Talent Beyond Words: Identification of Potential Talent in Dance and Music in Elementary Students

Abstract

We present evidence for the reliability and validity of the Talent Identification Instrument (TII), an observation process in music and dance in which multiple judges rate students throughout a multisession audition. The approach was designed to recognize previously overlooked abilities in urban elementary students, including low income, bilingual, and special education students. The TII observation process was designed to evoke artful behaviors that can be readily recognized by arts specialists and classroom teachers. We found strong agreement among raters and adequate stability estimates. Evidence for validity was obtained through factor analysis and a variety of construct validity procedures. The performance-based assessment described here may have implications for discovering hidden potential in academic as well as artistic domains.

Gifted Students with Attention Deficits: Fact and/or Fiction? Or, Can We See the Forest for the Trees?

“…For example, some upper elementary students with severe attention disorders who were found to have potential talent in dance or music were selected to participate in a federally funded program designed to recognize and nurture those talents (Baum, Owen, & Oreck, 1996). Their classroom or special education teachers were amazed at the ability of students to attend to tasks during the dance or music classes.…”

“…In fact, many strategies used in gifted education have been found to accommodate the needs of such children in a more positive, less invasive, and more appropriate manner. For example, several research projects have successfully used talent development or attention to students' gifts, abilities, or intelligences as an intervention for promoting academic success for gifted students at-risk, including high ability students with attention and learning problems(Baum et al, 1996; Baum, Renzulli, & H6bert, 1994; at TEMPLE UNIV on November 19, 2014 gcq.sagepub.com Downloaded from…”

Programs and Practices for Talented Students: Insights from Evaluation and Research

“…The implications for best practice from this study and from other work that has appeared recently in the Gifted Child Quarterly are twofold: First, we can identify culturally diverse students by carefully defining giftedness and broadening our traditional notions of it (Maker, 1995) and by targeting talents outside traditional academic domains (Baum, Owen & Oreck, 1996;Clasen, Middleton & Connell, 1994). Second, we can identify ethnic minority students through cognitive measures related to academic accomplishment.…”

Musically Talented Pupils in Slovene Elementary Schools: Gender and Age Differences in the Area of Musical Abilities / Glazbeno talentirana djeca u osnovnim školama u Sloveniji: razlike prema spolu i dobi u području glazbenih sposobnosti

“…• Musically talented pupils have well-developed musical abilities. (Rojko, 1981;Moore, 1994;Moore et al, 1997;Sloboda, 1997;Haroutounian, 2000aHaroutounian, , 2000bHallam & Schaw, 2002;Baum, Owen, & Oreck, 2004;Kay & Subotnik, 2004;McPherson, 2005;Hallam, 2006). • Musically talented pupils are musically creative.…”

“…• Musically talented pupils are musically creative. (Guilford, 1986;Pimmer, 1992;Webster, 1996;Umemoto, 1997;Haroutounian, 2000aHaroutounian, , 2000bBrophy, 2002;Kiehn, 2003;Baum, Owen, & Oreck, 2004;Kay & Subotnik, 2004;Selby, Shaw, & Houtz, 2005;Hickey & Lipscomb, 2006;Paananen, 2006;Tafuri, 2006;Črčinovič Rozman, 2009). • Musically talented pupils are very successful in musical performance.…”