Identifying and Serving Gifted and Talented Students: Are Identification and Services Connected?

Abstract

The importance of alignment between identification processes and program design is widely noted in gifted and talented education literature. We analyzed publicly available district gifted program plans (Grades 3-5) from two states to examine the extent to which district identification practices matched intervention strategies. Our team developed a coding scheme matrix with 133 items for State 1 ( n = 115) and State 2 ( n = 178). The results of this study indicated that, at least in terms of planning, districts in the two states we examined appeared to be aligning identification and programming practices to meet the needs of gifted students identified in mathematics and/or reading/English language arts. In State 1, at least 60% of the districts reported the following intervention strategies in mathematics and reading/English language arts: faster pace of coverage, regular grade-level standards, in-depth coverage, preassessment, above grade-level standards, and expanded grade-level standards. In contrast, State 2 districts reported faster pace of coverage; however, with less commonly utilized interventions, subject-matter identification significantly influenced their usage. Differentiation was the primary learning environment strategy utilized by districts in both states.

Where Does Gifted Education Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

“…This assures more students are challenged, and fewer require any additional "gifted and talented" intervention. Too often gifted and talented programs are low dose, are not meaningfully different from grade-level instruction, or focus on critical or creative thinking skills that would benefit far more than just the students identified as gifted (Card & Giuliano, 2016;Gubbins et al, 2021).…”

Obrazovanje odraslih/Adult Education

“…Identifikacija nadarenih učenika je proces prepoznavanja iznimnih sposobnosti ili dispozicija za izvanredan rad i doprinos u nekom polju. Identifikacija nadarenih učenika predstavlja pokušaj uočavanja nadprosječnih intelektualnih kapaciteta kako bi se, bilježe Kafedžić (2011), Gubbins et al (2021), dizajnirali programi s adekvatnim intervencijskim poticajima. Realizacija potencijala u potpunosti ovisi o ranoj detekciji i identifikaciji nadprosječnih sposobnosti.…”

“…Identifikacija nema vrijednost per se ukoliko nije praćena sistemskim strukturisanjem razvoja nadarenih učenika u odgojno-obrazovnim procesima. Da bi bila opravdana, Dai (2019), Gubbins et al (2021) naglašavaju da mora postojati usklađenost između identifikacije i kreiranja programa koji će nastavu učiniti intelektualno atraktivnijom, poticajnijom, privlačnijom i zabavnijom. Nastavnici koji su responsivni na potrebe nadarenih učenika nastoje im osigurati razlikovni kurikulum jer znaju da nadareni učenici imaju specifične zahtjeve u pogledu učenja i podučavanja, odnosno da uobičajeni planovi i programi, krojeni za učenike tipičnih sposobnosti, ne mogu u potpunosti zadovoljiti njihove potrebe.…”

The Case for Content-Based Curriculum for Advanced Learners

“…As such, it marks both the anniversary and continuation of an idea that is critical for educators to embrace—(a) that content curricula are the easiest tools for differentiation and acceleration in schools, (b) that the common core and other state standards should be the basis for work with advanced learners, and (c) that quality content-based curriculum can readily provide the challenge and stimulation needed for these learners in all subjects in which they excel. Yet a recent study from the National Research Center suggests that the majority of classrooms are choosing to differentiate outside of traditional content areas (see Gubbins et al, 2021). My own evaluation studies also suggest that content is underutilized as a basis for differentiation for gifted students, especially in science and social studies classrooms (see VanTassel-Baska et al, 2020; VanTassel-Baska & Hubbard, 2019) and that both acceleration and differentiation are underutilized as accommodations for advanced learning.…”