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The term identification, when used in an educational context, is very broad and encompasses processes that might be in place for deciding which students will be offered particular services within a school or school district, which students might be selected for a special school, or who is given the option of attending a summer Governor's School. Before any program personnel can determine who will be selected for participation, the definition of whatever construct is to be identified must be clear and agreed upon. Because of the many conceptions of giftedness found in the theoretical and research literature, the first and most important decision that should be made regarding practical procedures for identification of gifted students is to select a conception or definition of giftedness to guide decision making. Once consensus is reached on a definition of giftedness, this definition provides guidance in determining who needs to receive special services and the method one will use to select those students. The process of identification will, of course, vary considerably depending on how a school district defines giftedness. But in any identification plan, regardless of the definition chosen, a common set of questions can be used to guide how decision makers respond to the recurring and problematic questions surrounding the identification of students for special programs and services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The use of norm-referenced, standardized tests of intelligence and achievement in the process of identifying gifted students has a long tradition. Indeed, use of these tests continues to dominate the identification of giftedness in most states and school districts. Proponents of the use of intelligence tests contend that they are objective, valid means of assessing intellectual ability and the single most reliable predictors of academic achievement. However, reliance on traditional assessment intelligence and achievement tests—as the sole data sources in identifying gifted students has received scrutiny. Critics question the validity of these tests for measuring giftedness and argue that an emphasis on traditional assessment tools reflects outdated conceptions of giftedness. They further contend that traditional assessments contribute to the under-identification of minority, low socioeconomic status (SES), and twice-exceptional students, as well as students with creative talents. Still others note that relying solely on traditional test scores results in an arbitrary and indefensible use of cut-off scores for inclusion in gifted programs. These criticisms have led to expanded conceptions of giftedness along with new paradigms for identifying more diverse populations for gifted programs and services. New paradigms call for the use of multiple criteria for identification, including a combination of portfolios, authentic and dynamic assessments, performance tasks, teacher rating scales, and other non-traditional assessments in combination with traditional assessments. While moving the role of traditional assessment tools from center stage in the decision- making process has been encouraged, few argue that they have no place in conceptions of intellectual giftedness' or identification of students gifted in specific academic domains, and they remain a prominent data source in identification procedures in most school districts. However, in order to evaluate the advantages, and limitations, of using traditional assessment tools for identifying gifted students, one must understand what these instruments purport to measure and for what purposes they are valid and reliable instruments. This understanding will aid educators in determining how and under what circumstances it is appropriate to use traditional assessment tools to identify gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Significant advances have been made in the education of gifted rural students, especially in the areas of identification and curriculum development. In general, the existing research suggests that culturally-sensitive, creativity-focused identification practices and experiential, community-based curricular efforts provide numerous benefits to bright students living in rural areas. There also appears to be empirical evidence, albeit limited in scope, that providing comprehensive educational and counseling support to gifted rural students, especially those in high school and college, leads to greater academic success. In addition, over the past 20 years, a hallmark of almost every successful program for gifted rural students has been intensive professional development focused on the characteristics and needs of gifted students. Of course, the positive impact of professional development is not surprising: The well-known lack of content on gifted students in most teacher preparation programs, combined with traditional rural attitudes toward giftedness, make it unlikely that many rural educators have had much exposure (or motivation to get exposure) to gifted education issues. Despite the advances in the education of rural gifted students stretching back a couple of generations, the literature on this particular group of students is still marked by collections of presumed best practices, anecdotal evidence, and conceptual analyses. It is worth noting that the flurry of recent publications on gifted rural students focuses primarily either on conceptual analyses or reviews of literature. The lack of program evaluations and empirical studies of specific interventions has delayed progress substantially. The field has a strong foundation from which to proceed, but a great deal of additional work is needed to provide educators with tools for fostering the development of gifted students living in rural communities. Finally, educators and researchers need to keep in mind that the nature of rurality is rapidly changing. Due to broader economic, cultural, and immigration trends (and most probably, interactions among them), describing a prototypical "rural community" has become nearly impossible. For example, numerous languages are spoken in rural areas; in rural communities in Northeast Indiana, one may overhear conversations in English, German, or Spanish. The linguistic, cultural, and racial/ethnic diversity in rural communities is often noted, but rarely directly addressed in the literature on gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The current knowledge base in the area of twice exceptionality, particularly regarding those students with learning disabilities, includes both empirical research from the neurosciences and lessons from practice, where clinical and educational programs have sprouted to provide support and an organizational identity for twice exceptionality. Twice exceptionality is not a diagnosis widely accepted and supported in mainstream education. Notably, little epidemiological data exist to provide incidence or precedence for it, because it extends across several populations of disability and because no central definition exists for giftedness. However, information from empirical and epidemiological research, case studies, assessment, and current models of practice provides the fundamental knowledge necessary to advocate for and serve these special gifted children, poised to contribute to the world in extraordinary ways with their unique skills and talents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Gifted children and youth remain a misunderstood population. Part of the problem is definitional. The federal definition states that the gifted demonstrate outstanding ability or potential and require differentiated educational programs, and includes exceptional intellectual, academic, and leadership ability, creativity, and artistic talent. In clinical practice, however, high IQ remains the predominant definitional criterion. Most psychologists and schools use the criterion of an IQ score of 120,125, or 130. A second definitional issue that has contributed to misunderstanding is whether we should narrowly define giftedness as persons of high IQ or more broadly define giftedness as any person with exceptional ability or uncommon talent. A third issue is whether we should restrict our conceptualization to those children with already demonstrated high ability or also consider children with outstanding promise. The gifted are not immune to the social and emotional challenges that all children face. Some gifted underperform to mask their abilities. A number of gifted struggle with depression, suicide ideation, anxiety, social isolation and feelings of alienation, anger management, neurotic perfectionism, and sexual identity issues. Finally, some gifted are twice exceptional and have sensory, orthopedic, or communication disabilities or psychiatric disorders coexisting with their giftedness, including ADHD, Asperger's disorder, eating disorders, and mood disorders. Experts hypothesize that the majority of twice exceptional gifted/disabled have specific learning disabilities (SLD). There are three types of gifted/SLD. The first type is the gifted with subtle, subclinical learning problems. The second type is diagnosed as learning disabled but rarely identified as gifted. Their learning disability is more pervasive and severe and moderates their academic success. The third type remains unrecognized as either learning disabled or gifted. Their learning disability masks their gift and their gift obscures their learning disability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

By establishing the American Association for Gifted Children (AAGC), Strang and her colleagues raised awareness amongst teachers, counselors and parents of the needs of gifted, talented, and creative students across the United States. Her actions emphasized the importance of advocacy for gifted students and contributed to an awareness of the research on giftedness and gifted education. Ruth Strang was a respected female professor of education at a leading university. She was an educator and astute counselor of gifted students. She was highly perceptive of gifted students' developmental needs and spent decades honing her knowledge and understanding of child and adolescent development. Her writings on the nature of giftedness were based on case studies of gifted children and research on giftedness. As one of a group of academics at Teachers College interested in giftedness, she added to the credibility of the field of gifted education in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Her depth of knowledge in regard to adolescent development, guidance and psychology of students, and the importance of reading development provided her with the broad educational knowledge that she applied to her studies of gifted students. Professor Ruth May Strang was a woman ahead of her times as an observant and insightful educator; much of what she wrote on the psychological and educational needs of the gifted continues to be relevant to gifted children and adolescents today. References (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Calvin W. Taylor, scholar, thinker, and imaginer, devoted his life to the development of creative talents and abilities in all people. He worked to promote an educational system in which all students would be given the opportunity and support to develop their talents to the fullest. His doctoral work with psychologist L.L. Thurstone further defined linguistic fluency to include the subcategories of ideational fluency and verbal versatility, set the stage for his life's work in promoting the idea that there are multiple factors involved in human intelligence. He viewed talents as the intellectual or mental abilities recognized through the work of Thurstone (1938) and Guilford (1967). Taylor's work, along with the work of E. Paul Torrance and others, changed the fundamental conception of giftedness—that IQ alone was not sufficient to predict success in later life. He insisted that multiple talents were the key to understanding whether someone would be successful and believed that education should concern itself with the identification and cultivation of all human talents. He felt that creative talents and their development through multiple-talent teaching were needed to insure our productive future, stating, "Creativity has the power to transform giftedness to eminence" (as cited in Kim, 2009, p. 571). For Taylor, the development of one's talents had the potential to change the course of history (Kim, 2009). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

To summarize the rationale for including Ann Isaacs in a book of nineteenth and twentieth century "illuminated minds" for the field of gifted education, it seems clear that she belongs in this pantheon. She may not have contributed most profoundly to the intellectual foundations of the field, but she did contribute to the heart and well-being of the field through her direct communications with schools, families, and the two national organizations she founded. Her philosophy about what was needed served both national organizations well for 28 consecutive years. She also was someone to whom the regular readers of the two journals she founded and managed could relate. Her messages were simple and direct, based on the "real world," something readers and audience participants could expect when they read to or listened to Ann Isaacs. She was the field's most vocal advocate through her books, journals, music, and art. She kept the field, without much political, societal, or economic support (or respect), from being erased from conscious awareness and conscience. She may have had her flaws and her personal ambitions, but she was consistent in her message about the development of giftedness, creativity, and talent. Fond as she was of lists (25 strategies for teaching gifted readers, 100 ways to raise self-esteem, etc.), it is hoped the following succinct list of her accomplishments would please her if she could see it today. The accomplishments are large for such a tiny but energetic woman. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Catharine Morris Cox (later) Miles is most widely known in the field of gifted education as the author of Terman's second volume of Genetic Studies of Genius. Her contributions to research on giftedness included a study of historical figures who were highly gifted children using historiometric inquiry, contributions to handbooks and reviews. Her work influenced scholarly inquiry and popular culture. This chapter discusses her life and career. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

Building on the work of Francis Galton, extending the work of Alfred Binet, and contradicting the work of Cesare Lombroso, Lewis Terman, Leta Hollingworth, and Catharine Cox Miles set in motion a series of studies that would provide the space from which the field of gifted education would contract and expand during its nearly 100 years of existence. The intentions of their investigations differed in focus and meaning. Terman concentrated on description, definition, and identification of giftedness and how this related to the prediction of future success. Hollingworth's intentions lay in the description and education of the gifted. Cox also sought to describe the gifted genius but in an infinitely different but no less scientific way than her contemporaries by employing methodologies of history and imposing them on psychological principles and theories. The greatness of their investigations stem from two aspects: (a) the innovativeness of their undertakings and (b) the sense making achieved from the sheer magnitude and scope of the data.Their investigations spawned conceptual and empirical activity that continues in the twenty-first century. This chapter discusses these figures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Kazimierz Dabrowski's theorizing has contributed significantly to the broadening conceptualization of giftedness, beyond academic achievement and eminence. Based on his clinical practice and research, Dabrowski noted that gifted and talented individuals tended to experience the world and themselves in qualitatively different ways. In his conceptualization, Dabrowski emphasized the primacy of emotion, explicitly relegating other factors, including intelligence, to subservient roles. Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration provides scholars, researchers, practitioners, and parents a unique lens through which to view giftedness with emotion taking center stage. Unlike other theoretical contributions that have broadened the conceptualization of giftedness, for example, Mariand's (1972) expansion from unidimensional to multidimensional, Dabrowski's theory has contributed to a re-conceptualization of giftedness itself. Emotional giftedness (Mayer, Perkins, Caruso, & Salovey, 2001; Piechowski, 1997), giftedness as asynchronous development (Silverman, 1997, 2012), identification of giftedness (Carman, 2011), and self-actuaUzation and morality ofthe gifted (Ruf, 2009) are a few examples of Dabrowski's influence on our current conceptualization of giftedness. The pilot research by Mayer and his associates (2001) is particularly important because it showed that positive maladjustment appears at the high end of emotional intelligence and that it characterizes emotional giftedness. In addition, other contemporary theorizing such as giftedness as greater awareness (Roeper, 1982), spiritual giftedness (Lovecky, 1998), and heightened multifaceted sensitivity (MendagUo, 2003) resonate with Dabrowski's theory and receive indirect support from it. In general, TPD has had the effect of ending the stranglehold that cognition and material achievement had on the field of gifted education. Scholars, adopting a Dabrowskian perspective on giftedness, have reinforced the importance of a holistic approach to giftedness—to concern ourselves with the emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions of gifted individuals, not simply to focus on meeting their intellectual needs, but rather the development of the whole person. As such, TPD contrasts sharply with conceptions of giftedness that emphasize productivity (Renzulli, 1978; Gardner, 1999; Sternberg, 2000). Interest in TPD's conception of giftedness is on the rise, despite renewed attempts to reduce giftedness to an external criterion of achievement (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The life and work of Sir Francis Galton is surely the most important in any history of the field of gifted education. He not only was the first to study giftedness in a serious way but also invented statistical techniques such as correlation and regression in order to use statistics to handle the data sets he constructed. His interest in children in schools and women in hospitals led to his initiating questionnaires to collect data on needs in both settings. Galton's investigations led to improved attention to vision and hearing needs of children and to pregnancy issues related for women. Thus, his work impacted many aspects of what we still do today in education in general as well as in gifted education. This chapter discusses Galton's contributions to the field. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

In the 1930s and 1940s, Paul Witty emerged as one of the leading spokespersons of gifted education (Hildenbrand, 1981) and became one of the most prolific writers in the field during the 1940s and 1950s. He also had a variety of interests during his career including reading, the effects of television on children, and creativity (Beckstrand, n.d.). His interest in gifted education and gifted children spanned a number of areas, including programming options and educational provisions, identification and the definition of giftedness, gifted African American students, gifted students and science, and the Quiz Kids show (a popular program in the 1940s and 1950s that began on radio and then moved to television). In addition to editing one of the most important books in the 1950s, The Gifted Child, Witty contributed numerous journal articles and book chapters to the literature and conducted longitudinal and case study research. What Witty's archival collection and his publications reveal is a scholar and gentleman dedicated to advancing the educational needs of gifted children. He was one of the first researchers in the field to seriously advance the idea that students of color were to be found in the ranks of high intelligence, which ran counter to the standard belief during the first half of the 20th century. Witty encouraged challenging educational opportunities for all gifted children and was active in advocating on their behalf. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Paul Witty, Martin Jenkins, Cal Taylor, E. Paul Torrance, and Kazimierz Dabrowski all contributed to a more inclusive and expansive concept of giftedness, providing a multidimensional description and greater explanation of the behaviors associated with gifted persons. These researchers came from disparate backgrounds in terms of upbringing, education, and how they lived their lives and conducted themselves professionally. Their interests in expanding how society and how researchers considered and treated gifted children provide their conceptual linkages. They inherited a field that was for all intents and purposes dormant, and they revitalized it by considering a more inclusive group of children. Witty, Jenkins, Taylor, Torrance, and Dabrowski identified additional behaviors and characteristics to explicate and enrich their conceptualizations of giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

For millennia, scholars and laypersons alike have been fascinated with people of high accomplishment and those who show the potential for great accomplishment. These individuals are typically referred to as "gifted." In trying to answer the question "What behaviors and characteristics make someone gifted?," a variety of theories, or conceptions, of giftedness have been proposed. Until recently, conceptions of giftedness were based on "implicit theories," or the intuitions, impressions, and personal beliefs held by individuals, rather than on "'explicit theories," which are supported by rigorous research investigating the cognitive, ability, and personality variables associated with giftedness. Carefully articulating an evidence-based conception of giftedness carries important implications for educational practice. This is because the way in which a school district conceptualizes giftedness should guide its overall programming for gifted students, including how to identify gifted learners, how to instruct them so that their gifts and academic potential are realized, and how to evaluate whether the identification and instruction were appropriate and relevant to their cognitive characteristics. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Giftedness is a social construct that comes with a wide range of interpretations, as there is not a typical gifted learner. The term gifted has been, at times, considered antiquated as educators, policy makers, and scholars address a history of intellectual elitism and the underrepresentation of children from diverse backgrounds in gifted programs across the country. Gifted learners are artists, musicians, engineers, teachers, dreamers, trendsetters, problem solvers, and activists. Frasier and Passow (1994) referred to general attributes of gifted learners, or traits, aptitudes, and behaviors identified across the research as being common elements of giftedness. It is important to recognize that giftedness manifests differently in every child and the presence of the noted diverse traits will vary for each learner based on his or her passion area, type, and level of giftedness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Definitions of high ability exist in context. When education in the 19th and 20th centuries primarily valued the rapid and accurate learning of a well-defined sequence of knowledge and skills, IQ and achievement tests predicted success. Cognitive qualities of giftedness were readily defined in terms of speed, accuracy, good memory, and even a predilection to work alone. Cognitive qualities of giftedness were closely tied to these views of the nature of education. The new values, especially since the 1980s, focus on inquiry-based learning and teaching and represent a major shift in the underlying assumption about what teaching, learning, and schools should be like, in the goals of education, and in the roles of teachers and learners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Musical giftedness is a topic characterized by multiple perspectives and definitions. Scholars and researchers in music education have investigated the nature of giftedness from a variety of viewpoints resulting in numerous terms used to identify students who may be considered musically gifted, along with various methods for identifying, teaching, and assessing these students. The following chapter includes an overview of the terms, common theories, and modes of assessment related to musical potential followed by definitions, theories, and assessment tools for musical achievement. Musical potential and achievement are then addressed in relation to models for fostering musical giftedness and implications for educators hoping to work with musically gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

A major review of research from 1951 to 1982 on parents and families of students with gifts and talents identified the following themes in the research literature—(a) family characteristics, (b) parental attitudes and values, (c) family problems with gifted children, (d) achievement and underachievement, (e) role of parents in identification, (f) parental encouragement and provision of enrichment activities, and (g) parents and schools. Although the focus of research has narrowed over time, parents' expectations of services and programming and parents' perceptions of their child's giftedness consistently have remained a focus of study. The distinctive challenges that parents of gifted children face should be of interest to researchers as well as to teachers, parents, and the gifted children themselves. Awareness of these challenges can help faculty to design appropriate educational experiences for preservice and in-service teachers who work with students with gifts and talents, can ameliorate some of the isolation felt by parents of gifted learners, and can help gifted individuals to understand and come to terms with their own family environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The neural bases of giftedness will be examined in this chapter by focusing on a construct within giftedness: high levels of intelligence. Intelligence is very difficult to define, and in fact, there is little consensus among scientific researchers as to what is meant by intelligence. A general definition provided by Sternberg and Salter (1982) that we will use is "goal-directed adaptive behavior". Intelligent behavior is adaptive in that it changes to confront and successfully meet challenges. Because it is not enough for intelligent behavior to simply be adaptive, it is also thought to be goal-directed or purposeful. However, it is the adaptive nature of intelligence that will be the primary focus of this chapter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)