What Are the Foundations of Gifts and Talents?

• Gifted and talented individuals have been identified throughout recorded history although gifted education did not begin in the United States until the late 19th century. Today, there are strong proponents for and opponents against gifted education.
• The first federal definition of gifted and talented, called the Marland definition, identified six areas in which a student could be gifted and talented: general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, visual and performing arts, and psychomotor ability. Subsequent federal definitions were similar but eliminated psychomotor ability.
• The most recent federal definition, enacted in 1993, identifies gifted and talented students as those who exhibit the capacity for intellectual, creative, or artistic high performance and show unusual leadership ability or excel in an academic field. This current definition uses the term "outstanding talent," rather than "gifts and talents," and emphasizes that they can occur across all cultural and socioeconomic groups.
• Renzulli's three-ring definition states that gifted and talented students possess a combination of above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity.
• Various versions of the current and past federal definitions are used by different states.
• Although it is difficult to determine the actual number of gifted and talented students, the prevalence rate reported for a number of years has been 3–5%. More than 2 million school-aged students receive gifted education.
• Underrepresented groups include underachievers, students with disabilities, females, and culturally and linguistically diverse students.

What Are the Causes and Characteristics of Gifts and Talents?

• There are arguments for both genetic and environmental causes, but it is generally accepted that gifts and talents are caused by an interaction of these factors.
• One of the most widely reported characteristics of gifted and talented students is superior intelligence. When using intelligence as a measure, gifted and talented students typically have an IQ over 130. Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences is also used as a way to view superior intelligence. Gardner identified eight types of intelligence an individual might display: verbal-lingustic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Existential intelligence is being evaluated.
• Other characteristics of gifted and talented students include superior academic ability and creativity.
• Social-emotional characteristics of gifted and talented students may include high motivation and task persistence; and high levels of sensitivity, self-awareness, and idealism. The characteristics of personal/social adjustment and self-concept have been studied extensively.

How Are Students Who Are Gifted and Talented Identified?

• Multiple procedures should be used to identify students who are gifted and talented as no single method is totally accurate or effective.
• Preschool children are often initially identified as gifted or talented by their parents. Controversy exists as to whether gifts and talents should be identified at such a young age.
• Procedures that can be used to identify school-aged children as gifted or talented include teacher nominations, peer nominations, rating scales, intelligence and achievement testing, and creativity assessment.
• Students who underachieve, students with disabilities, females, and students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are often underidentified as gifted or talented.
• Alternative approaches to identification include dynamic, portfolio, and performance assessment.

What and How Do I Teach Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

• Two popular approaches to teaching gifted and talented students are acceleration and enrichment. Acceleration relates to moving a student through the curriculum at a faster pace. Enrichment refers to modifying or adding to the curriculum.
• The actual instructional content of the educational program will largely depend on the nature of an individual's gifts and talents. Content area teachers should consider including the development of thinking, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills.
• Two models that can be used to plan content for gifted and talented students are Bloom's taxonomy and Gardner 's theory of multiple intelligences. In Bloom's taxonomy, which includes six levels for cognitive understanding, the focus should be placed on the two or three highest levels of understanding—analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Gardner 's theory of multiple intelligences can be used to plan a lesson around a student's specific area of intelligence.
• It is important to differentiate the curriculum to make it appropriate for all students. Teachers should use strategies that focus on asking higher-level questions, modeling problem-solving and thinking strategies, reinforcing original problems and solutions, and developing tasks for generalization.
• Strategies such as mentoring, curriculum telescoping, curriculum compacting, and the enrichment triad have proved successful for gifted and talented students. Effective model programs include the schoolwide enrichment program, the autonomous learner model, and the integrated curriculum model.
• Parents of gifted and talented children should be actively involved in their education. Teachers can encourage this through involving parents in planning the child's educational program.

What Are Other Instructional Considerations for Students Who Are Gifted and Talented?

• There is some controversy about whether gifted and talented students should be taught in the general education classroom or grouped and taught separately. Both acceleration and enrichment approaches may affect the instructional environment. XYZ, multiage and multigrade, and within-class grouping can be used when teaching gifted and talented students in general education classrooms.
• Technology can support both acceleration and enrichment approaches to gifted education. Of the four types of learning activities that can be conducted using technology— acquiring, retrieving, constructing, and presenting—gifted and talented students should spend most of their time on constructing. The inappropriate use of technology, such as hacking and virus infestation, should be monitored.

What Are Some Considerations for the General Education Teacher?

• The general education teacher plays an important role in identifying gifted and talented students, particularly underrepresented groups.
• The general education teacher should provide a flexible, differentiated teaching program.
• There may be a need for more planning time, a need for specialized training, and a need to modify instructional style when teaching students with gifts or talents.