Predictors of Performance of Disadvantaged Adolescents in a Gifted Program

Abstract

This study investigated the relative value of different measures in selecting disadvantaged South Africans for an enrichment program. Results on the measures for 99 13-18-year-old students were intercorrelated with achievement in the Soweto Gifted Child Program (SGCP). Regression analyses indicated that 50-58% of the variance in performance in the SGCP was accounted for by several significant predictors; namely, two subtests (the Verbal Analogies Test and the Organiser) of the Learning Potential Assessment Device, school performance, and the combined Similarities subtests of the WAIS-R and WISC-R. For all measures which emerged as predictors, assessment of performance followed an opportunity for learning. Baldwin (1987) illustrates how the use of IQ as the criterion for giftedness might lead to the unjustifiable exclusion of black children from gifted programs. Yet the Wechsler Scales were found by Klausmeier, Mishra, and Maker (1987) to be the most extensively used ability measures for identifying the gifted in the United States. There have been attempts to develop and test the effectiveness of nondiscriminatory approaches to the identification of giftedness in minority and low socioeconomic status populations (e.g.

Assessment beyond definitions

“…These considerations are important when determining potential and the factors that might contribute to the student's performance. In fact, researchers often report that performance can be moderated by opportunities such as school placement, program modification, enrichment, and social/emotional support (Kitano, 1991;Skuy, Gaydon, Hoffenberg, & Fridjohn, 1990).…”