Classification of Gifted and Talented Students

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Classification of Gifted and Talented Students

Many people have varying views on what classifies a student as gifted and talented.

According to the Office of Gifted and Talented, six qualities determine giftedness.

These qualities are intellectual ability as well as talent, scoring in the 97th percentile and above on aptitude tests, creative thinking, leadership ability, talents in the fine arts, and psychomotor abilities. Using the definition supplied by Bruce User, “a school system could expect to identify 10% to 15% or more of its student population as gifted and talented” (2000, p. 1). In A Dictionary of Education, a gifted child is defined as, “usually taken to be a child of exceptional performance in academic studies or creative arts like music, painting, or acting. Sometimes the label is awarded on the basis of high IQ, even in the absence of exceptional performance- perhaps even in the presence of apathetic or disruptive attitudes, suggesting to some observers that the child is bored and not being sufficiently challenged” (Rowntree, 1981, p. 105).

In The Gifted and Talented Children’s Act of 1978 gifted children are defined as, “Children and, wherever applicable, youth, who are identified at the pre-school, elementary, or secondary level as possessing or demonstrating potential abilities that give evidence of high performance capabilities in areas such as intellectual, creative, specific academic, or leadership ability, or in the performing arts, and who by reason thereof, require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school” (Shafritz, Koeppe, & Super 1998, p.213-214).

Another view of the qualities of gifted and talented students suggests that there are both typical and atypical gifted st...

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...al excellence: a case for developing America’s talent. Retrieved October 14, 2002 from www.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/

This article stresses some of the problems in the selection of gifted and talented students. It also refers to programs available for gifted and talented programs and proposes ways in which to improve schools.

Silverman, L.K. (1996, May). How parents can support gifted students. Retrieved October 28,2002 from http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content/parents.gifted.html

This article shows some ways in which parents can help their gifted and talented child.

User, B. (2000, May). A short summary of giftedness. Retrieved September 25, 2002 from http://www.eskimo.com/~user/zbrief.html

Provides a summary of giftedness from the Office of Gifted and Talented and identifies what percent of the population in each school is considered gifted.

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