Giftedness, a category of Special Education under IDEA, is defined in numerous ways by different states. The State of Connecticut defines giftedness as “any exceptional child who… (B) has extraordinary learning ability or outstanding talent in the creative arts, the development of which requires programs or services. The definition that will be utilized for this paper will be based on the federal definition as specified in the 1994 reauthorization of the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988: …students, children or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership ability, or in specific academic fields, and who require service or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities. (PL. 103-382, Title XIV, 1988, p. 388) Although this definition identifies the need for special services for this population of students, there is no mandated law that states that school districts are required to provide services for these students. Because of this, these students may not be able to fully develop their gifts. Conceptual theories of giftedness have been proposed by several people. Sternberg and Zhang proposed one theory, pentagonal implicit theory that required a person to meet five criteria in order to be considered gifted. These criteria were (Turnbull, 197): 1. Excellence~ the person must be superior in some dimension to their peers, 2. Rarity~ the person must have a high level of an attribute that that rare relative to their peers, 3. Productivity~ the person, along with the dimension in which the person is being evaluated as superior must lead to or potentially lead to product... ... middle of paper ... ...dness and Talent. In Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. (pp. 508-551). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall King. (2005)Addressing the Social and Emotional Needs of Twice Exceptional Students. Teaching Exceptional Children (Sep/Oct), 16-20 Maker, C.J., Udall, A.J. (1985). Giftedness and Learning Disabilities. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. McGrail, L. (1998).Modifying Regular Classroom Curriculum for Gifted and Talented Students Gifted Child Today, Spring, 21-23 National Association for Gifted Children, Giftedness and High Ability. State Notes on Gifted and Talented, State Gifted and Talented Definitions Turnbull, R. Turnbull, A. Shank, M. Smith, S.J., (2004). Giftedness. In Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today’s Schools (pp. 194-224). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
New York: Cambridge University Press. Ryser, G. R., & McConnell, K. (2003). Scales for Identifying Gifted Students. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
The problem associated with how students are chosen to join a gifted and talented program stems from the way that we define giftedness. Because there are countless ways in which any individual can define talent, the government created a federal task force in 1972 to study gifted education in order to standardize the way in which schools choose students for and implement their gifted and talented programs. The task force’s results are known as the Marland Report and include much information as a result of their research, including a decision that a public school’s gifted and talented programs should aim to serve between 3 and 5 percent o...
Runco, M. A. (2005). Creative giftedness. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 295-311). New York: Cambridge University Press.
There are three curriculum models that are used to effectively teach gifted and talented students. These models include the Integrated Curriculum Model, the William and Mary Center for Gifted Education Research Model, and the Parallel Model.
Donovan, M. Suzanne and Christopher T. Cross (2002, August). Minority Students in Special and Gifted Education. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/lib/drexel/-docDetail.action?docID=10032383.
Richards, S., Taylor, R., Smiley, L. 2009; Exceptional Students: Preparing Teachers for the 21st Century
A common misconception is intelligence is inherited and does not change, so therefore, gifted children do not need special services. However, this mindset is very dangerous when it comes to the development of gifted children. It is widely believed that gifted students will get by on their own without any assistance from their school. After all,
Parker, Wayne D. (1998). Birth-Order Effects in the Academically Talented. Gifted Child Quarterly, (42), 29-37.
One ethical theory that is related to the Gifted and Talented students is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is doing what is best for the majority of the people. In a classroom setting, the teacher would do what is best to enhance learning for the middle, and majority, of their class. However, this leaves out students who are above average and are considered to be Gifted and Talented. This leaves these students to be on their own in order to challenge themselves. However, most students will not take it upon themselves to seek out more learning opportunities and instead might direct their time to acting out in class, distracting others, or becoming so bored that they start to fall behind. Obviously, this is something that needs to be fixed. In the past, this was the only option students really had who were Gifted and Talented. Now, with programs in schools and supplementary activities that teachers have, these students are able to succeed. Because of this, the perception that GT students have a disability has come to light and is proven that this is untrue. The perception has indeed changed and students who are Gifted and Talented are viewed as students who are considerably advanced and need support and a curriculum to enhance their academic
Author unkown (2003, March 9). In gifted classrooms is diversity lacking?. Salisbury Daily Times. Retrieved March 10, 2003, from http://www.dailytimesonline.com/new/stories/20030309/localnews/1142640.html
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Turnbull, R., Turnbull, A., Shank, M., Smith, S.J. (2004). Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.