teachers and bias of assessments for eligibility (Ford, 2013; Hargrove & Seay, 2011). Also, some minor- ity students may choose to not participate in programs because of the negative comments they could get from peers about being in the gifted program (Henfield, Wash- ington, & Owens, 2010). While this is more often reported for minor- ity students, many gifted students may experience some bullying or ostracism because of being gifted (Peters & Bain, 2011).

7.2 How Has the Gifted and Talented Field Evolved?

Like students with disabilities, students with giftedness have not always received special ser-vices. Toward the end of the 19th century, some schools started to provide appropriate educational services to gifted students. One such effort was put forth by William Torrey Harris, the superintendent of schools in St. Louis, Missouri. Harris ensured that the school curriculum was enhanced to meet the needs of gifted stu- dents and incorporated art and music into the school day. By the turn of that century, school districts in large cities, such as San Diego and Chicago, started creating classes or schools for students who could handle an advanced curriculum (VanTassel-Baska, 2010). The first school devoted exclusively to the education of gifted students opened in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1901 (Henry, 1917).

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To encourage gifted and talented minority students, many colleges and universities run special summer programs for students. Students spend some of the summer taking classes and living on a college campus. These programs encourage minority students to explore new academic areas, and the programs help students get excited about the possibility of higher education and beyond.

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.2 How Has the Gifted and Talented Field Evolved?

Science & Society Picture Library/Contributor/Getty Images

Lewis Terman, the father of gifted education, helped develop tests, like the one pictured, to measure student intelligence while at Stanford University. His studies on the relationship of genetics and giftedness led to his publication of Genetic Studies of Genius (Stoskopf, 2002). This publication followed gifted students throughout their lifetime to track their successes and failures (Jolly, 2008).

The Debut of the Intelligence Quotient Test With the development of the first intelligence quotient (IQ) test in France in 1905, people began the attempt to quantify intelligence. The Binet-Simon Intelligence Test was originally designed to identify students with intellectual disabilities.

Lewis Madison Terman, an edu- cational psychologist at Stan- ford University, revamped the Binet-Simon test in 1916 as the Stanford-Binet IQ test. This test allowed schools to identify stu- dents of below-average or above- average intelligence according to their scores. Schools could use the scores to identify gifted stu- dents and provide additional or different programs for them.

After the introduction of the Stanford-Binet IQ test, schools began placing students into tracks (i.e., educational programs based on intelligence) in an attempt to provide appropriate educa- tional services. At the heart of this movement was Leta Stet- ter Hollingworth, who started a “Special Opportunity Class” in New York City for students

with above-average intelligence. Hollingworth went on to open the Speyer School in New York (VanTassel-Baska, 2010), which was devoted to educating gifted students. She studied her stu- dents over a number of years and wrote the first textbook on gifted students.

The Push for Educating Gifted Students In 1954, the National Association of Gifted Children was founded to advocate for specialized pro- grams on behalf of gifted individuals. A few years later in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite, a movement to identify and provide advanced instruction to gifted individuals took on new life. The United States, fearing that the Soviet Union was getting ahead in terms of technology and science exploration, began pouring money into educational programs that promoted science, technology, and mathematics education. Legislation, such as the National Science Foundation Act and the National Defense Education Act, began providing funds for the education of gifted students in grades K–12.

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.3 What Are the Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

In 1972, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, Sidney P. Marland, Jr., published a report on the education of gifted students. The Marland report defined gifted as children capable of high perfor- mance including those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability (Marland, 1972). The Marland report emphasized that students with outstanding abilities need differentiated instruction and services above and beyond the typical educational programs (Kaplan, 2011). In differentiated instruction, students participate in classroom activities and assignments that are tailored (i.e., differentiated) to the strengths of the individual student.

To be gifted, according to Marland, students needed to demonstrate achievement or potential ability in at least one of the following areas: general intellectual ability, specific academic apti- tude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, visual or performing arts, or psychomo- tor ability (Jolly, 2009b). (Psychomotor ability was later removed from the definition.) To assist in delivering a proper education to gifted students, the Office of the Gifted and Talented in the U.S. Department of Education was recognized in 1974.

The Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act A 1983 report called A Nation at Risk announced that students in the United States were not per- forming as well as students in comparable countries around the world. The report suggested that gifted students should receive a curriculum that supports their needs. To affirm this idea, the U.S. Congress passed the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act in 1988. This Act provided funds for national centers and programs for the education of the gifted and talented. The Javits Act was included in the authorization of No Child Left Behind in 2001 but has not been reauthorized since 2011. Without reauthorization, funds to conduct research and outreach in the area of gifted education are unavailable to research centers and state departments of education.

Even though state and federal standards for students are rising with efforts like the Common Core and No Child Left Behind, gifted students still require individualized and differentiated instruction (Johnsen, 2012). In fact, some people feel that such initiatives focus only on raising the perfor- mance levels of lower-performing students (Siemer, 2006). Therefore, gifted students may not be receiving the educational services that are warranted (Hargrove, 2012). Without proper avenues for research and dissemination (with the Javits Act) and funding opportunities for gifted program- ming, it is difficult for many school districts to afford gifted programs.

7.3 What Are the Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

The exceptional abilities that gifted students display tend to fall into the categories of cre-ative thinking, general intellectual ability, leadership ability, psychomotor ability, specific academic ability, and visual and performing arts ability (Amend, Schuler, Beaver-Gavin, & Beights, 2009; Song & Porath, 2011). Many (if not all) students exhibit one or more characteristics of giftedness at some time during their school careers. When these characteristics are exhibited consistently, a student warrants additional or different instruction at school.

The following section discusses the characteristics of gifted students related to their exceptional abilities and moves on to discuss students who are “twice exceptional.”

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.3 What Are the Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

Characteristics Related to Gifted and Talented Gifted students often demonstrate a gift or talent in one or more of the following areas. These areas are similar to those found in the Marland (1972) report and those outlined by the National Society for the Gifted and Talented (NSGT). Students may exhibit some of these characteristics in one or more of the following areas (Carroll, 2008; Cukierkorn, Karnes, Manning, Houston, & Besnoy, 2008; Glass, 2004; Neumeister, Adams, Pierce, Cassady, & Dixon, 2007; Renzulli, Siegle, Reis, Gavin, & Reed, 2009):

• General intellectual ability • Displays advanced vocabulary • Engages in tasks independently • Gets excited about new ideas and

information; curious • Picks up new material quickly • Remembers information easily • Asks engaging questions • Processes information in complex

ways

• Specific academic aptitude • Eagerly participates in readings • Reads widely in an area • Comprehends difficult material • Reads advanced material • Accurately recalls facts • Discovers patterns in mathematics • Solves problems abstractly or creatively • Uses a variety of representations

• Creative or productive thinking • Pursues opportunities to work and create with technology • Enjoys working with hands-on materials • Invents and creates • Writes and speaks in creative ways • Provides several solutions to problems • Challenged by creative tasks • Displays mature sense of humor; understands sarcasm • Grasps metaphors and analogies

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Many gifted students demonstrate their exceptionalities from an early age. Gifted students often sit up, learn to walk, throw an object, or play with toys earlier than other students. Also, gifted students often speak earlier than other students, and most can read by the age of 4 (McGee & Hughes, 2011).

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CHAPTER 7Section 7.3 What Are the Characteristics of Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

From My Perspective: Teaching Gifted Students I’m Kris, and I’ve taught gifted students for over 10 years. Parallels are often drawn between students diagnosed with disabilities and those identified as gifted or talented. Setting aside the fact that many students are both, there is a tempt- ing logic to viewing them as symmetric departures from the norm. We often use this argument in gifted education to reinforce the need for special services, including differenti- ated instruction in response to individual needs and special training for counselors.

The metaphor, however, only goes so far. For students who learn easily, the general classroom is often the most restric-