1. Definition, Classification, Prevalence Identification
Outline – Lecture 7 [Oct. 28, 2003] [Ch. 8] Children Who Are Gifted, Creative, &Talented
Definition, Classification, Prevalence
Identification
Theories of Giftedness
Renzulli’s Model
Gagné’s Model
Cognitive development
Education
Social development
Family and underachievers

2. Identification of the Gifted
Which of these children is gifted?
Leslie scored 145 on a standardized test of intelligence but has an academic average of 80.
Anne creates beautiful sculptures in art, but is barely passing her academic subjects.
Peter shows great musical talent on the oboe and other wind instruments and is doing B+ work in school.
Mary is a whiz at math but does not do well in English and social studies.
Robert has always been a leader. In fact, everyone seems to look to him for guidance and advice.

3. Identification of the Gifted
Are the terms intellectual ability, talent, creativity interchangeable when identifying giftedness?
Intellectual ability: refers to students who score better than 95% of the other students on IQ and achievement tests.
Talent: refers to above average
performance on some specific skill.
Creativity: refers to the ability to bring unusual or unexpected answers to situations.

4. What traits are important in defining giftedness?
Often seen as falling into one of 4 groups:
1. Intellectual skills [verbal, quantitative, spatial, memory skills]
2. Artistic skills [painting, music, dance]
3. Physical skills [sports, or ability to survive in challenging terrains e.g. Edmund Hillary]
4. Niche-fitting skills [ability to find or create an environment that is well suited to personal talents allowing an individual great success e.g. Bill Gates]

5. The Terman Studies
Terman’s longitudinal study of 1,528 California high school children had profound implications for the field of gifted education and remains the paramount work in the area. The study:
dispelled some traditional myths about gifted individuals
established the IQ test as the sole criterion in the identification of giftedness, and
lent credibility to the notion of special education for gifted youngsters

6. Defining Giftedness
high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership ability, or in specific academic fields
superior in some way to the average

7. Levels of Giftedness: Does it make sense????
Moderately Gifted (IQ )
Highly Gifted = (IQ )
Extremely Gifted = (IQ 160 – 180)
Profoundly Gifted = (IQ 180+)

8. Renzulli’s Model

9. Gagné’s Model a clear distinction between giftedness & talent
five aptitude domains [genetic]:
intellectual,
creative,
socioaffective,
sensorimotor
and "others" (eg. extrasensory perception)
one cannot be talented without first being gifted
the reverse is not true

10. Assessing Giftedness Complete history of child and family.
Appropriate assessment of Intelligence
Use of an Adequate Measure
Problem: Ceiling Effects
Qualified Professional
Multi-source Evaluation
Teacher nominations
Parent nominations
Peer nominations and self-nomination

11. Use of IQ tests to identify the intellectually gifted
IQ tests [individual or group]
- measure convergent thinking [ability to take in lots of information and zero in on the right answer]
-do not measure divergent thinking [novel ways of thinking and using information]
-usually have an arbitrary cutoff score [can be stringent or liberal]

12. Criticisms for using IQ cutoff scores:
Not sensitive to other influences on success & achievement
Based on notion of “g” [general intellectual functioning]
Tend to emphasize heredity over environment
Culture fairness questionable

13. Problems in identification:
Difficult to measure creativity accurately
Gifted underachievers
Females who are gifted
Gifted students who are disabled
Gifted students who have learning disabilities
Gifted students from minority groups

14. Cognitive Development
Piaget’s Stages
Sensorimotor < 2 yrs.
move from reflexive behaviour to representational thought
Preoperational 2 – 7 yrs.
use representational thought but are egocentric
Concrete operations 7 – 11 yrs.
can solve concrete problems
Formal operations > 11 yrs.
can use abstract thinking

15. Generalizations about the gifted
Have high general intelligence and some exceptional specific ability
Tend to capitalize on strengths and compensate for weaknesses
Tend to shape their environment
Have exceptional problem solving ability
Can conceive higher order relations

16. Educational Issues Within the Regular School/Class:
Ability grouping
Out of Class Support
Other Educational Options:
Private school
Home schooling
Programs outside of school
Enrichment
Acceleration
Independent study

17. Criticisms of acceleration
Children may be socially disadvantaged
Children may have gaps in knowledge
Children may “burn out”

18. Delivery systems Special schools Segregated with like students
e.g. School for the Arts
Special classes
Segregated with like students but class is located within regular school
Resource programs
Child is removed from regular class for enrichment
Enrichment in the classroom
Teacher provides enrichment within regular class
Mentor programs
Gifted children have mentors in the community who share a special interest

19. Which is best?
Special classes are superior to regular classes but is subject dependent.
Large effects for science and social studies
Smaller effects for math, reading, and writing
No difference in self-concept or creativity
Disadvantages to special classes
Average children lack role models
Special classes are more expensive
Exclusivity and elitism

20. Social Development Self-concept gifted: higher academic self-concept
Global – gender differences
Elementary school:
girls: gifted > non-gifted
boys: gifted < non-gifted
High School:
girls: no difference
boys: gifted > non-gifted
Domains [Harter Scales]
gifted: higher academic self-concept
slightly lower in physical and social domains

21. Social development [cont’d]
Personality variables
-higher self-sufficiency
-non-conformists
-more introverted
Peer Relationships
-tend to choose friends more in line with mental age
-moderately gifted children more popular
-highly gifted children [>160] have few or no friends, often have behavioural adjustment problems, family problems

22. What predicts adult adjustment?
good family relationships in family of origin
parental education
appreciation and valuing of intellect by family & gifted child

23. Underachievers and families
Parents are highly educated
High SES
Pressure to achieve potential
Emphasis on academic performance
Little support for emotional issues
Inconsistent discipline
At school, too rigid structure is associated with underachievement

24. Conclusions re: giftedness
Underserved population
Misperception that “cream rises to the top”
Needs only addressed when crisis is perceived