"Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others their age, experience, or environment. These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided in the schools. Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor." (U.S. Department of Education, 1993, p. 3)
"Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits—these clusters being above-average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs." (Joseph Renzuli,1978)
Categories of Giftedness
Intellectually Gifted
Intellectually gifted students are those that people often describe as 'gifted.' These are students with outstanding memories and literacy abilities, especially compared to their peers. Intellectually gifted students are often above and beyond the other students in their classes when it comes to problem solving and critical thinking, and they are known to have "insatiable curiosities." (Bireley, 1995). They are usually distinguished by their high scores on standardized tests.
Twice Exceptional (Gifted and Disabled)
Twice exceptional students are those who are gifted and also have a learning disability. Among students with a dual exceptionality, there are three commonly cited groups:
Creative and Talented
Creative and talented students are a wider range and typically are identified by having an exceptional talent in a particular area, often in the visual or performing arts. The 12 categories said to be representative of creative and talented individuals are: original, independent, risk taking, aware of creativeness, energetic, curious, has a sense of humor, attracted to complexity, artistic, open-minded, needs time alone, and intuitive.
Hidden Gifted, Creative, and Talented
Hidden gifted, creative, and talented students can fall under many categories as the reason they are not identified as gifted, creative, and talented can vary. Some students may be twice-exceptional and thus their second exceptionality masks their giftedness. Others are simply wrongly identified because of standardized tests that are biased against them due to cultural or linguistic diversity. Evidence has even shown that girls are more likely to be missed as gifted students, however the reasons are still debated.
Prevalence
Because there is controversy over the exact definition of who qualifies as gifted, the actual number of gifted and talented youth is difficult to pinpoint. Some report approximately 3%-5% of the population is gifted and talented (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2003) but there is suspicion that the actual figures are much higher.
Identification
Although there exist many students who are not identified as gifted because of existing disabilities, test bias, or other extenuating circumstances, educators have spent years developing methods to identify gifted students.
Attached is a document that tells how each state identifies gifted and talented students. Below is a snapshot of the information this document gives you!
Intellectually Gifted
Intellectually gifted students are those that people often describe as 'gifted.' These are students with outstanding memories and literacy abilities, especially compared to their peers. Intellectually gifted students are often above and beyond the other students in their classes when it comes to problem solving and critical thinking, and they are known to have "insatiable curiosities." (Bireley, 1995). They are usually distinguished by their high scores on standardized tests.
Twice Exceptional (Gifted and Disabled)
Twice exceptional students are those who are gifted and also have a learning disability. Among students with a dual exceptionality, there are three commonly cited groups:
- Students who have been identified as gifted, but are showing difficulties in school and may be considered underachiever. These students are often working at grade level and may be overlooked by more subtle screening procedures to identify gifted students. In these students, their underachievement is less due to their mental ability, and more often due to poor self-concept, lack of motivation, or laziness.
- Students who have been identified as having a learning disability, but whose exceptional abilities have been missed or overlooked. Often this is due to lower IQ or standardized test scores. These students are first noticed for what they cannot do, rather than their exceptional abilities, and their strengths do not become the focus of their instructional program until their exceptional abilities become recognized.
- Students who have abilities and disabilities that mask eachother, which leads others to believe that they are unfit for gifted and talented services. These students are usually performing at grade level, but unfortunately also performing well below their potential.
Creative and Talented
Creative and talented students are a wider range and typically are identified by having an exceptional talent in a particular area, often in the visual or performing arts. The 12 categories said to be representative of creative and talented individuals are: original, independent, risk taking, aware of creativeness, energetic, curious, has a sense of humor, attracted to complexity, artistic, open-minded, needs time alone, and intuitive.
Hidden Gifted, Creative, and Talented
Hidden gifted, creative, and talented students can fall under many categories as the reason they are not identified as gifted, creative, and talented can vary. Some students may be twice-exceptional and thus their second exceptionality masks their giftedness. Others are simply wrongly identified because of standardized tests that are biased against them due to cultural or linguistic diversity. Evidence has even shown that girls are more likely to be missed as gifted students, however the reasons are still debated.
Prevalence
Because there is controversy over the exact definition of who qualifies as gifted, the actual number of gifted and talented youth is difficult to pinpoint. Some report approximately 3%-5% of the population is gifted and talented (Hallahan & Kauffman, 2003) but there is suspicion that the actual figures are much higher.
Identification
Although there exist many students who are not identified as gifted because of existing disabilities, test bias, or other extenuating circumstances, educators have spent years developing methods to identify gifted students.
Attached is a document that tells how each state identifies gifted and talented students. Below is a snapshot of the information this document gives you!