1. Is It a Cheetah?

4. Misconceptions About Gifted
Homogeneity
Fixed Quality
Singular Service
Cognitive Needs
General Intellect
IQ Score
Differentiation
Unserviced Success

5. The Common Definition Gifted Achievement Intellectual Academic
Creative
Talented
Based on analysis of state definitions and literature, the expectation is “giftedness” will be generally defined with the term gifted, rather than high achieving or high ability or precocious or similar terms, and achievement, intellect, and academics are heavily associated and prioritized in this definition. Likely, if asked about what “gifted” means, the response would be “smart”, and behaviors would frequently list accelerated academic pace, good grades, good test scores, quick retention, etc..
However, those behaviors are focused on education alone. Visual artistry, performance, leadership, critical thinking, the humanities, motivation, athleticism, entelechy (self-actualization), spiritualism, and more are all domains which could fall under giftedness, and

6. Homogeneity
'There is no single homogeneous group of gifted children and adults'
- Reis and Renzulli
Myth 1: The gifted and talented constitute one single
homogeneous group and giftedness is a way of being that stays in the person over time and experiences.

7. General Intellect
'Underlying assumption ... that gifted children have a general intellectual power that allows them to be gifted “across the board”'
- Winner
Gifted child: Myths and realities

8. Fixed Quality 'giftedness is developmental, not fixed at birth'
- Reis and Renzulli
Myth 1: The gifted and talented constitute one single
homogeneous group and giftedness is a way of being that stays in the person over time and experiences.

9. The Singular Score
'very few within our field define giftedness as high IQ'
'High potential for intellectual performance is multidimensional'
- Borland
Myth 2: The gifted constitute 3% to 5% of the population. Moreover, giftedness equals high IQ, which is a stable measure of aptitude; Spinal Tap
psychometrics in gifted education
- Friedman-Nimz
Myth 6: Cosmetic use of multiple selection criteria

10. The Singular Program
'there is a single set of principles or elements that represent an appropriate differentiated curriculum for gifted students'
- Kaplan
Myth 9: There is a single curriculum for the gifted.

11. General Ed. Differentiation
'reality is that the way we “do school” does not make it easy for classrooms to be places where individual student needs … ultimately shape the curriculum'
- Hertberg-Davis
Myth 7: Differentiation in the regular classroom is equivalent to gifted programs and is sufficient: Classroom teachers have the time, the skill, and
the will to differentiate adequately.

12. Success Without Service
'an array of comparative strengths,
vulnerabilities, and similarities'
- Peterson
Myth 17: Gifted and talented individuals do not have unique social and emotional needs

13. Cognitive Needs
'Neither high achievers nor gifted underachievers are exempt from troubling circumstances … achievement may be central to achievers' identity'
- Peterson
Myth 17: Gifted and talented individuals do not have unique social and emotional needs