Identifying and supporting gifted youth

Abstract

This study summarizes the literature regarding methods for the education and identification of academically gifted young people, specifically focusing on the top 0.1%. We review longitudinal studies of extremely gifted students (such as the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth) and examine the “threshold hypothesis,” that the IQ measure breaks down at the top end (as a measure of intelligence or predictor of success), and so test the ‘extremely gifted’ construct. We then examine various tests of talent and intelligence and propose ways to adapt them for the top 0.1%. Finally we review the evidence into fast-tracking young people, and conclude that accelerating gifted students is beneficial and has few negative side-effects.