Gifted TLSE 240

Does the student…  Have a curiosity about the world?  Have many interests or hobbies?  Use advanced vocabulary?  Catch on quickly?  Think abstractly?

Then…  Perhaps he/she may be gifted or talented

 There are and have been different definitions referring to this population

1972 Definition of Gifted and Talented Children  Capable of high performance  Require differentiated services/programs  Have demonstrated achievement and potential ability in theses areas

continued  General intellectual ability  Specific academic aptitude  Creative or productive thinking  Leadership ability  Visual or performing arts  Psychomotor ability

 1978 definition dropped psychomotor ability  1988 definition: high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity or in specific academic fields.  Requires special services

1994 Definition  Does not use term “gifted”  Recognized presence of talent among children across all cultural and socio-economic groups  Potential for remarkably high levels  Require specialized services

Definitions continued  Some differentiate between gifted (extraordinary ability and creativity) and talented (exceptional skills in a specific area such as art, music, science, or language)

 States use different definition  Not covered under IDEA or 504  Largely up to states and school districts  No requirement for states to develop programs

Recent Views  Include a reference to commitment to task (i.e., motivation and task completion)  View that gifted behavior is an interaction among ability, creativity, and task commitment

Some Characteristics  Outstanding memory  Many interests, hobbies, and collections  Passionate interest  Intense  Strongly motivated in area of interest  May be unwilling to work on other activities

Characteristics continued  Track two or more things simultaneously  Comes up with better ways to do things  Sensitive  Advanced sense of justice and fairness  Aware of global issues  May work in sloppy or careless manner

Invisible Gifted  Minorities  Disabled  Females

Misconceptions  Advanced intellectually but behind physically, socially, and emotionally  Superhuman and exceptional in every way

Identification  Uni dimensional approaches OR   Multidimensional approaches

Identification continued  IQ tests (IQ of 130; 2 SD’s above mean)  Academic assessments  Tasks of creativity  Teacher nomination  Parent suggestion  Observations, rating scales, etc.

Identification continued  Gardner’s Model of Multiple Intelligence Linguistic Logical-mathematical Spatial Musical Bodily-Kinesthetic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Naturalistic

 May have a screening and/or referral and evaluation team  If district criteria are met, the student is recommended for placement, and a plan is developed

Some Programs/Approaches  Resource programs  Self-contained programs  Inclusion programs

Definitions  Student acceleration – rapid movement of student through school (i.e., 16 yr old in med school)  Content acceleration – rapid movement through the curriculum (i.e., 5 th grader doing algebra in 5 th grade math class)

continued  Enrichment – provide supplemental learning opportunities to branch off the general curriculum  Independent learning  Authentic learning  Higher order thinking projects  Community based projects

continued  Curriculum compacting – opportunity to demonstrate what is known about a subject (i.e., can pretest/test out of something)

Magnet Schools  Advanced placement classes  College credit for high school classes  Honors sections  Ability/cluster groupings

Groupings  Need to be with “like-minded” peers for at least part of the day  Find cooperative learning (mixed ability groups) too slow and repetitive  Summer camps or programs

Remember the  Need to be challenged DO NOT  Just give them more work  Just let them be peer tutors

These Students Need  Different opportunities

Scenarios  Student “aces” quizzes and tests but never hands in daily homework which largely influences grade  Student only performs well on topics of interest  Student complains to others that the work is too easy or babyish

 May need grading adjustments  May need support to work in areas of dislike  May need to test out of subjects  May need to learn about individual learning styles/abilities

Remember  These children are still children first…with all of the needs that all children have