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Who Are The 'Gifted And Talented' And What Do They Need?

Anya Kamenetz

Ron Turiello's daughter, Grace, seemed unusually alert even as a newborn.

At 7 months or so, she showed an interest in categorizing objects: She'd take a drawing of an elephant in a picture book, say, and match it to a stuffed elephant and a realistic plastic elephant.

At 5 or 6 years old, when snorkeling with her family in Hawaii, she identified a passing fish correctly as a Heller's barracuda, then added, "Where are the rest? They usually travel in schools."

With a child so bright, some parents might assume that she'd do great in any school setting, and pretty much leave it at that. But Turiello was convinced she needed a special environment, in part because of his own experience. He scored very high on IQ tests as a child, but almost dropped out of high school. He says he was bored, unmotivated, socially isolated.

How The U.S. Is Neglecting Its Smartest Kids

"I took a swing at the teacher in second grade because she was making fun of my vocabulary," he recalls. "I would get bad grades because I never did my homework. I could have ended up a really well-read homeless person."

Turiello, now an attorney, and his wife, Margaret Caruso, have two children who attend a private school in Sunnyvale, Calif., exclusively for the gifted. It's called Helios, and it uses project-based learning, groups children by ability not age, and creates an individualized learning plan for each student. For Turiello, the biggest benefits to Grace, now 11, and son Marcello, 7, are social and emotional. "They don't have to pretend to be something they're not," says Turiello. "If they can be among peers and be themselves, that can really change their lives."

Estimates vary, but many say there are around 3 million students in K-12 classrooms nationwide who could be considered academically gifted and talented. The education they get is the subject of a national debate about what our public schools owe to each child in the post-No Child Left Behind era.

When it comes to gifted children, there are three big questions: How to define them, how to identify them and how best to serve them.

Skip A Grade? Start Kindergarten Early? It's Not So Easy

1. How do you define giftedness?

One of the most popular definitions, dating to the early 1990s, is "asynchronous development." That means, roughly, a student whose mental capacities develop ahead of chronological age. This concept matches the most popular tests of giftedness: IQ tests. Scores are indexed to age, with 100 as the average; a 6 year old who gives answers characteristic of a 12 year old would have an IQ of 200.

But there are problems with this framework. No 6-year-old is truly mentally identical to a 12-year-old. He or she may be brilliant at mathematics but lack background knowledge or impulse control.

In addition, IQ tests become less useful as children get older because there is less "headroom" on the test, especially for those who are already high scorers. "It's like measuring a 6-foot person with a 5-foot ruler," says Linda Silverman, an educational psychologist and founder of the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development.

Recent intelligence research de-emphasizes IQ alone and focuses on social and emotional factors.

"There's research that these other things like motivation and grit can take you to the same exact academic outcomes as someone with a higher IQ but without those things," says Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist who studies intelligence and creativity at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the book Ungifted . "That's a really important finding that is just totally ignored. Our country has a narrow view of what counts as merit."

Of course, as the definitions get broader, the measurements get more subjective and thus, perhaps, less useful. Some centers for gifted children put out checklists of "giftedness" so broad that any proud parent would be hard-pressed not to recognize her child. Things like: "Has a vivid imagination." "Good sense of humor." "Highly sensitive."

1(a). How many students should be designated gifted?

It can be useful for education policy purposes to think about giftedness as it relates to the rest of the special education spectrum. Silverman argues that just as children with IQ scores two full standard deviations below the norm need special classrooms and extra resources, those who score two standard deviations above the norm need the same. By her lights, the population we should be focusing on is the top 2.5 percent to 3 percent of achievers, not the top 5 to 10 percent.

Scott Peters disagrees. He's a professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who prepares teachers for gifted certifications. He says the question that every teacher and every school should be asking is, "How will we serve the students who already know what I'm covering today?"

In a school where most children are in remediation, he argues, a child who is simply performing on grade level may need special attention.

2. How do you identify gifted students?

The most common answer nationwide is: First, by teacher and/or parent nomination. After that come tests.

Minority and free-reduced lunch students are extremely underrepresented in gifted programs nationwide. The problem starts with that first step. Less-educated or non-English-speaking parents may not be aware of gifted program opportunities. Pre-service teachers, says Peters, typically get one day of training on gifted students, which may not prepare them to recognize giftedness in its many forms.

Research shows that screening every child , rather than relying on nominations, produces far more equitable outcomes.

Tests have their problems, too, says Kaufman. IQ and other standardized tests produce results that can be skewed by background cultural knowledge, language learner status and racial and social privilege. Even nonverbal tasks like puzzles are influenced by class and cultural background.

Using a single test-score cutoff as the criteria is common but not considered best practice.

In addition, the majority of districts in the U.S. test children for these programs before the third grade. Experts worry that identifying children only at the outset of school can be a problem, because abilities change over time, and the practice favors students who have an enriched environment at home.

Experts prefer the use of multiple criteria and multiple opportunities. Portfolios or auditions, interviews or narrative profiles may be part of the process.

3. How do you best serve gifted students?

This is the biggest controversy in gifted education. Peters says many districts focus their resources on identifying gifted or advanced learners, while offering little or nothing to serve them.

"There are cases where parents spend years advocating for students, kids get multiple rounds of testing, and at the end of the day they're provided with a little bit of differentiation or an hour of resource-room time in the course of a week," he says. "That's not sufficient for a fourth-grader, say, who needs to take geometry."

While this emphasis on diagnosis over treatment might seem paradoxical, it's compliant with the law:

In most states the law governs the identification of gifted students. But only 27 percent of districts surveyed in 2013 report a state law about how to group these students, whether in a self-contained program, or pulled out into a resource room for a single subject or offered differentiation within a classroom. And almost no states have laws mandating anything about the curriculum for gifted students.

In addition to a need to move faster and delve deeper, students whose intellectual abilities or interests don't match those of their peers often have special social and emotional needs.

"I believe that every single day in school a gifted child has the right to learn something new — not to help the teacher," Silverman says. "And to be protected from bullying, teasing and abuse."

Helping gifted students may or may not take many more resources. But it does require a shift in mindset to the idea that "every child deserves to be challenged," as Ron Turiello says.

That's why, paradoxically, many of the gifted education experts I interviewed didn't like the label "gifted." "In a perfect world, every student would have an IEP," says Kaufman.

As it happens, federal education policy is currently being reconfigured around some version of that idea.

"The whole NCLB era, and really back to the first Elementary and Secondary Education Act in the 1960s, was about getting kids to grade level, to minimal proficiency," says Peters. "There seems to be a change in belief now — that you need to show growth in every student."

That means, instead of just focusing on the 50 percent of kids who are below average, teachers should be responsible for the half who are above average, too. "That's huge. It's hard to articulate how big of a sea change that is."

Correction Oct. 2, 2015

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Ron Turiello helped found Helios School. Turiello is a former board member at the school.

How to identify, understand and teach gifted children

Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University

Disclosure statement

John Munro has been a chief researcher on ARC funded projects and has completed contracted projects for Australian educational authorities.

Australian Catholic University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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This is a longer read at just under 2,000 words. Enjoy!

The beginning of the 2019 school year will be a time of planning and crystal-gazing. Teachers will plan their instructional agenda in a general way. Students will think about another year at school. Parents will reflect on how their children might progress this year.

One group of students who will probably attract less attention are the gifted learners . These students have a capacity for talent, creativity and innovative ideas. They could be our future Einsteins.

They will do this only if we support them to learn in an appropriate way. And yet, there is less likely to be explicit planning and provision throughout 2019 to support these students. They’re more likely to be overlooked or even ignored.

Giftedness in the media

You may have noticed the recent interest in gifted learning and education in the media. Child Genius on SBS provided a glimpse of what the brains of some young students can do.

We can only marvel at their ability to store large amounts of information in memory, spell words correctly they’d probably not heard before and unscramble complex anagrams.

The Insight program on SBS, provided another perspective.

Students identified as gifted explained how they learned and their experiences with formal education. Most accounts pointed to a clear mismatch between how they preferred to learn and how they were taught.

Twice exceptional

The students on the Insight program showed the flipsides of the gifted education story. While some gifted students show high academic success – the academically gifted students, others show lower academic success – the “ twice exceptional ” students.

Many of the most creative people this world has known are twice exceptional . This includes scientists such as Einstein, artists such as Van Gogh, authors such as Agatha Christie and politicians such as Winston Churchill.

Read more: Intellectually gifted students often have learning disabilities

Their achievements are one reason we’re interested in gifted learning. They have the potential to contribute significantly to our world and change how we live. They’re innovators. They give us the big ideas, possibilities and options. We describe their achievements, discoveries and creations as “talent”.

These talented outcomes are not random, lucky or accidental. Instead, they come from particular ways of knowing their world and thinking about it. A talented footballer sees moves and possibilities their opponents don’t see. They think, plan, and act differently. What they do is more than what the coach has trained them to do.

Understanding gifted learning

One way of understanding gifted learning is to unpack how people respond to new information. Let me first share two anecdotes.

A year three class was learning about beetles. We turned over a rock and saw slater beetles scurrying away. I asked:

Has anyone thought of something I haven’t mentioned?

Marcus, a student in the class, asked:

How many toes does a slater have?

Why do you ask that?

Marcus replied:

They are only this long and they’re going very fast. My mini aths coach said that if I wanted to go faster I had to press back with my big toes. They must have pretty big toes to go so quick.

He continued with possibilities about how they might breathe and use energy. Marcus’ teacher reported that he often asked “quirky”, unexpected questions and had a much broader general knowledge than his peers. She had not considered the possibility he might be gifted.

Mike was solving year 12 calculus problems when he was six. He has never attended regular school but was home-schooled by his parents, who were not interested in maths. He learned about quadratic and cubic polynomials from the Khan Academy . I asked him if it was possible to draw polynomials of x to the power of 7 or 8. He did this without hesitation, noting he had never been taught to do this.

Gifted students learn in a more advanced way

People learn by converting information to knowledge. They may then elaborate, restructure or reorganise it in various ways. Giftedness is the capacity to learn in more advanced ways.

First, these students learn faster . In a given period they learn more than their regular learning peers. They form a more elaborate and differentiated knowledge of a topic. This helps them interpret more information at a time.

Second, these students are more likely to draw conclusions from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. They stimulate parts of their knowledge that were not mentioned in the information presented to them and add these inferences to their understanding.

Read more: Should gifted students go to a separate school?

This is called “ fluid analogising ” or “far transfer”. It involves combining knowledge from the two sources into an interpretation that has the characteristics of an intuitive theory about the information. This is supported by a range of affective and social factors , including high self-efficacy and intrinsic goal setting, motivation and will-power.

Their theories extend the teaching. They’re intuitive in that they’re personal and include possibilities or options the student has not yet tested. Parts of the theory may be incorrect. When given the opportunity to reflect on or field-test them, the student can validate their new knowledge, modify it or reject it.

Marcus and Mike from the earlier anecdotes engaged in these processes. So did Einstein, Churchill, Van Gogh and Christie.

Verbally gifted

A gifted learning profile manifests in multiple ways. Much of the information we’re exposed to is made up of concepts that are linked and sequenced around a topic or theme. It’s formed using agreed conventions. It may be a written narrative, a painting, a conversation or football match. Some students exposed to part of a text infer its topic and subsequent ideas – their intuitive theory about it.

These are the verbally gifted students. In the classroom they infer the direction of the teaching and give the impression of being ahead of it. This is what Mike did when he extended his knowledge beyond what the information taught him. Most of the tasks used in the Child Genius program assessed this. The children used what they knew about spelling patterns to spell unfamiliar words and to unscramble complex anagrams.

Visual-spatially gifted

Other students think about the teaching information in time and space. They use imagery and infer intuitive theories that are more lateral or creative. In the classroom their interpretations are often unexpected and may question the teaching. These are the non-verbally gifted or visual-spatially gifted students.

They frequently do not learn academic or social conventions well and are often twice exceptional. They’re more likely to challenge conventional thinking. Marcus did this when he visualised the slaters with large “beetle toes”.

What we can learn from gifted students

Educators and policy makers can learn from the student voice in the recent media programs. Some of the students on Insight told us their classrooms don’t provide the most appropriate opportunities for them to show what they know or to learn.

The twice exceptional students in the Insight program noted teachers had a limited capacity to recognise and identify the multiple ways students can be gifted. They reminded us some gifted profiles, but not the twice-exceptional profile, are prioritised in regular education.

These students thrive and excel when they have the opportunity to show their advanced interpretations initially in formats they can manage, for example, in visual and physical ways. They can then learn to use more conventional ways such as writing.

Multi-modal forms of communication are important for them. Examples include drawing pictures of their interpretations, acting out their understanding and building models to represent their understanding. The use of diagrams by the the famous physicist Richard Feynman is an example of this.

For students like Mike, adequate formal educational provision simply does not exist. With the development of information communication technology, it would be hoped that in the future adaptive and creative curricula and teaching practices could be developed for those students whose learning trajectories are far from the regular.

As a consequence, we have high levels of disengagement from regular education by some gifted students in the middle to senior secondary years. High ability Australian students under-achieve in both NAPLAN and international testing.

The problem with IQ

Identification using IQ is problematic for some gifted profiles. Some IQ tests assess a narrow band of culturally valued knowledge. They frequently do not assess general learning capacity.

As well, teachers are usually not qualified to interpret IQ assessments. The parents in the Insight program mentioned both the difficulty in having their children identified as gifted and the high costs IQ tests incurred. In Australia, these assessments can cost up to A$475 .

An obvious alternative is to equip teachers and schools to identify and assess students’ learning in the classroom for indications of gifted learning and thinking in its multiple forms. To do this, assessment tasks need to assess the quality, maturity and sophistication of the students’ thinking and learning strategies, their capacity to enhance knowledge, and also what students actually know or believe is possible about a topic or an issue.

Read more: Show us your smarts: a very brief history of intelligence testing

Classroom assessments usually don’t assess this. They are designed to test how well students have learned the teaching, not what additional knowledge the students have added to it.

Gifted students benefit from open-ended tasks that permit them to show what they know about a topic or issue. Such tasks include complex problem solving activities or challenges and open-ended assignments. We are now developing tools to assess the quality and sophistication of gifted students’ knowledge and understanding.

Tips for teachers and parents

Over the course of 2019, teachers can look for evidence of gifted learning by encouraging their students to share their intuitive theories about a topic and by completing open-ended tasks in which they extend or apply what they have learned. This can include more complex problem solving.

During reading comprehension, for example, teachers can plan tasks that require higher-level thinking, including analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Teachers need to assess and evaluate students’ learning in terms of the extent to which they elaborate on the teaching information.

Parents are often the first to notice their child learns more rapidly, remembers more, does things in more advanced ways or learns differently from their peers. Most educators have heard a parent say: “I think my child is gifted.” And sometimes the parent is correct.

Parents can use modern technology to record specific instances of high performance by their children, and share these with their child’s teachers. The mobile phone and iPad provide a good opportunity for video-recording a child’s questions during story time, their interpretations of unfamiliar contexts such as a visit to a museum, drawings or inventions the child produces and how they do this, and ways in which they solve problems in their everyday lives. These records can provide useful evidence later for educators and other professionals.

Read more: Explainer: what is differentiation and why is it poorly understood?

Parents also have a key role to play in helping their child understand what it means to learn differently from one’s peers, to value their interpretations and achievements and how they can interact socially with peers who may operate differently.

It is students’ intuitive theories about information that lead to creative, talented outcomes and innovative products. If an education system is to foster creativity and innovation, teachers need to recognise and value these theories and help these students convert them into a talent. Teachers can respond to gifted knowing and learning in its multiple forms if they know what it looks like in the classroom and have appropriate tools to identify it.

• Gifted children
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TWO WRITING TEACHERS

A meeting place for a world of reflective writers.

“I Feel Like a Real Writer:” Supporting Gifted Students in Writing

“Lucky you! You’ve got gifted kids.They GET IT.”

You’d think working with gifted students would be a smooth, easy road, like those highways in Nevada whose view is unbroken by anything but horizon.

Let’s get real. Our road has speed bumps – plenty of them. If I had my way, gifted education would be a part of the special education spectrum. That, however, is a different soapbox for a different day. 

We can, however, dispel a key myth. Not all gifted readers are strong writers. Even kids who are great with words are plagued by any number of factors. Some wrestle the many-headed hydra of perfectionism. Others have an abundance of ideas but no clear strategies for wrangling those thoughts into writing. Still others are victims of impostor syndrome, wrongly comparing themselves to others and continually falling short. Writing instruction for gifted students is as affective as it is skill-based.

We had another obstacle, a familiar one: COVID. No longer was I able to work right alongside my “loveies.” Despite our district being in-person since August, I was required to hold classes via Zoom to keep classroom “bubbles” intact. 

If we wanted a writing community, we’d have to move beyond flair pens, clipboards, fancy paper, and flexible seating. We’d need a safe place to share writing, where students could gather articulate feedback, and learn the joy of cultivating a responsive, positive readership. Where kids see themselves as writers and enjoy the craft of it.

In short, I wanted what I had through the Slice of Life community: Joy. Love of craft. Validation. 

Opening the Gates: Establishing Safety and Community

As a class, our first order of business was to create the time and space to craft in the modes and genres we loved most. At the end of each day, students posted screenshots or photos of a passage they felt proud to have written that day, and complemented at least three other writers.

Like cats coaxed from under the bed, most grew more comfortable composing. Once I had them writing, I wanted kids to feel the pride of having others read and appreciate their work.

I started with home-grown mentor text: the comment section on my own blog. We identified types of feedback to share: compliments, encouragement, connections, quotes from text, and literary analysis. They did not disappoint.

We had one hard and fast rule: no critique (yet).

Of course kids wanted to make suggestions. (Did I mention that many gifted students feel strongly about “right” ways to do things?) I steered them in a different direction, once again using Slice of Life as the example.

Consider: In our blogging community, how often do readers leave unsolicited advice or suggestions? Just about…never. We trust one another as writers, which allows us to trust OURSELVES as writers. 

Slowly but surely my kids realized they were writing for a genuine audience of peers. I couldn’t ask for more.

Well…perhaps I could.

Revision: The Elephant in the Room

“If no one offers corrections, how can students improve their work?”

I can’t get around it: students need to develop writing skills. Even some of the most talented writers still have hair-graying spelling and conventions.

I started with a self-paced “Fiction Dojo” on the Schoology app. Kids “leveled up” by revising or editing a single area such as capitalization, dialogue, or balance of narration. Students needing support worked with me in breakout rooms.

I learned quickly the “Dojo” system didn’t translate exactly as hoped. Not every student needed to review every single level, and some needed to complete “belts” out of order in the interest of sense-making. 

It was the universe’s sneaky way of reminding me to TRUST my WRITERS. After each revision, students often asked what they “should do next.” Sometimes I gave that guidance, but mostly I said, “I trust your judgment. What do you think your readers need from you?”

What happened, in turn, was the crafting of stories that were more strongly edited and revised than I ever could have accomplished through individual conferencing and assignments.

As for building critique back in, I’ll confess I’ve never had much luck with peer conferences. My kids have a tough time directing that conversation regardless of structure. No chart or questionnaire has ever fit.

And then it hit me. CROWDSOURCING. 

What wisdom from the “hive mind” did they need? A title? Character names? Help making a scene better or more readable? Putting these questions in the hands of WRITERS, seeking feedback from READERS, made the most sense.

Friends, it was magic. Writers trusted themselves to know what they needed help with, and they trusted their peers enough to support without judgment.

Looking Ahead

I think I’m onto something here. Even my most reluctant writers have more confidence and joy in writing than I’ve ever seen. Throughout the coming weeks and into next year, I’m looking for ways to strengthen self-efficacy and community through shared reading and feedback.

Our next area of exploration follows a “what-if.” What if we use STUDENT writing as mentor text? What if we use students’ writing as a basis for book clubs, for literary analysis? Would that encourage students to further develop their craft? Would it engage them more deeply in reading and conversations about text? My intuition says yes, and I’m anxious to learn more. In a perfect world, I would farm this strategy out to my mainstream classroom colleagues.

Now, there are still places where my lovies fall short on their writing rubrics. I’ve learned I can’t control all of their conversation or revisions. I’ve discovered there are still places I’d love kids to “get to,” but that’s not my journey. 

Sometimes their cars are on that Nevada highway, driving somewhere I never would have imagined, and that destination is quite fabulous. 

I’m just glad to be along for the ride.

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Published by Lainie Levin

Mom of two, full-time teacher, wife, daughter, sister, friend, and holder of a very full plate View all posts by Lainie Levin

7 thoughts on “ “I Feel Like a Real Writer:” Supporting Gifted Students in Writing ”

I cannot wait for next year to start to try all this out! I can only imagine, though, how much planning and ‘inner thinking’ must’ve gone into this! STUPENDOUS! 👏🏼

Thank you! It’s the result of a lot of evolution as a teacher of writing. What’s exciting to me is knowing how much FURTHER we can go!

I remember your posts on “crowdsourcing” and its effects, all stemming from putting writers in the driver’s seat and fostering trust. Invaluable! This collective magic – transformational. That community-building, that sense of belonging – priceless. I also recognize so many truths here regarding the “myths” and what I love best is seeing a teacher stopping to consider what her students really need and thinking out of the box about how to make this happen. No “oh wells” or “I don’t know hows” or “things are MOSTLY ok, so…” but how can I get them where they need to be (any student, all students, for all have gifts) and to love the learning journey. It is an evolutional journey for the teacher as well – try and try again, asking “more” of students AND self. So well-done. I sense your own joy as well as theirs, Lainie. It’s something we all need more of in education – for if teaching is a chore, so will the learning be. Just – bravo!

Like Liked by 1 person

Thank you, Fran! It’s weird, because even though I can acknowledge how far we come, it only makes me realize how much further we CAN go together. As for the stopping to consider my kids, I’m glad we worked so hard to develop community. In years like these, where there is so much NOISE coming at educators, from every direction, the children are always the one to make things worthwhile. They saved me this year, as they’ve done so often in the past. You also make an important point about how teaching and learning should be a joy rather than a chore. A colleague and I were just having that conversation yesterday – that we should ALL be in touch with the things we’re passionate about learning. If we don’t have those things, well…maybe we’re not in the right place. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback, Fran.

Lainie, thank you for a thought-provoking post. As I was reading this, I found myself nodding along and saying, “yes” more than once. I really appreciate how you used the SOL community as a model for what you wanted in your classroom. As I move into a classroom next year after four years out, I’ve been thinking about how I wanted to do the same thing. Your ideas on bringing others into the conversation regarding editing and revising are a definite help as I put together my own plans. Thank you!

Tim, that’s exactly what I hope to do in posts like these – to get readers to nod along and say “Yes!” “Exactly!” It’s my goal to get folks riled up so they’ll want to take an action (little or big) in whatever direction they feel so moved. And Tim, I can’t help but think how lucky your kids are going to be to have you FULL TIME. You get to take those children under your wing, and THAT will be a wonderful thing for this world.

Well, consider me riled! When I think back to the early years of my teaching career, it was books (good books!) that I looked to for inspiration and direction when it came to developing writers. It’s great — beyond great — to have this community and the experience it shares. Thanks for being a part of it!

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What Does It Mean to Be “Gifted?”

By Ellen Braaten, PhD

Posted in: Grade School , Parenting Concerns , Pre-School

Topics: Child + Adolescent Development , Learning + Attention Issues

Giftedness. It’s such a loaded word.

Almost all parents think their children are gifted. And in a sense, they’re right. Watching a child grow from an infant into a human who can read, complete math problems, and have friendships seems miraculous. No wonder many parents think this way. Most people use terms like “bright,” “gifted,” “exceptional,” “remarkable,” and “talented” interchangeably, but when a psychologist uses the term “gifted,” we’re usually talking about something that is statistically quite rare.

About 3 to 5 out of every 100 children could be considered gifted. Giftedness in a statistical sense is something that’s very unique. Gifted children can be considered so in a number of areas, including intelligence, creative or artistic abilities, specific academic abilities (e.g., gifted at math), or leadership skills. Although intellectual abilities represent only one type of exceptionality, it would be rare to classify a child as gifted without administering an IQ test.

Gifted children have often been stereotyped as unsociable “nerds,” but research suggests that most gifted children do not fit that stereotype. In addition, being a gifted student is not a guarantee of success in school. For example, the verbal maturity of a gifted child (which might lead a child to dominate class discussions) can be interpreted by some teachers as disruptive or inappropriate. Peers can sometimes be less than supportive of a child who knows the answer to every math problem before anyone else does. I often see children who were never identified as intellectually gifted at an early age, but who by adolescence feel depressed and bored with school. They’ve been labeled as “oppositional” or “lazy” because they’ve failed to complete assignments that they see as “mindless busywork.” Then there is also the possibility that a child can have both above-average intelligence paired with an issue or disorder, such as ADHD . This presents an interesting challenge to the classroom teacher, who must keep a hyperactive, information-hungry child motivated while meeting the needs of the other students.

The special needs of the gifted child have received much less attention than students whose difficulties fall at the other end of the bell-shaped curve. In part, this is because giftedness is not a “disorder” in need of treatment but something to be fostered. However, gifted students are often referred for assessment because something is out of place. In some cases, it’s because a teacher notices that a child isn’t fitting in socially because her intellectual skills set her apart. In other cases, a gifted child may be so far ahead of his age-mates that he already knows much of the curriculum before it is even taught. Their boredom sometimes results in low achievement and grades. In contrast, gifted students can also be quite perfectionistic and may define success as not just getting 100 on a test but getting a 100 plus all the extra credit. Their high standards can lead to a fear of failure and, at worst, feelings of low self-esteem and depression .

By definition, people who are gifted have above-average intelligence and/or superior talent for something, such as music, art, or math. Most public-school programs for the gifted select children who have superior intellectual skills and academic aptitude. Children with a superior talent for something, like arts, drama, or dance, aren’t typically provided with services within the school setting, though there are exceptions as some districts offer special schools for children who are exceptional in the sciences or performing arts.

There are no tests to identify children with a superior talent in music or the arts, because talent is somewhat subjective. However, a number of tests can identify children with superior intelligence. Not surprisingly, these tests are called intelligence (IQ) tests . The most commonly used test for children aged 6 to 16 years is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). People argue about what the cutoff should be for giftedness, with some arguing that 5 percent of the population could qualify while others argue that it should be 1 or 2 percent. Some people would define it even more broadly, as being in the top 20% of the population.

Regardless of the cutoff, children who are gifted tend to have similar characteristics which include traits such as:

• Fascination with ideas and a sophisticated vocabulary
• Need to make sure things are done “just right”
• Ability to perceive many sides of an issue
• Ability to think abstractly and metaphorically
• Ability to visualize models and systems
• Ability to learn things almost without a need for being taught, such as learning to read before formal reading instruction
• Concern for early moral and existential issues

Being identified as gifted does not guarantee your child will receive special services in school, as it is not mentioned in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) – the federal law that defines a child’s right to special education and related services. Although schools are not required to provide special services for gifted children, some do, and most programs fall into two categories:

• Enrichment experiences (giving students additional learning experiences without them moving up a grade); and
• Acceleration (placing gifted students in grade levels ahead of their peers).

Enrichment services can occur within the classroom or outside the classroom, such as in a resource-room setting. Sometimes, schools will provide gifted students with mentors outside the school environment. For example, a student who has an aptitude for science might be mentored by a chemist, engineer, or physicist. Some school districts offer special schools for gifted and talented students. These school districts are typically located in large metropolitan areas.

Because there is no standard definition of gifted and talented, each state has its own criteria for identifying students and providing services. Some states provide no special services at all.

If you think your child might be gifted, you could start by talking to your child’s teacher or principal to discuss options for testing your child and possibilities for specialized programming.  Even if your school doesn’t provide services, testing can be helpful. If testing indicates your child is gifted, you can enroll him or her in after-school programs. Most metropolitan areas have programs that are offered through museums, community education centers, or universities. Overall, gifted students benefit from learning by self-discovery and exploration, and acquiring skills through intuitive reasoning instead of rote memory and drill. They also need opportunities to socialize with peers and need to be encouraged to pursue activities in which they feel challenged.

The following resources are recommended if you would like more information about giftedness:

• National Association for Gifted Children
• Council for Exceptional Children
• The Association for the Gifted

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Ellen Braaten, PhD

Ellen Braaten, PhD, is executive director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP) at  Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, and former co-director for the MGH Clay Cente...

To read full bio click here .

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7 Ways to Differentiate Lessons for Gifted Students

Written by Victoria Hegwood

Set engaging, differentiated and standards-aligned assignments with Prodigy Math for free!

• Teaching Strategies

What does “Gifted” mean?

• Why differentiate instruction for talented students?
• 8 Differentiation strategies for gifted students

1. Create tiered assignments

2. shorten the explanations.

• 3. Flexible apps
• 4. Offer open-ended and self directed assignments
• 5. Introduce project based learning
• 6. Compact curriculum

7. Pair gifted students up

8. always keep learning, gifted education pitfalls to avoid.

• Creating a learning environment for every student

All students are unique and special in their own way. Each learns in a different way and needs their education to be individualized. 

But differentiating lessons for gifted students can require even more thought and extra planning. 

Gifted learners tend to go through their learning activities rapidly and require modifications to their education for them to be fully engaged in the classroom. 

If you’re struggling to know exactly how to differentiate lessons for gifted students, this is just the article for you. We’ll highlight instructional strategies to use that will meet your student’s need for enrichment in the classroom, as well as pitfalls to avoid.

The National Association for Gifted Children defines gifted as “ students with gifts and talents performed or capable being performed at higher levels compared to others the same age, experience, and environment. ”

If your school has a gifted program, they likely also have their own definition and benchmarks that qualify a student as gifted. It is important to note that there is not a unified definition from all the states concerning what gifted means. 

Gifted students are seen across all racial, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. 

And there is no one behavior or skill set that defines a gifted learner. Some are gifted in athletics or leadership while others are gifted in the sciences or social skills.

Why is differentiated instruction needed for talented students?

Gifted students are often bored in a typical classroom. This can result in them just zoning out of the lesson or misbehaving. In situations where gifted students are left unchallenged for long periods of time, the students may never learn how to learn in a classroom. 

These students need unique opportunities to analyze, evaluate, create and reflect in challenging ways. Differentiating the lesson according to their strengths can help make this happen. 

Building differentiated lessons is about the philosophy and practice rather than a strict step-by-step process. You can tweak this practice to match your students’ readiness, interest, learning styles and academic needs.

In general, differentiating lessons is a helpful strategy for all student learning. Education scholar Carol Tomlinson emphasizes, “ Differentiation really means trying to make sure that teaching and learning work for the full range of students .”

However, this article will specifically focus on why it’s necessary for gifted students. When a student is contemplating skipping a grade but isn’t quite ready to make the leap or is only gifted in a particular subject, differentiated lessons are a great solution. 

8 Differentiation strategies for gifted learners

There are a lot of ways to use differentiation with a lesson. Different approaches will likely work better for a particular topic or student. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Tiered assignments allow learners to complete the same assignment at different levels of difficulty.

How you implement this strategy will vary based on your classroom. For example, you may design an assignment for the middle tier of students and then add additional challenges for gifted students. 

Another option is designing a more difficult assignment and then adding scaffolding, such as a graphic organizer or supplied reading material, to those at or below grade level. 

With this strategy, it is important to routinely assess your students to understand where they are at. This way you will always know who needs advanced content and who needs more help.

Did you know?

If you're teaching math to students in 1st-8th grade, you can use Prodigy's Assignment tool to easily set tiered exercises. With your free teacher account , simply select the skill you want to set as an Assignment and have your students play Prodigy Math .

And the best bit? You won't have to do any grading, it's all done automatically!

Gifted students typically understand a concept the first time it is explained, whereas their peers may need the content to be taught a few different ways.

Try giving a short pre-assessment or a pop quiz once you have taught the concept one time to see if the gifted students can move on to the next topic. 

Doing this will hopefully prevent boredom and, in turn, misbehavior from gifted students.

3. Use flexible apps

When bringing technology into your classroom and blending the learning experience , choose apps and games with flexibility. Look for options where gifted students can work on more complex concepts while other students work closer to grade level. 

There are plenty of apps, like Prodigy Math , that engage students and evaluate their skills to determine if they are learning math problems at the right level. Prodigy Math then uses adaptive algorithms to continue to challenge the student. 

Apps like this can also help strain teachers less when planning differentiating lessons since they don’t have to design the tiers themselves.

4. Offer open-ended and self-directed assignments

Open-ended tasks are great for differentiated lessons because they leave plenty of room for students’ skills and ideas to shine. They are especially good at stimulating higher-order thinking skills such as problem-solving. 

Self-directed assignments give gifted learners responsibility for their own development and let them decide how far they want to take their own learning. Assignments with open-ended questions encourage students to offer creative responses, work in small groups and build other ways to further explore. But make sure you deliver open-ended sessions with an end goal rather than leaving the students alone.

5. Introduce project-based learning

Project-based learning is effective since it mimics the real world. In a project-based assignment, learners conduct research, ask complex questions and improve management skills. Oftentimes, projects end with a presentation, which is great for practicing public speaking. 

Projects can be completed in small groups or by each student individually. This learning method is especially beneficial for gifted learners due to its depth, student choice, real-world learning and collaboration opportunities.

Project-based learning tends to go over the best when the assignments relate to a student’s interests.  For example, a high school student interested in social studies could be tasked with designing advocacy around an issue of their choice.

6. Try a compact curriculum

A compact curriculum is similar to shortening explanations, but it will actually throw out whole lessons that the gifted student already understands. Instead, the gifted student will be given lessons on content they’ve never been exposed to. 

Most often in this method, students will be given a pre-test that allows them to show mastery over various problems. Then, the curriculum is adjusted. 

It’s important to remember that curriculum development for gifted students is a dynamic process.

Another strategy is being more intentional in how you pair students up in collaborative projects. Putting gifted students together in cluster groups boosts their achievement since they are able to work at a faster pace. 

You may even find that in specific subjects, students that are gifted in that area can be paired up for their own differentiated lesson while you teach the rest of the class. These pairs can work on advanced content and learn from each other.

Teaching requires constant innovation and growth with a new classroom of kiddos each year. You will always be tweaking what you are doing based on new things that you learn. 

In the last two years, the pandemic has required flexibility and accelerated digital learning in ways we had never seen before. 

The challenges that came with this got teachers talking and opened up a dialogue about what learning strategies work. It created a community where more experienced teachers could impart their knowledge to others. 

Here's more strategies and ideas to help you differentiate learning

Looking to learn more about differentiation? Check out our list of 20 differentiated instruction strategies for more inspiration on how to level educational content in your classroom, with examples included!

As with any strategy, there are ways to do it well and ways to do it that are not so great. Try to avoid these three common mistakes when differentiating lessons for gifted students.

1. Using gifted students as teaching assistants

While gifted students may seem like a great help in the classroom, they should not be tasked with mentoring or tutoring other students. They need to be challenged in their own education and reteaching a concept that they already know doesn’t do that. 

A different way to go about this is having flexible grouping projects that let students work together for a short period of time. These projects allow gifted students to practice interacting with their peers and allow other students to learn from gifted students, but it’s temporary. 

This method allows gifted students to learn and avoids attaching a ‘teacher’ role to their interactions.

2. Working independently without oversight

A differentiated lesson for gifted learners should lead to more collaboration and content enrichment without the learner working constantly on their own. Assigning open-ended tasks without oversight or accountability can actually have the opposite effect of what you’re going for with gifted learners.

Ensure that lessons allow for student choice while still conforming to school district standards. And check in often with your gifted students.

3. Assuming mastery in all subject areas

Don’t assume that just because a learner is gifted in one area means that this means they are gifted in every area. For example, a student may be reading at a high school level but is not a strong writer. Or they may excel at math problems but struggle to understand graphs in science. 

Evaluate each subject area individually before assigning advanced lessons to gifted students.

Creating a learning environment for everyone

Differentiated lessons can be a great tool for gifted students in your classroom. But there are best practices to keep in mind when you’re constructing lessons. Differentiating lessons helps challenge gifted students and keep them engaged in your classroom.  

If starting the process of planning differentiated lessons feels overwhelming to you, using Prodigy can be a great first step.  

Whether you’re teaching in a math or English classroom, Prodigy is a fantastic free teaching resource that customizes each student’s experience with adaptive content.

Prodigy helps make it easier for you to differentiate instruction across your classroom, with no grading required! Teachers simply select what curriculum-aligned skills they'd like to test on their students or let Prodigy's adaptive algorithm assign content to help a student grow, including those in gifted or talented strands.

It's also free for teachers and schools! See how it works below:

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Gifted people's minds range from being somewhat to extremely complex: intellectually, creatively, emotionally, sensually, physically, existentially or some combination of these factors. Their level of complexity can be both exhilarating and at times challenging, for themselves and for their social entourage. Learn more about what giftedness looks like in real life in the article below, written by InterGifted's founding director Jennifer Harvey Sallin .

AREAS OF INTELLIGENCE

Typically, the word "gifted" is shorthand for " intellectual giftedness " , but there are various ways any person - gifted or not - expresses their mental faculties. In truth, “giftedness” is a kind of mind construction pattern (neurologically, cognitively and phenomenologically speaking) which results in a complexity of thought (and often emotion) that is uncommon. In our work at InterGifted, we use my holistic model of intelligence, which I have developed in particular with advanced gifted adult development in mind. My model works with six areas of intelligence: intellectual, emotional, creative, sensual, physical, and existential.

INTELLECTUAL 

Highly complex and abstract analysis, high focus on knowledge and learning (not always expressed in conventional ways, i.e. through conventional education), unusual skill in complex problem solving, asking probing and deep questions, searching for truth, understanding, knowledge, and discovery, keen intellectual observation and sustained intellectual effort.

Highly complex and deep emotional feelings and relational attachments, understanding a wide range of emotions, strong memory for feelings, often expressing a high concern for others, heightened sense of right, wrong, injustice and hypocrisy, empathy, responsibility, and self-examination.

Highly complex capacity for seeing and expressing the unusual, new, unseen, innovative, divergent and possible. This often manifests in uncommonly strong skills of imagination and visualization, music or arts, and even humor or playfulness (though not always about themes considered "light" - i.e. quirky or dark humor).

Highly complex awareness and experience of the senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile or energetic), often resulting in a deep and nuanced sensual relationship to the world. This can manifest in an uncommon appreciation of beauty, harmony, and the interrelationship between the sensorial elements of life.

Highly complex physical skill or dexterity (i.e. excellence in sports or the technical aspects of music-making). This can also manifest in an unusually complex understanding of the physical elements of reality and their interrelations, such as physics and biology knowledge .

EXISTENTIAL

Highly complex awareness and experience of being, meaning, values, ethics, morality, ecological interconnectedness, and the nature of reality (often including a transpersonal awareness of reality as well). 

An intellectually gifted person has a baseline of intellectual intelligence that is higher than average; how any of the other areas of intelligence combine and interact with with their intellectual intelligence shows in their own unique giftedness "flavor" or "personality". There's also the question of levels of giftedness , which range from mild to profound, and very much influence the expression of giftedness in an individual.

Additionally, there can sometimes be twice- and multi-exceptionalities , such as autism, learning disabilities, or other neurodivergences (in many cases extended to include mental health issues and physical disability), which add certain challenges or additional "flavors" to the expression of one's high intellectual ability. Overexcitabilities , which are areas of uncommonly high intensity (but which are not synonymous with giftedness , as is often believed) add additional flavors of expression.

Other factors, including trauma history and our social context, also affect our gifted development and expression. In other words, giftedness is not a one-size-fits-all concept, and though all gifted people share a baseline of higher than average complex cognition, gifted people make up a very heterogeneous group. This is why it's important for a person to discover their own giftedness profile, as your gifted mind and life is a whole ecosystem with its own particular makeup, context, needs and expression.

RECOGNIZING GIFTEDNESS

Intellectually gifted people represent a small minority of the overall population (opinions differ, but research suggests somewhere below 5%), and this means that gifted people have to face the common challenges of minority development throughout their lives.

Academically, professionally and socially speaking, gifted people often don't follow the conventional paths laid out by the majority. By the time they are adults, they have often studied (formally and/or self-directed) many divergent subjects, and may have frequently changed jobs (once the challenge of learning a role turns to routine, they feel bored and under-engaged). They may have already had three careers at the age of 30, or may have never really settled down to do any career. Or they did settle down, and feel like they have sold out and are struggling. Socially, they may look for and try to create complexity in their relationships, and continue to be disappointed, or see themselves or others as "faulty" because they cannot seem to get the full spectrum of their intellectual and emotional needs met no matter how hard they try. And this is only mentioning the challenges as we see them from the adult's point of view; these all extend, in their own way, to what our challenges were as gifted children.

The issue is that gifted people like exploration, not routine; and they need a lot more intellectual stimulation than is common. For a lot of people, traditional roles, rules and expectations feel good, and create a sense of safety, but many (if not all) gifted people feel imprisoned by routine, tradition, and rules-based contexts. Without the room to try out different roles, stretch and question the rules, be creative and go beyond traditional expectations and limits, gifted people often feel uncomfortable, misunderstood, imprisoned, suffocated, and at the extreme, even existentially panicked. And without adequate intellectual stimulation and depth in their relationships, they may feel themselves going into a kind of hibernation/shut-down; or conversely go into a kind of overdrive trying to get their needs met in contexts and with people who are unable to meet them adequately. Some of what I've described here can actually lead to something we call "gifted trauma". This is such an important topic in a gifted person's development and thriving, that we've dedicated an entire podcast to it, which you can listen to here: Conversations on Gifted Trauma .

GIFTEDNESS ≠ SUPERIORITY

What's difficult about all of this is that many people don't want to see themselves as gifted because it sounds like a question of superiority, and they don't want to believe or feel they are better than others. But while it’s healthy not to see oneself as “special” and therefore “superior”, it is also necessary to recognize and honor the way one’s mind works and when one’s level of complexity is different as compared to the norm. As mentioned above, those who are more complex than the norm but refuse to believe it, risk looking for high complexity in friendships, relationships, discussions, collaborations, roles and systems when it is simply not there; and they risk being disillusioned and blaming themselves or others for the “failure”. They also risk overwhelming non-gifted people with their complexity, and once again blaming themselves or others for the mismatch.

Additionally, if a gifted person is unaware of their authentic academic and professional needs and tries to follow traditional academic or professional goals and routines, they may exhaust teachers, classmates, co-workers, bosses, and even family and friends with their chronic dissatisfaction and need for challenge and stimulation. If they are unusually sensitive, they may be bullied regarding their extreme empathy, extreme sense of justice/injustice, and inability to “go with the flow” or just accept things the way they are, problems and all. Or may even be aware of all of the potential ways they could help others and become a sort of “savior”, losing themselves in cleaning up other people’s messes (sometimes which the other people didn’t even want cleaned, and sometimes to their own detriment).

Another common fear of gifted people is that if they admit their difference from others, it will ruin their relationships with their non-gifted family and friends or somehow jeopardize their place in the non-gifted dominant world. It won't. It will simply help you to communicate more effectively, understand others in your life with more ease, and realize where and with whom you can get your various gifted-specific and non gifted-specific needs met. The essential point is: the better you understand your own mind and functioning, the better you can negotiate the necessary conditions for your thriving. That process takes radical self-honesty. Denial about one's giftedness can be a challenging aspect to overcome, but it is worth the work, as it allows you to come into a real relationship with yourself and with the world and others around you; allowing you to heal old wounds of unmet needs and thus redirect the use of your intelligence toward authentic, holistic and interdependent relating which allows you to meet your needs while honoring the limits of others. If you are somewhere on this fear/denial/acceptance journey, you may find my article on the topic helpful: The Stages of Adult Giftedness Discovery .

Of course, many of us have also known people who are uncommonly intelligent and love to flaunt that fact and use it to embarrass, manipuate or otherwise humiliate others who are less cognitively endowed. These people often have issues to work through as well, as somewhere along the way they learned to use their giftedness as a weapon against others and in turn against themselves. Their relationships suffer and their disconnection, though different in cause from someone who is in "giftedness denial", is very real.

GETTING THE RIGHT SUPPORT

Even gifted people often confuse “giftedness” with “genius”, imagining that "gifted geniuses” have it easy. Gifted people might be “genius” in some ways at certain times (certain aspects of learning are easier for them than for the average), but everyone – including gifted people – must systematically experiment and apply their knowledge over time to succeed, and must have the social and financial support to progress toward their authentic potential.

Giftedness does not result in automatic success: as with everyone and everything, the conditions (inner and outer) must be right for flourishing. When a gifted person's complexity is supported and managed well, they have the proper social mirroring, and the social and cultural context is ripe, they can do amazing things. When it is not managed well and not supported (which given the numbers, is understandable), that same complexity can result in underperformance and failure throughout life. Finding the right support can be a challenge, due to the “complexity mismatch” gifted people sometimes experience when reaching out socially, professionally, and for help and support. This was the main reason I created InterGifted.

WHAT WE DO & HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED 

Online peer community.

Since 2015, we have cultivated a dynamic online community of 850+ gifted adults around the world, where we explore questions and themes of giftedness integration, self-development and self-leadership together. Our members are conscientious, dedicated gifted adults who are actively learning about and applying their giftedness to their lives in creative and purposeful ways. In our community, you can meet other gifted adults who are invested in their personal and professional growth, and who are ready to connect with other equally dedicated and engaged gifted adults.

JOIN US HERE !

Qualitative giftedness assessments  .

Our assessments help you look at whether you are gifted, and if so, what your unique gifted profile is. Knowing how your complex mind works increases your self-understanding and self-compassion and unlocks doors for legitimizing, accepting, and empowering yourself on your self-awareness journey. We see giftedness from a holistic perspective, and assessments explore intellectual intelligence together with body intelligence, emotions, intuitive awareness, creativity, and other forms of intelligence expression.

LEARN MORE & SCHEDULE HERE !

Giftedness integration, coaching & mentoring.

We offer accompaniment and guidance throughout your giftedness discovery, integration and thriving journey. Giftedness integration sessions support you in deepening your understanding of your giftedness and how it guides your development, values, growth, and practical next steps. Coaching and mentoring guide and empower you as you apply and potentiate your giftedness in specific areas of your life, such as career, relationships, community, mindful living and embodying existential meaning.

LEARN MORE & SCHEDULE A SESSION HERE !

Courses, workshops & groups  .

Our online courses, workshops and groups have been developed especially for gifted adults, and cover personal and professional self-development themes such as gifted mindfulness, multipotentialite thriving, and neurodivergent living. Our participants are gifted adults who are dedicated to and invested in their own personal growth and to growing together with their gifted peers.

LEARN MORE & SIGN UP HERE !

Gifted-psychology professional trainings.

We're committed to building a dynamic field of gifted-specific psychology. Through her professional trainings, Jennifer Harvey Sallin leads groups of psychologists, therapists, coaches, psychiatrists and other helping professionals to learn more about what giftedness is, how to recognize it in their clients, and how to support gifted clients to heal and thrive across the lifespan. Her trainings are holistic, in that they empower participants to also recognize and nurture their own giftedness, discovering how to integrate it authentically and deeply into their work supporting others.

LEARN MORE & APPLY TO JOIN HERE !

Learn more about giftedness , the intergifted blog  .

Here you'll find a large collection of long-form articles by our InterGifted coaches and other professionals in our network exploring the many facets and needs of the gifted adult. Here are some of our most-read articles:

High, Exceptional & Profound Giftedness

Gifted adults, second childhoods: revisiting essential stages of development, living with intensity: giftedness & self-actualization, letting go of gifted shame, the stages of adult giftedness discovery, read more articles here , audio visual resource library.

Here you'll find a large collection of talks, videos, interviews and podcast episodes exploring giftedness, gifted mindfulness, and empowering themes on gifted development and thriving.

WATCH & LISTEN HERE !

Our bookshop.

In our community ebooks, you'll read real stories about the complexities, pains, joys, mysteries and surprises of the gifted adult experience, as told through the essays and artwork of our InterGifted community members.

• These Gifts are Sacred  explores the sacredness of gifted complexity, through contemplative poetry and art
• Emergence: Contemplations & Creative Expressions of the Gifted Feminine expresses the power and art of being a gifted woman
• Gifts for an Emerging World   looks at how we can embody our gifts to be a positive force in a world full of complex challenges
• Being Me: Reflections on the Gifted Person's Path to Authenticity   awakens our capacity to authentically embrace our gifted experience
• Making the Invisible Visible: Intersections of Chronic Illness, Disability and Giftedness   gives voice to the struggles, lessons and gifts of complexity and illness
• Embracing the Gifted Quest  empowers us to envision and embrace our gifted life as a rich opportunity to live fully

FIND OUR BOOKS HERE !

This page was most recently updated in September 2023

Chapter 4: Student Diversity

Gifted and talented students.

The idea of multiple intelligences leads to new ways of thinking about students who have special gifts and talents. Traditionally, the term gifted referred only to students with unusually high verbal skills. Their skills were demonstrated especially well, for example, on standardized tests of general ability or of school achievement. More recently, however, the meaning of gifted has broadened to include unusual talents in a range of activities, such as music, creative writing, or the arts (G. Davis & Rimm, 2004). To indicate the change, educators often use the dual term gifted and talented .

Qualities of the gifted and talented

What are students who are gifted and talented like? Generally they show some combination of the following qualities:

• They learn more quickly and independently than most students their own age.
• They often have well-developed vocabulary, as well as advanced reading and writing skills.
• They are very motivated, especially on tasks that are challenging or difficult.
• They hold themselves to higher than usual standards of achievement.

Contrary to a common impression, students who are gifted or talented are not necessarily awkward socially, less healthy, or narrow in their interests—in fact, quite the contrary (Steiner & Carr, 2003). They also come from all economic and cultural groups.

Ironically, in spite of their obvious strengths as learners, such students often languish in school unless teachers can provide them with more than the challenges of the usual curriculum. A kindergarten child who is precociously advanced in reading, for example, may make little further progress at reading if her teachers do not recognize and develop her skill; her talent may effectively disappear from view as her peers gradually catch up to her initial level. Without accommodation to their unusual level of skill or knowledge, students who are gifted or talented can become bored by school, and eventually the boredom can even turn into behavior problems.

Partly for these reasons, students who are gifted or talented have sometimes been regarded as the responsibility of special education, along with students with other sorts of disabilities. Often their needs are discussed, for example, in textbooks about special education, alongside discussions of students with intellectual disabilities, physical impairments, or major behavior disorders (Friend, 2008). There is some logic to this way of thinking about their needs; after all, they are quite exceptional, and they do require modifications of the usual school programs in order to reach their full potential. But it is also misleading to ignore obvious differences between exceptional giftedness and exceptional disabilities of other kinds. The key difference is in students’ potential. By definition, students with gifts or talents are capable of creative, committed work at levels that often approach talented adults. Other students—including students with disabilities—may reach these levels, but not as soon and not as frequently. Many educators therefore think of the gifted and talented not as examples of students with disabilities, but as examples of diversity. As such they are not so much the responsibility of special education specialists, as the responsibility of all teachers to differentiate their instruction.

Supporting students who are gifted and talented

Supporting the gifted and talented usually involves a mixture of acceleration and enrichment of the usual curriculum (Schiever & Maker, 2003). Acceleration involves either a child’s skipping a grade, or else the teacher’s redesigning the curriculum within a particular grade or classroom so that more material is covered faster. Either strategy works, but only up to a point: children who have skipped a grade usually function well in the higher grade, both academically and socially. Unfortunately skipping grades cannot happen repeatedly unless teacher, parents, and the students themselves are prepared to live with large age and maturity differences within single classrooms. In itself, too, there is no guarantee that instruction in the new, higher-grade classroom will be any more stimulating than it was in the former, lower-grade classroom. Redesigning the curriculum is also beneficial to the student, but impractical to do on a widespread basis; even if teachers had the time to redesign their programs, many non-gifted students would be left behind as a result.

Enrichment involves providing additional or different instruction added on to the usual curriculum goals and activities. Instead of books at more advanced reading levels, for example, a student might read a wider variety of types of literature at the student’s current reading level, or try writing additional types of literature himself. Instead of moving ahead to more difficult kinds of math programs, the student might work on unusual logic problems not assigned to the rest of the class. Like acceleration, enrichment works well up to a point. Enrichment curricula exist to help classroom teachers working with gifted students (and save teachers the time and work of creating enrichment materials themselves). Since enrichment is not part of the normal, officially sanctioned curriculum, however, there is a risk that it will be perceived as busywork rather than as intellectual stimulation, particularly if the teacher herself is not familiar with the enrichment material or is otherwise unable to involve herself in the material fully.

Obviously acceleration and enrichment can sometimes be combined. A student can skip a grade and also be introduced to interesting “extra” material at the new grade level. A teacher can move a student to the next unit of study faster than she moves the rest of the class, while at the same time offering additional activities not related to the unit of study directly. For a teacher with a student who is gifted or talented, however, the real challenge is not simply to choose between acceleration and enrichment, but to observe the student, get to know him or her as a unique individual, and offer activities and supports based on that knowledge. This is essentially the challenge of differentiating instruction, something needed not just by the gifted and talented, but by students of all sorts. As you might suspect, differentiating instruction poses challenges about managing instruction.

Davis, G. & Rimm, S. (2004). Education of the gifted and talented, 5th edition . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Friend, M. (2007). Special education: Contemporary perspectives for school professionals, 2nd edition . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Schiever, S. & Maker, C. (2003). New directions in enrichment and acceleration. In N. Colangelo & G. Davis (Eds.), Handbook fo gifted education, 3rd edition (pp. 163–173). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Steiner, H. & Carr, M. (2003). Cognitive development in gifted children: Toward a more precise understanding of emerging differences in intelligence. Educational Psychology Review, 15 , 215–246.

• Educational Psychology. Authored by : Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton. Located at : https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/BookDetail.aspx?bookId=153 . License : CC BY: Attribution

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Six Types of Giftedness

By Oak Crest Academy

• Gifted Children

What does “ gifted ” mean?  The term has likely evolved since you were a child. What does it mean to be gifted? Most people might reply that a “gifted” child is one who earns straight A’s, performs well on the Iowa Basics , or can solve quadratic equations late into the night. While these are forms of giftedness, defining gifted as “good at school” is outdated and far too narrow. Here are six different types of giftedness .

This is the traditional understanding of gifted children: they’re good at school. “Successful” gifted children are obedient in class, do homework without a lot of prompting, test well, and may become perfectionists . Unfortunately, these children might face jealousy from some peers due to being “teacher’s pet.” But in general, most of them are well-adjusted goal-setters.

Successful gifted children do well on tests such as the SAT/ACT. They usually aim for higher education and advanced degrees as they journey through their academic lives. For the most part, they tend to be structured thinkers. Successful gifted children might be able to generate a story or drawing when asked, but creativity is not their strength. Still, they are typically well-rounded and may still perform music or produce art projects, although they may not show much interest in composition or abstract thinking.

Autonomously gifted children are like successful children in that they understand and can perform well in a traditional school system. But they are willing to push boundaries in ways that “successful” gifted children are not. Autonomously gifted children are strong leaders and creative thinkers. They seek opportunities to pursue their interests. For example, if they are interested in trains but their school does not feed this passion, they may look for summer programs or extracurricular opportunities to build train sets or visit stockyards.

Challenging and Creative

Challenging and creative students are generally the opposite of  “successful” gifted children. They may harbor extraordinary creative gifts as writers, composers, artists, photographers, graphic artists, or fashion designers. Their creative dispositions put them at odds with a traditional school system.

Challenging and creative students may be bored or exhibit behavioral problems because they feel they do not fit into the unbreakable structure of a typical school day. They may also face bullying because their gifts set them apart from their peers in ways they do not understand. A flexible educational environment might work best for challenging and creative students.

Underground

While many children’s giftedness is discovered in their primary years, some students may slip through the usual testing. Others don’t even manifest their giftedness until their middle school years. Some gifted children develop asynchronously (at a different pace from their peers); their gifts may be hidden or masked until later in their traditional education.

Underground gifted children tend to be girls who are of late elementary to early middle school age, usually around grades 4-6. This is when bullying is at its peak in most schools. Children at this age are very sensitive about fitting in with their peers.Students who uncover their giftedness (or who have begun to develop it in late primary school) may take steps to blend in as much as possible.

Forcing underground gifted students to perform is never the answer, as the child may feel anxiety over loyalty to his or her talents and peers. This psychological tug of war may result in changes in behavior, including withdrawal, plummeting academic performance, or a refusal to take part in gifted education or former areas of interest.

Underground students need encouragement and understanding. Breaks from usual activities should be permitted, but the child should know that they may return to them at any time. Students should have choices in what they read, study, and perform.

Potential Dropout or At Risk

These students require the most sensitivity and patience. They may come from an unstable home environment or a culture which discourages academic excellence or gifted education (especially for girls). Some may never have experienced support for basic educational goals, or their parents or caregivers might be completely disengaged from their school experience.

Due to their uphill battle, dropout or at-risk children are usually identified later in their school careers, and may not manifest their gifts until they are out of the school system. This usually does not take place, however, without a great deal of struggle.

At-risk or dropout students may exhibit constant anger at a school system which may have met the needs of every type of gifted children except them. The at-risk student might be a talented athlete, artist, or creator. But, since they don’t fit in with the traditional school model and may not have anyone advocating on their behalf, they may become bored, act out, or avoid school altogether. Flexible and alternate school arrangements may work best for them.

Doubly Exceptional

Doubly exceptional (or 2E) children are those who are gifted and who also exhibit a learning or physical disorder. The disability may hide the gift, or the gift may overwhelm the learning/physical challenge, leaving one or the other undetected. Doubly exceptional students may also suffer from attention or processing disorders.

Doubly exceptional children are sometimes mislabeled as “lazy,” since they perform well in one area but struggle in another. Their learning disability should be taken into consideration while their giftedness is enriched and challenged. This means that they might require accommodations while showing abilities far beyond their peers at the same time. For example, a student might post stratospheric scores over and over again in language arts, but exhibit barely-competent abilities in math.

Some students who are doubly exceptional might experience depression or low self-esteem because they may have been tracked into remedial programs despite their giftedness, or struggle with basic skills in gifted classes. They may also fight to fit in with their peers or wonder how they might find their place in general.

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50 Tips, Tricks and Ideas for Teaching Gifted Students

Use these ideas to engage the high-level thinkers in your classroom.

Gifted kids can be a joy to teach when you know how to identify what engages them. These 50 tips and tricks come from my own experience and from around the Web. They’re good to have in your bag of tricks whether you’re a newbie or an old hand at teaching these high-level thinkers.

1. Know Their Interests

Every year, I start by having my students complete an interest inventory . This helps me ensure that curriculum is personalized to their interests.

2. Try Book Talks

Share what you are reading with gifted students. Often, these students experience a reading lag where they can’t find a sweet spot because it is hard for high-ability students to understand what is both challenging and appropriate.

3. Keep Them Active

Gifted students often need to have the ability to move when learning … pacing, flapping and bouncing are parts of their thinking process.

4. Offer Flexible Seating

A window seat is my favorite place to read, so I keep that in mind when offering seating. Try to offer different seating options for students: beanbag chairs, carpet squares, pillows, director chairs … the list can go on and on.

SOURCE:  kindergartenisgrrreat.blogspot.com

5. Model Social Situations

Social situations can be challenging for some gifted students as their ability to understand social cues can be underdeveloped. Team up with other teachers to model the proper way to start conversations.

6. Share Current Events

Current events are important to incorporate into gifted programming. We want these students to be thinking about how they can use their talents to solve real-world problems.

7. Look for the Helpers

As important as current events are, it is also just as important to understand that gifted students internalize global happenings on a very personal level. Kids do not have the experience with the world to understand that despite there being a war or attack, there are still good things happening in the world. 

SOURCE:  Reddit

8. Allow for Groupings

Not all gifted students are meant to be the project manager. Allow students the opportunity to work alone or in a group. Even cross-grade groupings work well with gifted students.

9. Mind the Child Labor Laws

Gifted students who finish early should not automatically be the teacher’s helper. Gifted students can be some of the worst students to assist others because their brains often work very differently. Having a gifted child help a student who is struggling may do more harm than good.

10. Create a Makerspace

My grandmother always said, idle hands are the devil’s workshop … so keep some key things in the back for busy hands. LEGO bricks, cardboard and masking tape, and Snap Circuits are some of my favorites!

11. Introduce Minecraft Edu

Don’t be scared to incorporate students’ passions and interests. I once had a student who never wanted to practice spelling words until I told him he could practice them in Minecraft. Minecraft Edu has lots of great ways teachers can implement this engaging game in the classroom.

SOURCE:  http://education.minecraft.net/

12. Give Them End Dates

Provide gifted students with clear endpoints on projects and assignments. Gifted students can create unusually high expectations and never see an end in sight; a book reflection can easily become a 10-page paper, a PowerPoint can become an intensive course on the topic. Letting students know where to stop can be helpful.

13. Set Realistic Goals 

Use FutureMe.org and have students write a letter to their future selves. Once students have written the letter, you can set the date for it to be sent to their inbox. What a great way for students to set goals and create natural check-in points.

14. Teach Decision-Making

Gifted students can have a huge case of FOMO: fear of missing out. They understand that decisions have consequences, and sometimes they need to be given an inordinate amount of details about their options. Allow for the gifted student to fully understand the pros and cons of a decision.

15. Be Patient

Gifted students are processing a lot in their minds. Be patient and give them the time to reflect on what they need to come to a consensus they can live with.

16. Assign Expiration Dates

My gifted students walk into class with exploding folders and binders. They keep everything because there is a fear of being unprepared. Just like expiration dates for food, think about adding a footer to your handouts: “This handout expires on April 15.”

17. Model Organization Strategies

Or at least model how you organize life. Gifted students like options and seeing how they work in the “real world” is very helpful. I show students how I use notes to organize things , how Google Calendar is my lifeline, and what I do for physical notes. I have used planners in the past and show those examples as well.

We also review different apps that could be helpful. I urge students to find what works for them. No system is not an answer. We all need a system to help us be productive. When I taught younger students, we would all try different systems together as our end-of-the-day procedure.

18. Use Brain Breaks

Offer gifted students a hobby that can help calm their busy minds. Teach them how to Zentangle , breathe, meditate, make friendship bracelets, knit, color—anything that allows for them to focus carefully on details can help them quiet some of the extra noise.

SOURCE:  http://teachertothecore.blogspot.com

19. Explore Their Passions

Some gifted students don’t have a passion yet because they haven’t found it. Provide exposure to as much as possible. TED talks are one way to help students think about different topics. TED even has created teaching enhancements. I heart TED.

20. Read Tons of Biographies

Reading, watching or listening to the lives of others can help gifted students develop a plan of action and see what others did to accomplish goals.

21. Read Lots of Everything

It is true, so many gifted students have found a book that becomes so much a part of them, they can discuss it at length. Bibliotherapy is a great way for students to experience how to deal with issues and learn tactics and strategies.

22. Pre-Assess Them

For the love of anything that is holy, this should probably be no. 1. Research states that most gifted students do not learn new information until January. Don’t make a student who has already mastered a concept sit through the lesson again. 

23. Allow Them to Focus

Let gifted students pursue their interests. If they want to let everything be about dinosaurs, more power to them! We need paleontologists. As mentioned in Outliers , it takes over 10,000 hours to be an expert. To get that many hours on a time card, students have to be allowed to focus.

24. Make Connections

We need to allow students to hyper-focus but also then be the “guide on the side” that helps them make connections from one area to another. Perhaps we can get our dinosaur expert to use Scratch and make a “Dino Dig” math game?

25. Find Mentors

Gifted students need mentors within their interest areas. Mentors can teach students how to navigate through professions and can even be gatekeepers to additional opportunities.

26. Practice Like Professionals

Allow students to practice like the professionals. Use the same processes that professionals use. Looking to try fashion designing? Have students actually sew, measure, use patterns and do the alterations. Visit the American Museum of Natural History’s OLogy interactive site.

27. Locate Authentic Audiences

The work students create should have a real audience and be appreciated by those who authentically would benefit from its completion. Younger students are a great first authentic audience.

28. Put Them in Escape Rooms

If you haven’t heard of these yet, drop everything and head over to http://www.breakoutedu.com/digital/ . These are a great way to curate the knowledge you want your students to gain. 

29. Watch Webinars

You can find webinars on just about any topic that interests your students. If you sign up at Edtech , they will send weekly lists of upcoming professional webinars.

30. Submit Inventions

Inventions are a great way for students to take risks and try different things. I feel like students are more apt to take risks when they are creating something new. Student Inventions for a Better America challenges students to submit an invention that will make the world a better place … and there are winners every month.

31. Try Gamification 

I love  The Mind Research Institute , which challenges students in grades K–12 to design their own mathematical game.

32. Check Out Local Happenings

Do you live in the middle of nowhere? Me too! But I was surprised to learn there were still a TON of events happening on the weekends. If you are in the urban areas, you are rich in opportunities. Look to local libraries, museums or universities.

33. Send Them to Summer Camp

Some of my closest childhood friendships started at summer camp. These times allowed for encouragement and allowed kids to be nurtured in an environment where trying something new was the goal. Summer camp allowed me to be myself and try new things.

34. Solve Local Problems

“With great power comes great responsibility,” says one of our favorite superheroes, and he is correct—kindness counts. We need to do good with the gifts and talents we have been given. Give gifted students the opportunity to solve local problems and see the need for change in their own community. Allow a book to inspire this mission: Wonder , Kindness Club , or The Summer I Changed the World in 65 Days .

35. Develop Book Clubs

What do friends all have in common? Interests!! We are attracted to those who think similarly and those who challenge our beliefs. Book clubs make for a great space for likeminded students to come together to discuss a common theme … in this case a book, which serves as a great discussion starter.

36. Allow for Voice and Choice

How many of you hated a certain book in high school only to read it as an adult and see how wrong you were? The moment we lost choice (of what to read in this case), we also lost joy. Allowing gifted students to have choice in the classroom allows them to feel empowered and engaged. Choices do not need to be huge either, small choices are just as important.

37. Raise the Bar

No one wants to only be the big fish in a small pond. We want to be around people who will make us better and want to achieve more. Allow your gifted student to be challenged by participating in academic competitions such as National History Day. Your students will see what true competition is.

38. Brainstorm

This is one of the best ways to develop critical thinking. Show a picture of clouds … what do you see? This type of activity develops fluency, elabora tion, originality and abstract thinking, which are all integral parts of being a creative thinker. Try Google’s Quick, Draw!  It’s a great tool for getting students to think rapidly—it’s also a gem for indoor recess.

39. Model Curiosity

When the students ask a question you don’t know, look it up with them. As librarian media specialist Melissa Thom says, “the smartest people are the people who know how to find answers to their own questions.” Follow her on twitter at  @ msthombookitis .

40. Try Flocabulary

Flocabulary creates content-rich raps (yes, as in hip-hop) about just about ANYTHING. There are so many wonderful resources embedded within—contests, lyric labs, lyric notes, connections to primary sources, teacher plans, corresponding handouts, questioning and so much more! This will quickly become your favorite teaching resource. I promise!

41. Let Them Read Below-Level Books

Why do we expect every book gifted students read to be 1.5–2 grade levels above their reading level? I say, if a student is enjoying a book, read it! Yes, challenging books are needed to develop reading ability but don’t discount a book just because it is below a student’s level. Reading a book for a different purpose can increase the difficulty of a book without changing the text.

42. Connect Globally

Global Read Aloud  is a program where one book is used to connect the world. Pernille Ripp founded GRA in 2010 with the simple idea to read a book aloud to her stude nts and during that time try to make as many global connections as possible. This mission has grown exponentially and has reached over two million students. Collaborating with students in other states and countries will help a gifted student think empathetically.

43. Incorporate Mythology

If you know a gifted s tudent, then you know that mythology can be a huge interest—often spurred by the  Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Allow students to build a better understanding by incorporating mythology into different curricular units.

This is an authentic way for gifted students to share their reading in a way that we would as adults. Creating readers means treating them like readers—when I finish a book I do not take a comprehension quiz. I talk about it, share it with friends or write about it. Have your students react to reading like real readers. Kidblog is a great tool for creating safe student blogs.

45. Crowdsource

Two heads are better than one! Allow students to go places where they can collaborate. Google Docs is a great place to start, but also explore tools like FlipGrid , a tool that allows students to record and reply to one another.

46. Be a Safe Space

Provide a safe space for gifted students to take risks without being put down. Gifted students are often timid to answer something they are unsure about because of the social stigma attached to not answering correctly. Create a classroom culture where wrong answers become an opportunity to celebrate different thinking. Check out Nancy Anderson’s book, What’s Right About Wrong Answers? Learning Math From Mistakes .

47. Use QR Codes

QR codes add an interactive component to your classroom. Create a QR Code Museum or Gallery or even a QR scavenger hunt on one of your classroom bulletin boards.

48. Write Haikus

A frog jumps into the pond, splash! Silence again. This is Basho Matsuo’s famous haiku. Use haiku as a way to challenge gifted students to summarize chapters, current events, biographies or vocabulary words. Haiku are student-friendly yet force them to be concise and purposeful with their word choice.

49. Change the World

Action is powerful for gifted students. Allowing students to find solutions to problems they see in their school, neighborhood or community will allow them to understand that they can make a difference. Internalizing that they can be the change in the world is transformational. Watch these TED Talks to show them what kids like them are doing to change the world.

50. Record Them

Allow gifted students to record their voices into an app or movie application. Teaching in front of peers is public speaking and that is its own beast. By allowing gifted students to show their work in a way that allows their confidence to be present is a win-win. Explain Everything is a collaborative and interactive whiteboard tool that makes this approach a piece of cake!

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Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed? Analytical Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Gifted education has helped educators to improve learning in their schools, especially among the gifted students. Students in regular classes have also benefited from gifted education. The success of gifted education is attributed to the use of modern teaching methods that have been developed in the last few years.

Some of the teaching methods used in gifted education programs include project work, providing meaningful choices for students, self-directed learning, literature-based reading, and problem-based curriculum. A well-prepared environment is essential for excellent performance among gifted students.

It is against this backdrop that Montessori education emphasizes the importance of preparing the learning environment. In this regard, a well-prepared learning environment should enable students to acquire knowledge by exploring and engaging in different learning experiences. This paper reviews the existing literature on gifted education.

Sternberg (1995, p. 18) examined the use of the triarchic approach to identify gifted children. This approach is essentially an assessment process that involves conducting nine multiple-choice subtests. These subtests include analytic-verbal, analytic-quantitative, analytic-figural, practical-verbal, practical-quantitative, practical-figural, creative-verbal, creative-quantitative and creative-figural.

In analytic-verbal test, students are required to identify a novel word in a text and to deduce its meaning from the given context. Analytic-quantitative test involves predicting the next figure that should be included in a series of numbers. A figural matrix is used to conduct the analytical-figural subtest.

In this case, the teacher eliminates the lower right entry of the matrix so that students can identify the entry that fits it from a variety of choices. In practical-verbal subtests, students are expected to find solutions to typical problems that adolescents encounter in their everyday lives. For example, the teacher can ask the students to give suggestions on how to help a person with substance abuse problem.

The practical-quantitative subtest involves finding solutions to math problems, which explain everyday life scenarios such as buying tickets for a ballgame. In practical-figural subtest, a map of a specific area such as an entertainment park enables teachers to test the students’ navigation skills. Teachers use analogies in conjunction with counterfactual premises to conduct the creative-verbal subtest (Sternberg, 1995, p. 18).

In this case, the students are required to solve the analogies in the context of the presented counterfactual premises. In creative-quantitative subtest, the students are expected to use specific novel number operations to find solutions to different math problems.

Finally, the creative-figural test involves completing a novel series. A figural series with one or more transformations is first presented to the students. Thus, the pupils apply the rules of this series to a different figure in order to create a new series.

Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 3) examined the development of cognitive skills, as well as, the importance of recognizing and nurturing talents in gifted children. They assert that children who are living in poverty are less likely than their counterparts from affluent backgrounds to be identified as gifted. This is likely to happen when the definition of giftedness emphasizes precocious development.

Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 3) used different assessments to study the concept of school readiness. In their study, standardized readiness tests were used to identify gifted children. They also examined the fundamental aspects of learning, which include the importance of teachers’ beliefs and practices that are associated with giftedness, as well as, students’ achievements and potential in diverse groups.

According to Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 4), the teaching practices that are used in primary schools are often framed in terms of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), as well as, their effectiveness in enhancing learning among gifted students and diverse populations of learners.

In a longitudinal study of early development of language and literacy skills among gifted children, Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 4), found that the mean age at which the children spoke the first meaningful word was 9.1 months. This result was obtained from a sample of 52 children whose IQs were equal to or greater than 160.

Children whose IQs exceeded 148 were able to speak in complete sentences at the age of 16 months. In a quantitative study of eleven gifted pre-school children, parents reported that their children spoke the first word when they were between 9 and 12 months old. Furthermore, the children were able to speak in complete sentences at the age of 18 months.

Acquisition of reading skills at an early age is one of the main characteristics of gifted children. Empirical studies indicate that gifted children are able to recognize a large number of familiar and unfamiliar printed words at the age of three years. At this age, precocious readers are able to decode and comprehend different levels of text.

Gifted children below the age of 2 years have a high interest in words, symbols, and complex stories. Additionally, most gifted children have the ability to read before joining school. Similar studies have shown that gifted children have advanced numeracy skills.

Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 6) also examined the emotional and social consequences that gifted children are likely to face if their talents are not recognized or are undervalued during their early school years. Their findings reveal that students begin to mask their abilities as soon as they join pre-school in order to be at par with their peers and to meet the expectations of their teachers.

For instance, children who normally read text-laden books at home can select picture books in the classroom in order to mask their reading skills. Similarly, they can mask their linguistic sophistication by developing different ‘codes’ of speaking in the classroom and at home. Gifted children are more sensitive to early messages than their attempts to express boredom or to identify different approaches to a problem.

Early school entrance or participation in differentiated programs in pre-school and primary classrooms is common among gifted children. Consequently, teachers must be able to develop responsive and challenging learning opportunities in order to nurture the talents of gifted students. The teachers should also help the students to develop positive attitudes towards learning.

According to Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 6), most gifted children fail to demonstrate language precocity in adulthood. Additionally, not all children who acquire language skills at an early age are able to sustain this gain over their peers through the school years. Even though early language development enhances giftedness, it is not a necessary precondition for gifted performance in mature students.

The association between precocious development and later gifted performance can be sullied by the effects of socio-economic status on children’s early development. Consequently, Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 8) assert that it is the responsibility of the adults who are working with the children to broaden the conceptions of giftedness.

They further assert that teachers and parents should address the academic and social needs of young children. In this regard, the focus should be on the development of language, reading and logical reasoning skills.

Even though descriptions enhance our understanding of group needs, they can also diminish the salience of diversity in the profiles of giftedness. Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 9) describe gifted children as precocious readers, writers, and mathematicians whose appetite for schoolwork is insatiable.

The narrow academic achievement conceptions of giftedness are likely to ignore students whose talents lie outside the domain of analytical intelligence. Gifted children who are living in poverty often face several barriers that hinder their early development. Consequently, they are likely to be ignored by the skill-based definitions of giftedness.

According to Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 14) these definitions are also likely to exclude minority students with gifted potential in communities that are associated with a significant overlap between low socio-economic status and minority ethnic status. Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 14) identified the following best practices concerning the identification of giftedness:

• Giftedness is multifaceted
• Giftedness is manifested in multiple ways
• Identification procedures are effective when data is collected over time
• Program and identification procedures should include students from diverse backgrounds
• collaborative models that incorporate the inputs from teachers, parents, specialist and students should be used
• Consistency is critical in the identification process and the services delivered by the program

The role of teacher expectation in the examination of students’ ability is integral in the identification process. Less-educated primary school teachers often base their academic expectations on the non-cognitive factors such as behavior, dressing and speech patterns. Teachers’ judgments are also likely to be influenced when they compare giftedness with high academic achievement and compliant behavior.

This premise is not likely to favor students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. This is because “developmentally appropriate practices and gifted students’ learning go hand-in-hand”. Since development occurs in stages, educators can predict it using a child’s age. This assumption tends to be inconsistent with the developmental characteristics of most young children.

Thus, age-based approaches are not appropriate for assessing the suitability of teaching practices. In this regard, Brighton, Moon, Jarvis and Hockett (2007, p. 19) recommend the use of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development as an alternative model of cognitive progress.

In this model, students develop by practicing skills and finding solutions to problems that they are able to complete through cognitive scaffolding in order to attain independent mastery. Within this framework, instructions are tailored to meet the students’ actual, rather than expected developmental capabilities. Thus, the teacher has to differentiate the curriculum in order to meet the needs of all students.

Cooperative learning refers to “a set of instructional strategies which employs small teams of pupils to promote peer interaction and cooperation for studying academic subjects”. Students must collaborate in order to attain a common objective in the learning process. According to Robinson (1991, p. 15), cooperative learning has positive effects in cross-ethnic relationships.

Despite its importance in the study of cooperative learning, Robinson’s research had definitional and sampling problems. Concisely, most of her findings were not obtained in the context of gifted or high ability students. In some cases, there was inadequate information about the students’ past achievements. Tests were used to identify high ability students.

These tests were administered by the teachers. For example, students who were able to score more than the median mark in math test were considered to have high ability. High ability as defined by “single achievement measures of basic skills, teacher constructed placement tests, or teacher judgment should not be used interchangeably with giftedness”.

According to Robinson (1991, p. 17), the success of group work depends on the availability of a student who understands the material that is being studied and is able to explain it to others. Even though the students who explain the learning materials to others enhance their understanding through this experience, too much repetition of the explanations can cause constant reviews.

Teachers must organize cooperative learning groups in a manner that reduces the ‘free rider’ effect. Consequently, the responsibility of explaining the learning materials or giving instructions will be shared among the group members. Talented students consider disproportionate sharing of responsibilities, and the failure of team members to contribute in heterogeneous groups to be unfair and frustrating.

In this regard, the following recommendations should be considered in order to facilitate cooperative learning. First, schools should not introduce cooperative learning as an alternative for the dedicated programs, which benefit the gifted students in a diverse class. Second, schools that are devoted to cooperative learning must use approaches that enable gifted students to access advanced learning materials.

Students Teams Achievement Division (STAD) and Jigsaw limit the ability of gifted students to access advanced curriculum since they depend on prepared grade-level materials. Finally, schools that are committed to cooperative learning should use models that are flexible.

Westberg and Archambault (1995, p. 2) examined the strategies that are used by teachers to differentiate instructions for high ability students. Differentiation refers to the approaches that educators employ to accommodate students’ academic differences by determining what students will learn, how they will learn it, and how they will demonstrate it.

The findings of this study indicated that most teachers were aware of the students’ academic differences. The teachers considered their students to be individuals with different skills, interests, styles, and talents. Moreover, they were aware of the students’ strengths and weaknesses.

According to Sternberg, Grigorenko and Ferrari (2004, p. 2), measuring intelligence and success require expertise. It requires “meta-components of thinking, which include recognition of problems, definition of problems, formulation of strategies, representation of information, allocation of resources, as well as, monitoring and evaluation of solutions to various problems”.

In this regard, Sternberg, Grigorenko and Ferrari (2004, p. 2) attribute the development of these skills to gene-environment, co-variation, and interaction. Conventional tests of intelligence and related abilities measure past achievements. These tests include vocabulary, oral analogies, conceptual reasoning, and solving mathematical problems.

The problem that is associated with the conventional model is that it proposes a causal relationship in which the tests reflect a construct that seems to be a causal of, rather than a mere temporary antecedent of later success. Most human characteristics reveal the co-variation and the association between genetic and contextual factors.

However, conducting an explicit measure of the influence of genes on the development of intelligence is not possible. Consequently, we can only measure a portion of the expressed intelligence. This includes the expressions of developing expertise, as well as, the type of expertise that can possibly facilitate reflection among practitioners. In this regard, there should be a relationship between intelligence measures and later success.

The facets of intelligence include analytical, creative, and practical domain. The attainment of expertise in a given creative domain or in a particular practical domain is associated with the achievement of expertise in similar domains. Psychometric research suggests “more domain generality for the analytical domain” (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Ferrari, 2004, p. 2).

Furthermore, individuals can exhibit analytical, creative, or practical expertise without having the other domains. Meta-cognitive skills refer to a person’s understanding of his own cognition. These skills include what a person knows about writing or solving arithmetic problems in terms of the steps to be followed and how such steps should be executed.

Even though learning skills are important, they are not the only skills that individuals need. Learning skills can be explicit or implicit.

Explicit learning takes place when a person attempts to learn. Implicit learning, on the other hand, occurs when a person acquires knowledge incidentally without making deliberate or systematic efforts. Individuals need to master three types of thinking skills (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Ferrari, 2004, p. 2). These skills include critical thinking, creative thinking and practical thinking.

Declarative and procedural knowledge are very important in various academic fields. Acquiring declarative knowledge involves the use facts and well-established principles. Acquiring procedural knowledge, on the other hand, involves following a well-defined course of action and strategies.

Procedural tacit knowledge is essential because it enables the learner to understand how various systems operate (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Ferrari, 2004, p. 2). There are two important types of motivation namely, competence and achievement. The achievement-oriented learners normally focus on challenges and risks that are not too high.

Concisely, they are interested in tasks that are challenging but achievable. Moreover, they try to improve their achievements. Competence refers to an individual’s ability to find solutions to an existing problem. Specialists are expected to improve their efficiency in order to solve complex tasks. This improvement can be achieved through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.

One problem that limits the use of conventional tests is the assumption that individuals operate in a de-contextualized environment (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Ferrari, 2004, p. 2).

Test results are usually interpreted based on a person’s internal characteristics. Thus, it is unrealistic to assume that all test takers operate in a fixed or uniform environment or context. The underlying issues that can influence test outcomes include the test taker’s language orientation, the importance of rapid performance, the significance of the test outcome to the test taker and the experience with the test materials.

Developing expertise is not limited to the constructs that educators often measure with the aid of the conventional intelligence tests. It also encompasses the process of taking the tests. Educators can tailor the tests to suit the kind of expertise that is required in any given cultural or sub-cultural milieu. Most conventional tests reflect the type of skills that are considered to be very important in western learning institutions.

The importance of the conventional tests is that they help educators to forecast school performance. In the contemporary world, considering abilities to be constant or preset is anachronism. Empirical studies indicate that conventional tests can only measure a small percentage of the types of developing expertise that are needed for life success.

This explains the inability of conventional tests to forecast more than 10% of variations in individual differences in regard to various measures of success in adulthood. Different cultures have varied conceptions of the value of the expertise that are estimated by the conventional tests.

For example, in a 1995 study that analyzed the cultures of the Latino, Asian, and Anglo communities, the results indicated that Latino parents believed that the social types of expertise were the most essential in the development of intelligence. However, Asian and Anglo parents considered cognitive types of expertise to be the most important. Cognitive and social skills are essential in school and in private life.

Thus, all students should receive training on these types of expertise in their homes and in their schools. Until we expand “our notions of abilities, and recognize that when we measure them, we are measuring developing forms of expertise, we will risk consigning many of potentially excellent contributors to our society to bleak futures” (Sternberg, Grigorenko, & Ferrari, 2004, p. 2).

Similarly, we are likely to overestimate the abilities of students with expertise in certain academic fields, but lack similar expertise for later success in life. Teachers should use instructions in a manner that enhances reflective, analytical, creative, as well as practical thinking within a knowledge base.

The desired learning outcomes can be achieved if the students’ thoughts are focused on learning. Similarly, educators can attain the desired learning outcomes if the process of imparting knowledge takes into account the students’ diverse styles of learning and thinking.

According to Archhambalt, Westberg Dobyns and Salvin (1993, p. 43), most gifted students often spend a better part of their time in regular classrooms. However, most educators and researchers hold the opinion that teachers lack the experience that would enable them to meet the needs of the gifted students.

Archhambalt, Westberg Dobyns and Salvin (1993, p. 43) assert that advocacy and the initiatives that have been taken by educators to improve learning among gifted students have not been fruitful. Concisely, most schools provide inadequate differentiated instructional and curricular practices to third and fourth grade gifted students.

Furthermore, economic challenges have led to the elimination of gifted learners’ programs in most schools. Consequently, the most practical option is to use the existing regular classrooms to meet the needs of the gifted students. In most of the existing programs for the gifted students, instructions are usually provided for approximately 2 hours per week. Hence, the role of the teachers in these programs becomes apparent.

According to Callahan, Hunsaker, Adams and Moore (1995, p. 3) assessment of the definition and identification of giftedness should be done at the state, as well as, at the school level. This will help researchers to understand the factors that interrupt sound identification at these levels.

Moreover, teachers should be involved in the identification process. In this case, the teachers should provide the information about the characteristics of giftedness. Consequently, teachers should receive training on how the various aspects of giftedness are measured and how they can use the results of such measurements to make decisions.

There have been improvements in the availability of the resources that can help teachers to identify the link between the definition of giftedness, and the instructions that facilitate identification of gifted students. Consequently, the process of identifying gifted students is expected to improve. Concisely, the teachers or educators are expected to identify all gifted students without ignoring some of them.

Teachers and parents are concerned about what happens to the high ability students when they are in school. Teachers who are responsible for teaching above average students are aware of the fact that different strategies help them to meet the diverse needs of the students. One of the methods that teachers can use to meet the diverse needs of their students is curriculum compacting.

By acquiring the skills and procedures that are necessary for providing the best education to high ability students, teachers improve the existing knowledge about good teaching methods. In a nutshell, training programs provide opportunities for the development of new knowledge and procedures that enhance learning.

Additionally, the teachers can share their knowledge and experiences with each other, thereby improving the existing body of knowledge about best teaching practices.

Greene, Hartzell and Hong (2011, pp. 250-264) studied the emotional and cognitive differences between teachers in regular classes and their counterparts in gifted programs. The teacher characteristic that was considered in the study includes epistemological beliefs, meta-cognition and motivation.

The results of this study indicated that teachers in gifted programs had “more sophisticated epistemological beliefs, higher learning-goal orientation, and lower performance-goal orientation than did teachers in general education classroom”. However, there were no differences in the perceived use of meta-cognitive strategies, self-efficacy, as well as, intrinsic motivation.

Generally, the teachers’ epistemological sophistication was higher in the nature of learning than in the nature of knowledge. Teachers also used cognitive strategies more than they used planning and monitoring skills. Finally, most of the teachers were learning-goal oriented rather than performance-goal oriented.

Greene, Hartzell and Hong (2011, pp. 250-264) recommend that pre-service and in-service teachers should take additional courses and training so that they can learn and reflect on their personal attributes.

This implies that teacher training programs should be improved so that teachers can acquire the most appropriate skills and knowledge. The rationale of this recommendation is that the best learning outcomes can be obtained through evidence-based instructional methods.

The findings of these researchers provide evidence that the characteristics of the teachers in gifted programs are different from those of their counterparts in regular classes.

In addition, gifted students who are in pullout programs have a high chance of accessing the services of the teachers with the desired characteristics. In this regard, it is important to establish special programs for the gifted students since teachers in regular classes might not have the characteristics that are needed to meet the needs of the high ability students.

Greene, Hartzell and Hong (2011, pp. 250-264) point out that a substantial number of gifted students usually spend most of their time in regular classrooms. Consequently, researchers should examine the possibility of using training programs to enhance teachers’ understanding of the characteristics that improve learning among gifted students.

The attributes of teachers and their beliefs about their students’ education or learning experiences are essential areas that can help teachers to differentiate instructions for gifted students in regular classrooms.

Teachers’ knowledge and skills are also important in the process of differentiating the instructions for the gifted students. Pre-service and in-service training programs should not only give teachers the opportunity to learn, but also to engage in self-reflection on their cognitive attributes, as well as, motivational characteristics.

Using a mixed-method study and a sample of 200 high performing students, Watters (2010, pp. 222-238) examined the teacher attributes that support students’ interests.

In this study, the participants were requested to identify at least seven characteristics of teachers that supported students’ potential career pathways. Some of the characteristics that were identified included teachers’ ability to link pedagogical practices with students’ interests, creating relevant learning experiences, good classroom management skills and being able to explain complex ideas.

Additionally, having adequate content knowledge and passion for a particular subject matter is a supportive attribute. Teachers who have the aforementioned attributes are able to help gifted students to follow their career pathways.

Archambalt, F., Westberg, K., Dobyns, S., & Salvin, T. (1993). A Study of Instructional and Curricular Practices Used with Gifted and talented Students in Regular Classrooms. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Brighton, C., Moon, T., Jarvis, J., & Hockett, J. (2007). Primary Grade Teachers’ Conceptions of Giftedness and Talent: a Case-based Investigation. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Callahan, C., Hunsaker, S., Adams, C., & Moore, S. (1995). Instructions Used in the Identification of Gifted and Talented Students. Charlottesville: University of Virginia.

Green, M., Hartzell, S., & Hong, E. (2011). Cognitive and Motivational Characteristics of Elementary Teachers in General Education Classrooms and in Gifted Programs. Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(4) , 250-264.

Gubbins, J., Emerick, L., Delcourt, M., Newman, J., & Imbeau, M. (1995). Research Related to the Enrichment Triad Model. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Robinson, A. (1991). Coooperative Learning and the Academically Talented Student. Little Rock: University of Arkansas.

Sternberg, R. (1995). Triarchic Approach to Giftedness. Connecticut: University of Connecticut.

Sternberg, R., Grigorenko, E., & Ferrari, M. (2004). Giftedness and Expertise. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

Watters, J. (2010). Career Decision Making among Gifted Students: the Mediation of Teachers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 53(3) , 222-238.

Westberg, K., & Archambault, F. (1995). Profiles of Successful Parctices for High Ability Students in Elementary Classrooms. Storrs: University of Connecticut.

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IvyPanda. (2019, July 9). Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed? https://ivypanda.com/essays/gifted-education/

"Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed?" IvyPanda , 9 July 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/gifted-education/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed'. 9 July.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed?" July 9, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gifted-education/.

1. IvyPanda . "Early Gifted Education: Why Is It Needed?" July 9, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/gifted-education/.

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What it means for the Supreme Court to throw out Chevron decision, undercutting federal regulators

FILE- Gulls follow a commercial fishing boat as crewmen haul in their catch in the Gulf of Maine, in this Jan. 17, 2012 file photo. TExecutive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court. The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

The Supreme Court building is seen on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Executive branch agencies will likely have more difficulty regulating the environment, public health, workplace safety and other issues under a far-reaching decision by the Supreme Court .

The court’s 6-3 ruling on Friday overturned a 1984 decision colloquially known as Chevron that has instructed lower courts to defer to federal agencies when laws passed by Congress are not crystal clear.

The 40-year-old decision has been the basis for upholding thousands of regulations by dozens of federal agencies, but has long been a target of conservatives and business groups who argue that it grants too much power to the executive branch, or what some critics call the administrative state.

The Biden administration has defended the law, warning that overturning so-called Chevron deference would be destabilizing and could bring a “convulsive shock” to the nation’s legal system.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said federal judges “must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.”

The ruling does not call into question prior cases that relied on the Chevron doctrine, Roberts wrote.

Here is a look at the court’s decision and the implications for government regulations going forward.

What is the Chevron decision?

Atlantic herring fishermen sued over federal rules requiring them to pay for independent observers to monitor their catch. The fishermen argued that the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act did not authorize officials to create industry-funded monitoring requirements and that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to follow proper rulemaking procedure.

In two related cases, the fishermen asked the court to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, which stems from a unanimous Supreme Court case involving the energy giant in a dispute over the Clean Air Act. That ruling said judges should defer to the executive branch when laws passed by Congress are ambiguous.

In that case, the court upheld an action by the Environmental Protection Agency under then-President Ronald Reagan.

In the decades following the ruling, Chevron has been a bedrock of modern administrative law, requiring judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of congressional statutes.

But the current high court, with a 6-3 conservative majority has been increasingly skeptical of the powers of federal agencies. Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch have questioned the Chevron decision. Ironically, it was Gorsuch’s mother, former EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch, who made the decision that the Supreme Court upheld in 1984.

What’s at stake?

With a closely divided Congress, presidential administrations have increasingly turned to federal regulation to implement policy changes. Federal rules impact virtually every aspect of everyday life, from the food we eat and the cars we drive to the air we breathe and homes we live in.

President Joe Biden’s administration, for example, has issued a host of new regulations on the environment and other priorities, including restrictions on emissions from power plants and vehicle tailpipes , and rules on student loan forgiveness , overtime pay and affordable housing.

Those actions and others could be opened up to legal challenges if judges are allowed to discount or disregard the expertise of the executive-branch agencies that put them into place.

With billions of dollars potentially at stake, groups representing the gun industry and other businesses such as tobacco, agriculture, timber and homebuilding, were among those pressing the justices to overturn the Chevron doctrine and weaken government regulation.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief last year on behalf of business groups arguing that modern application of Chevron has “fostered aggrandizement’’ of the executive branch at the expense of Congress and the courts.

David Doniger, a lawyer and longtime Natural Resources Defense Council official who argued the original Chevron case in 1984, said he feared that a ruling to overturn the doctrine could “free judges to be radical activists” who could “effectively rewrite our laws and block the protections they are supposed to provide.”

“The net effect will be to weaken our government’s ability to meet the real problems the world is throwing at us — big things like COVID and climate change,″ Doniger said.

More than just fish

“This case was never just about fish,’' said Meredith Moore of the environmental group Ocean Conservancy. Instead, businesses and other interest groups used the herring fishery “to attack the foundations of the public agencies that serve the American public and conserve our natural resources,’' she said.

The court ruling will likely open the floodgates to litigation that could erode critical protections for people and the environment, Moore and other advocates said.

“For more than 30 years, fishery observers have successfully helped ensure that our oceans are responsibly managed so that fishing can continue in the future,’' said Dustin Cranor of Oceana, another conservation group.

He called the case “just the latest example of the far right trying to undermine the federal government’s ability to protect our oceans, waters, public lands, clean air and health.’'

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey called the decision a fitting follow-up to a 2022 decision — in a case he brought — that limits the EPA’s ability to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. The court held that Congress must speak with specificity when it wants to give an agency authority to regulate on an issue of major national significance.

Morrisey, now the GOP nominee for governor, called Chevron “a misguided doctrine under which courts defer to legally dubious interpretations of statutes put out by federal administrative agencies.”

A shift toward judicial power

The Supreme Court ruling will almost certainly shift power away from the executive branch and Congress and toward courts, said Craig Green, a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

“Federal judges will now have the first and final word about what statutes mean,″ he said. “That’s a big shift in power.″

In what some observers see as a historic irony, many conservatives who now attack Chevron once celebrated it. The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was among those who hailed the original ruling as a way to rein in liberal laws.

“Conservatives believed in this rule until they didn’t,’' Green said in an interview.

In recent years, conservatives have focused on “deconstruction of the administrative state,’' even if the result lessens the ability of a conservative president to impose his beliefs on government agencies.

“If you weaken the federal government, you get less government,’' Green said — an outcome that many conservatives, including those who back former President Donald Trump, welcome.

The ruling will likely “gum up the works for federal agencies and make it even harder for them to address big problems. Which is precisely what the critics of Chevron want,” said Jody Freeman, director of the environmental and energy law program at Harvard Law School.

Gifted Kids: What You Should Know

Gifted kids — they’re not all Hermione or little Sherlocks that we can easily point out in a crowd. (Although, okay, some are like that too!)  While many of us may have heard the term “gifted” or maybe even had a Gifted and Talented (GT) program at our local public school, the general public knows very little about who these kids are. Gifted kids are a diverse group that come from all socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. In this article we’ll be reviewing the basics about this special population such as the early signs of giftedness, their unique characteristics, and the challenges associated with raising gifted kids.

Who are gifted kids?

We first must start with understanding what the term “gifted” means. It is often vaguely defined and used by different groups to different ends. To keep it simple, gifted means advanced in one or more areas which may manifest as intellectual, creative, or even physical prowess. These kids may appear more driven than their age peers, more quirky, more aware, more curious, or generally more intense in one area or another. Sometimes though, they may not appear like anything out of the ordinary at all. Many gifted students are twice exceptional meaning they have an advanced strength in one or more areas but also a learning difference. This can result in masking where their strengths and challenges cancel each other out, and the student appears average. Similar misconceptions around who gifted kids are and how they behave can also lead to the under-identification of gifted minority students . This is why gifted students can’t always be easily recognized at first glance by parents or educators without proper information and training on gifted identification .

What are the early signs of giftedness?

Gifted children may have strengths in any number of subjects, but some of the early signs of giftedness seem to be fairly consistent across this population. This may include:

• Developmental milestones for motor skills are often reached earlier
• Language development and reading skills are often acquired before Kindergarten
• Math concepts like addition and subtraction are often understood before grade school
• Intensely interested in certain subjects or activities like puzzles, dinosaurs, imaginative play, the cosmos, or taking apart household objects
• Grasps abstract concepts early which may lead to existential questions about life and death at a surprisingly young age
• A high occurrence of one or more of the forms of Dabrowski & Piechowsk’s over excitabilities : Sensual, Psychomotor,  Imaginative, Intellectual, or Emotional OE.
• Insatiable curiosity coupled with unending questions

Parents may find it help to consult additional lists on the early signs of giftedness . Of course, no one student may present all signs at once, and there may be additional factors like learning disabilities that complicate the child’s cognitive profile and presentation. Kids with gifted characteristics may benefit from an individual gifted assessment for parents to gain a better understanding of their child’s strengths and weaknesses as well as professional education recommendations.

What are some of the challenges of raising a gifted child?

If your child has been identified as gifted, you might be worried about what that means for their development. While some things may come easy to them, like their favorite subject, gifted kids often come with other challenges. Asynchronous development in gifted students is very common , which means they may be many ages at once. For example, a gifted 5 th grader might be intellectually age 17, physically age 11, and emotionally age 9. This can create challenges for parents and educators who may have trouble finding the appropriate academic materials like advanced books without adult themes. Parents may feel bewildered by their gifted kid who can talk to them about chemical bonds one minute and leave for school without their shoes the next. This uneven developmental trajectory can be a frustrating experience for all involved that requires patience and understanding.

Gifted children and friendships can also be a source of challenge for many families. Because of their asynchrony and niche interests, many gifted kids feel as though their age-peers at school don’t understand them. These children often feel pressure to dumb themselves down to fit in at school or may forego connecting with their classmates altogether, which can lead to social struggles and anxiety . Many gifted kids find their true peers by pursuing their interests through extracurriculars, clubs, or summer experiences.

What is the best way to support a gifted child?

Gifted children thrive both academically, socially, and emotionally when parents and educators take a strengths-based approach to their learning. Giving gifted students room to explore and grow in the subjects that they’re passionate about while proving support in areas of challenge helps students foster their gifts with a growth-mindset. It may also prevent underachievement in gifted students , both intentional and unintentional, when gifted kids are recognized and placed in the appropriate educational environment. Parents might consider any number of acceleration options for gifted students as a cost-effective solution that has decades of research backing its benefits both intellectually and socially for this population.

Because being gifted doesn’t always mean high achieving at the onset, it is important for parents and educators to learn about who these gifted children are to nurture their abilities. Gifted tests and assessments can help identify giftedness and provide insight into the individual student and how they learn best. Most of all, it is important to remember gifted kids are kids first. They need a loving, safe home and guidance and understanding from the adults in their life to help them navigate their development and overcome challenges.

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Opinion ‘Michelle Cottle

The ‘Philly Girl’ Shielding Biden From the Bad News

Credit... Damon Winter/The New York Times

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By Michelle Cottle

Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion and is a host of the podcast “Matter of Opinion.”

• July 3, 2024

Amid the public fretting and finger-pointing rage over how to deal with a Democratic presidential nominee who most Americans think is too old for the job, some of the frustration is being directed at the first lady, Jill Biden. Which has me thinking back to one of the viral moments from her husband’s 2020 campaign.

On the night of Super Tuesday, as Joe Biden was delivering his celebratory speech at a rally in Los Angeles, two anti-dairy demonstrators rushed the stage , only to run smack up against the protective wall of Dr. Biden. With impressively fleet feet — rocking metallic sling-back pumps, no less — she inserted herself between her man and potential harm. There is an amazing photo of her grimacing and holding a protester at bay by the wrists as Mr. Biden looks on with concern. “We’re OK,” she assured everyone once the spectacle was over. “We’re OK.”

Notably, this was not the first time the candidate’s wife had served as a human shield for him in that race. Less than a month earlier, on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, she blocked an aggressive heckler and then showed him the door, joking afterward , “I’m a good Philly girl.”

Philly tough. That is who Dr. Biden is, fiercely and reflexively, when it comes to protecting and supporting her husband. This has been her role since the couple’s courting days, when he was a young senator struggling to recover from losing his first wife and baby daughter in a car crash. And those looking to recruit her to encourage Mr. Biden to reconsider his presidential bid may sorely misunderstand her — and their marriage.

“She gave me back my life,” he gushed of Dr. Biden in his 2007 memoir, “Promises to Keep.” Even before officially joining the family, she became a surrogate mother to his two young sons. And for nearly half a century since, she has sustained her husband through enough high-intensity drama to shatter a lesser spouse: his near-fatal aneurysm, the death of his oldest child, the disastrous drug addiction of his younger son, multiple presidential runs.

Which means that if Mr. Biden is determined to stay in this race, Jilly, as he calls her, is going to have his back. Period. Even if much of his own party suspects that he is very much not OK. In fact, the more that elite establishment types clamor for him to move aside, the more Dr. Biden is likely to get her back up.

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