Su búsqueda

Giftedness has often been equated with being academically talented or being a high achiever in school. However, there is often concern about the gifted students who could be described as unmotivated and underachieving in one or many academic areas. At the Jones Street School, a school for gifted elementary students, the location of this study, there are some students who are unmotivated and are considered underachievers. In the 5 th Grade in particular, some students are identified as underachievers who are unmotivated to produce high quality writing. The reasons for underachieving in this area are varied. However, when school, home and child work together using various strategies in curriculum and instruction, underachievement can be reversed leading to improved student performance. The main objective of this study is to help teachers and parents in understanding the nature and cause of underachievement and to show them how to effectively work with underachieving 5 th grade gifted students who are unmotivated to produce high quality writing. The study will help to prevent as well as reverse the students' patterns of attitudes and behaviors. The study will use qualitative research questions to address the 5 th grade gifted students who are unmotivated to produce high quality writing. The use of a survey/questionnaire along with a focus group session with the 5 th grade students and teachers examine the cause of underachievement in writing among these students in the Jones Street School. The study aims to provide useful information that allows the teachers to assist the students in becoming successful in their writing projects and increase motivation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

In public schools today, students who are identified as individuals with gifts and talents are generally confronted with education that is not fitted to their learning needs and self-regulatory potentials (Colangelo, Assouline, & Gross, 2004). The mismatch between needs and services is particularly true of those students who, in addition to their giftedness, are faced with the challenges of a developmental disability such as autism or Asperger's Syndrome. In the face of such challenges to appropriate services for twice-exceptional students, a new approach to public education is attracting an increasing amount of attention. The term twice-exceptional was coined by James J. Gallagher to denote students who are both gifted and have a disability. A growing body of research indicates that online learning is effective in meeting the unique needs of these students. This study gathered information from students with gifts and talents with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who are enrolled in a full-time Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The study utilized in-depth interviews with three to four each of students and parents. The data collected was analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. The purpose of the study was to examine the participants' reasons for enrolling in a virtual high school, to assess the extent to which students, their parents, and teachers feel the virtual learning environment accommodates each child's particular academic, behavioral and social needs, and to determine whether the participants perceive VLEs as capable of fostering acceptance and socialization among gifted autistic students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The impact of gifted education services is not monitored by accountability measures required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002), and giftedness is not a suspect class in equity concerns (Leslie, 2009). Therefore, a research base that measures the impact of well-designed practices on student outcomes may serve as the strongest justification for the development of potential among gifted students in American public schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of school characteristics on the development of gifted student potential during the middle school years as measured by achievement, creativity, and motivation outcomes. For the purposes of this study, school characteristics referred to the curriculum (integrated versus traditional), the presence or lack of deliberate focus given to preparation for state criterion-referenced grade-level tests, and the attention given to matching curriculum to student interest. The findings of the research study do not fully support concerns that a focus on state-mandated competency tests may create an unfavorable climate for the academic growth of high-achieving students. There was evidence that an integrated instructional approach that reduced focus on competency testing may foster higher levels of creative thinking. Findings also revealed the importance of periodically monitoring student retention of grade-level standards to guard against regression in levels of proficiency when students engage in accelerated curricula. The study highlighted a need for assessments that permit the evaluation of conceptual understanding and processes to provide a more informative review of academic achievement and creative thinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This study shows that minority students who, based upon a standardized test, have shown a high academic performance capability have a readiness for rigorous courses in high school and can sustain high academic achievement over time when compared to non-minority peers. Therefore, the on-going question for many educators needs to be why doesn't this hold true in many of our public school across this country? Why, in light of the accountability placed upon our nation's schools in 2001, is the prevailing discussion still about minority students being left behind? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ninth-grade to 12th-grade achievement trajectory of same school district ethnic minority and ethnic majority high school students' formally identified as gifted to determine if there is an achievement gap that ensues over time. This study may lead to future investigation on the "Opportunity Gap", and may have important implications for many urban schools in the Metropolitan School District where students who are culturally, linguistically and ethnically diverse are at risk of underachieving. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined and compared school attitudes, including academic self-perceptions, attitudes toward teachers, attitudes toward school, goal valuation, and motivation/self-regulation, using the School Attitude Assessment Survey - Revised (SAAS-R) in groups of students who varied in their potential for academic achievement and their actual academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to extend the current literature on giftedness, underachievement in gifted students, and low achievement in general. Furthermore, this exploratory study was designed to replicate and extend the research on the SAAS-R (Matthews & McBee, 2007; McCoach & Siegle, 2001; McCoach & Siegle, 2003a; McCoach & Siegle, 2003b; McCoach & Siegle, 2003c; Suldo et al., 2008). The sample consisted of 847 students from a Midwestern high school that had the potential to be placed in the following categories: gifted, nongifted, high achiever, low achiever, gifted high achiever, gifted underachiever, nongifted low achiever, or nongifted high achiever. Identification of gifted students was based on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), while achievement was based on grade point average (GPA). Overall, this study demonstrated evidence of adequate construct validity in the SAAS-R. Gifted students had more positive academic self-perceptions than nongifted students ( p<.01). High achievers had more positive attitudes than low achievers on all attitudes measured ( p<.01). Gifted high achievers had more positive attitudes than gifted underachievers in the areas of academic self perceptions, goal valuation, and motivation/self-regulation ( p<.01). Gifted underachievers had lower motivation/self-regulation than nongifted low achievers ( p<.01). No students were classified as nongifted high achievers. Using attitude ratings, logistic regression analyses correctly classified gifted achievers and gifted underachievers with 85.9% accuracy in the five factor model and 86.7% accuracy in a two factor model including academic self-perceptions and motivation/self-regulation. Also, high achievers and low achievers were correctly classified with 80.6% accuracy in the five factor model and 80.3% accuracy in a two factor model including academic self-perceptions and motivation/self-regulation. Limitations and implications for practice and research are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Intellectual giftedness is associated with strong strategic verbal memory while Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with strategic verbal memory deficits; however, no previous research has explored how this contradiction manifests in gifted populations with diagnoses of ADHD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore strategic verbal memory processes among intellectually gifted children and adolescents with and without ADHD to provide clarification regarding this specific aspect of neuropsychological functioning within this population. One hundred-twenty five children and adolescents completed neuropsychological evaluations including the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) and California Verbal Learning Test, Children's Version (CVLT-C). Results revealed significant differences between groups. More specifically, one-way analyses of variance revealed that intellectually gifted children and adolescents with ADHD achieved lower T-scores on CVLT-C Trials 1-5 than intellectually gifted children and adolescents without ADHD, and intellectually gifted children and adolescents with ADHD achieved higher T-scores on CVLT-C Trials 1-5 than children and adolescents of average intellectual abilities with ADHD. Repeated measure analysis of variance revealed a main effect improvement among gifted children and adolescents with ADHD in short-delay recall when provided with organizational cues. Additionally, two-way analysis of variance revealed gifted children and adolescents without ADHD achieved higher scores on short-delay cued and long-delay free recall trials than gifted children and adolescents with ADHD; however, there were no significant interaction effects found. Findings revealed new evidence about the role of twice-exceptionality (specifically intellectual giftedness and ADHD) in strategic verbal memory, and have important implications for parents, educators, psychologists and neuropsychologists, and other mental health professionals working with this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Research has found that a strong predictor of students' success is the ability to connect to their school and be actively engaged in their learning. Even with the vast empirical support for the positive effects of student engagement, one area that has not been investigated is the idea of student engagement with gifted and talented students; particularly when looking at the elementary grade levels. This concept is essential to understand because research also supports the idea that student engagement decreases with each grade level. Through the qualitative analysis of gifted and talented student drawings and interviews, this research shows support for increasing student engagement for these students and how this could be done in the current educational system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This study examined the question of whether or not the provision of professional development (PD) for pre-service teachers would change their attitudes toward giftedness and gifted students. The research was conducted with pre-service teachers in the College of Education at New Mexico State University (NMSU). In this random pre/post-test experimental/control group design, an experimental group and a control group were administered a pre-and-post-survey to measure pre-service teachers' attitudes regarding giftedness and gifted students. Data were collected, scored, and analyzed by an analysis of co-variance (ANCOVA) for hypotheses 1 through 6 generated from a survey on gifted attitudes. For hypothesis 7, the data were analyzed using a t-test. For hypothesis 8, the data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) in order to determine the statistical significance existing between the control and experimental groups regarding attitudes toward giftedness and gifted students at the p < .05 level. Results indicated significance on most factors, therefore suggesting that professional development on giftedness and gifted students can be an effective vehicle in providing knowledge about giftedness to educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The population of intellectually gifted youth encompasses a wide range of abilities, talents, temperaments, and personality characteristics. Although generalizations are often made outside of the empirical literature regarding the interpersonal skills of these children, much remains to be understood about their social behavior. The aim of this study was to examine the within-group differences of gifted children, and it was hypothesized that subgroups of the gifted population would differ from each other in terms of interpersonal skill development. Gifted education teachers within a large K-12 public school district in the Southwestern United States completed the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) regarding the social-emotional competence of 206 elementary and middle school students classified as gifted. Correlational analyses and factorial analysis of variance were conducted to compare interpersonal skills (as measured by DESSA ratings) and students' level of giftedness, area of identification as gifted, gender, and age. Results indicated that interpersonal skills were significantly related to gender, area of identification, and level of giftedness. Female children were described as having significantly higher levels of interpersonal skills overall, and children identified as gifted with both nonverbal and quantitative measures exhibited significantly higher levels of interpersonal skills than those identified with verbal or nonverbal measures alone. Significant correlations were also observed between the level of children's estimated gifted abilities and their interpersonal skills. Trends in the data suggested that as children's cognitive abilities increased, their interpersonal skills also increased, placing profoundly gifted children at social advantages over their moderately gifted peers. However, it was also noted that although the two variables were significantly related, they were not commensurate. While children presented with above-average cognitive abilities, their interpersonal skills were within the average range. This suggests that gifted children may benefit from interventions that target interpersonal skill development, in an effort to bring their social skills more in line with their cognitive abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Bias with regard to English Language Learner (ELL) status and interpretation of Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) cutoffs were examined in relation to school psychologists' referral of students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) to gifted education programs. School psychologists were more likely to refer a monolingual, Caucasian student with a FSIQ of 140 compared to an ELL, Spanish student with a slightly different profile with a FSIQ of 125. In contrast, school psychologists did not demonstrate bias in referral rates of two identical profiles of a monolingual and ELL student who both presented with a FSIQ of 125. Additionally, the present study found that the Wechsler battery along with FSIQ cutoffs were most often used in determining intellectual giftedness. The present study also found that graduate training focused less on gifted education than multicultural issues. Together, these findings suggest that identifying intellectual giftedness in students who are CLD lacks much attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning and experience of adult giftedness in the workplace. This study is a heuristic inquiry and, by nature, seeks to discover all the relevant components to this meaning and experience of giftedness, and, thus is open to the essence of the experience as it unfolds. Data collection for this inquiry was conducted at the individual/whole person level. The research relied heavily on the use of interviews, which included guiding questions, but allowed for each co-researcher to express the meaning and experience of giftedness in the workplace in their own words. This permitted the inclusion of any other unforeseen data sources that could have arose during the inquiry. The results of the inquiry reveal that the meaning and essence of the experience of giftedness in the workplace begins with the experience of multipotentiality and the intrinsic and undeniable drive to explore ones abilities and pursue the task of work in a passionate way. However, this passion and drive to produce, to utilize talents to their fullest, tends to highlight the gifted adults differences from his average workplace peers. The experience of giftedness in the workplace is at its core, a frustrating experience. Frustrations exist, though tempered with a realization that differences exists between the gifted adult, his/her motivations, preferences, abilities and drives and the non-gifted co-workers. By developing a richer understanding of the essence of giftedness, those in professional positions to assist in the facilitation of gifted development will be better able to do so. New understanding may allow psychologists to be more capable of answering the questions related to how the gifted and talented experience life. Implications for employers are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Adolescents confront a plethora of physical and emotional changes, especially those alterations surrounding puberty. Body image disturbances have become commonplace with high school students, and school personnel seem to have had little success in fighting this problem. Teenagers with body dissatisfaction may also be at risk for mental health problems, such as depression and eating disorders. Gifted adolescents may be particularly susceptible to mental health issues due to a number of specialized issues including overexcitability and social coping ability (Gatto-Walden, 1999). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among body dissatisfaction, gender, type of student (gifted or typical), overall overexcitability, social coping, and an interaction between gender and type of student. A diverse group of 489 participants from six Illinois school districts participated in the study, including 268 females (54.8%), 216 males (44.2%), 4 students identifying as "other" regarding gender (0.8%); one student did not respond to that question (0.2%), and they ranged in age from 14 to 20 ( M = 16.6, SD = 1.2). The overall regression model was statistically significant, F(5, 469) = 9.31, p < .001, R 22 = .09. The adjusted R 2 was .081, which indicated that 8.1% of the variance in body dissatisfaction was explained by the model. This effect was medium in magnitude and consistent with previous research with body dissatisfaction. The results support the idea that gender, overall overexcitability, and social coping significantly explained body dissatisfaction, but being gifted (i.e., type of student) did not significantly contribute to the regression model. In addition, the results did not support a gender by type of student interaction. These findings are interesting in that previous research has linked giftedness and overexcitability, but these variables were not strongly correlated in the current study. However, this information has yielded some important implications for school counselors, clinical mental health counselors, and counselor educators. The author also discussed some areas for further research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

African American and Latino students are typically underrepresented in programs for gifted learners. This research sought to discover the effect of educators who created a culture that identified the gifts and talents of African American male students for advanced placement course work. Information gleaned from this research may provide a window through which an understanding of the leadership and culture that supports recognition and academic achievement of African American males can be viewed. Ultimately, this study may shed additional light on how educators can create a culture that identifies and supports the gifts and talents of African American males. The staff of a large urban high school located in the Midwest developed a cohort program to address the low numbers of African American and Latino students in the advanced courses offered at the school. While most students in gifted and talented programs across the U.S. are identified at the elementary level, these students were identified in the eighth grade to participate throughout their high school careers. The findings revealed that the staff of the high school worked to achieve the goals of recruitment, support, and preparation for post-secondary placement of African American and Latino students. While the goals were met for many students, African American males shared their stories of struggles to participate in the program, including feelings of isolation and inadequacy. These feelings were exacerbated as they entered into rigorous coursework at the ninth grade when their white peers had been involved in this type of curriculum since early elementary school. Results suggested that with intentional program adjustments, the challenging of a staff's belief systems, and a pedagogy specific to African American males, this well-meaning, dedicated, and caring staff could further reach more students and meet the goals of the program. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

This study relates to two critical points in mathematical education in Israel and abroad which are the need to increase the importance of mathematical creativity when teaching mathematics and the necessity of developing tools to assess mathematical creativity that is needed to promote and develop creativity among schoolchildren. The study is also motivated by the observation that the issue of mathematical creativity as well as of creativity in mathematics education is not well explored. Characterizing the relationship between mathematical giftedness and mathematical creativity is still missing in the professional literature (e.g., Leikin, 2013; Sriraman, 2005). Since Krutetskii's (1976) seminal study of mathematical abilities, only a small number of studies have been done on the characterization of the mathematical abilities of gifted students which have left a large number of open questions (Leikin, 2009b, 2013). This research attempted to address this deficiency.This study employed Multiple Solution Tasks (i.e., tasks that explicitly require solving a mathematical problem in different ways - MSTs) in order to explore students' creativity in mathematics (Leikin & Lev, 2007; Leikin, 2013). This study examined the relationship between mathematical creativity, general giftedness and excellence in school mathematics. The study (which is a part of multidimensional examination of mathematical giftedness, e.g. Leikin, Leikin, Lev, Paz-Baruch & Waisman, 2013) attempted to get better understanding of the concept of mathematical giftedness from the point of view of mathematical creativity. This study had three main interrelated Goals: 1. To examine relationships between mathematical creativity, general giftedness and excellence in secondary school mathematics. 2. To explore creativity of adolescents with superior mathematical abilities. 3. To explore the power of different types of Multiple Solution Tasks (MSTs) for the identification of between-group differences related to mathematical creativity The research sample consisted of 184 students (16-18 years old) divided into four major experimental groups according to varying combinations of the levels of excellence in school mathematics (EM factor) and of general giftedness (G factor) (see Section 2.3). Additionally 7 students (16-18 years old) with superior mathematical abilities (S-MG) took part in the study.Data collection and analysis: The data was collected by means of written tests and individual interviews.The Test consisting of five MSTs – was designed for the purpose of this study (see Sections 2.2.1 and 2.2.2). To evaluate students' creativity the study employed a model for evaluation of mathematical creativity using MSTs (see Part 3 and Section 1.2.7; Leikin, 2009b, 2013). The students' solutions to the Test were analyzed with 5 criteria (correctness of the solutions, fluency, flexibility, originality and creativity). The quantitative analysis of the tests was performed in 2 steps: Step A focused on the similarities and differences in the four major groups of participants -- G-EM, NG-EM, G-NEM, and NG-NEM. Step B was directed towards the identification of specific characteristics of S-MG participants. At Step A we used MANOVA for G factor and EM factor with consequent ANOVAs and pair-wise comparisons (G vs. NG in EM and NEM groups and EM vs. NEM in G and NG groups, separately). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

The study presented in this dissertation is part of a larger research project that searches for deep insights into the nature of mathematical giftedness. Mathematical giftedness (MG) is a complex construct which is ill-defined (Leikin, 2012). The larger research project aims to resolve the ambiguity in the field of MG and propose a solid definition of mathematical giftedness. It is of a multidimensional nature, as it examines and compares the mental activity of participants with varying levels of mathematical exceptionality in three salient dimensions: Cognition, Neuro-cognition and Mathematical creativity. The study presented in this dissertation focuses on the neuro-cognitive dimension of the larger research project. This study aimed to: 1. Design and validate research instrument for ERP (Event Related Potentials) procedure on the upper secondary level of mathematics. 2. Search for the relationship of general giftedness (G factor) and excellence in school mathematics (EM factor) to problem solving performance as reflected in (1) Behavioral measures: Accuracy of responses (Acc) and Reaction time for correct responses (RTc) and (2) Electrophysiological measures: Amplitudes, latencies, and scalp topographies of brain electrical activity identified with Event-Related Brain Potentials (ERP) procedure. 3. Examine specific behavioral and electrophysiological characteristics of students with superior mathematical performance (S-MG).To achieve the study aims, a special sampling procedure was conducted based on the distinction between general giftedness (G factor) and excellence in school mathematics (EM factor). The research sample included 200 right-handed male 10th and 11th grade high school students (16-18 years old) who were divided into 4 major sub-groups that varied in combinations of their degree of general giftedness and excellence in school mathematics. The fifth research group consisted of 9 students with superior mathematical performance (S-MG). We report herein the findings of the comparative data analysis (See Section 2.2). Research tests were designed to employ the Event Related Potentials (ERP) research procedure. The tests were innovative in terms of the complexity of the tasks and the item design, which was based on Polya's model of problem-solving strategies. Since translations between representations are among the key indicators of mathematics understanding, the tests were initially designed to examine different types of translations (e.g., from graphical/pictorial to symbolic, from verbal to symbolic, from symbolic to graphical representations). Of the 9 initially designed tests 3 proved to be insufficiently reliable (Alpha Cronbach lower than 0.6). Thus, we collected data using 6 of the 9 tests. Furthermore, 4 of these 6 tests allowed for between-test comparisons and thus were chosen for the report in this study (see Part 3 for tool design). Scalp EEG data were continuously recorded using a 64-channel BioSemi ActiveTwo system (BioSemi, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and ActiveView recording software. The ERP waveforms were time-locked to the onsets (appearance on the screen) of S1, S2 (and S3 if it existed).Data analysis: Both behavioral and electrophysiological analyses were performed in two steps: Step A focused on the similarities and differences in the four major groups of participants - G-EM, NG-EM, G-NEM and NG-NEM (with ANOVA examinations as the main type of statistical test employed). Step B was directed at identifying specific characteristics of the S-MG participants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

This qualitative study was conducted to investigate the social and cultural characteristics of gifted and talented students and their perceptions of the educational factors that have contributed to the development of their gifts and talents. Twelve Puerto Rican English Language Learner (PR-ELL) students who are identified as gifted and attend a full-time academy for gifted and talented students were selected for the study. Both ethnography and comparative case methodology were used as the participants completed a questionnaire with 67 questions and then were interviewed and observed in their school. Students' cumulative records were also reviewed and analyzed. Interesting findings emerged in the study as participants identified the following characteristics that would identify them as gifted and talented: high potential, motivation, commitment, perseverance, self-confidence, maturity, and hard work. The participants believe that they work harder, expend more effort in their academic studies, take school more seriously, and have more enthusiasm for learning than students from other cultures who are identified as gifted and talented. They also reported that their parents encouraged their children to work hard and do well in school. All students agreed that the Gifted & Talented Academy they attended and their teachers provide them with a rigorous, enriched curriculum. The participants also indicated that they loved being challenged and encouraged by their parents and teachers to work hard and excel. They enjoy being exposed to new curriculum and learning new content, as opposed to the lack of challenge they experienced in their previous schools. This research contributes to new understandings regarding the characteristics of PR-ELL gifted students, family characteristics and educational factors that support and sustain high academic achievement; however, additional research is needed relative to the identification and characteristics of gifted ELL students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)