On National Teacher Day, meet the 2024-25 Kenan Fellows
What does it mean to be gifted 2
1.
2.
What does it mean to be Gifted? How is
this different from being smart?
What does a gifted student look like? How
do they behave?
Are all students gifted? Why or why not?
What is Giftedness?
3.
To provide an overview of how experts in the fields of
intelligence and education conceive of giftedness and to
discuss how these theories influence students and
teachers in the classroom.
Purpose
4.
Implicit v. Explicit
Theories of Giftedness
Implicit Theories
These theories are based
on the personal beliefs,
subjective experiences
and perceptions, and
ideas of laypersons.
They are typically
informed by cultural
beliefs.
They are not empirically
supported by science.
Explicit Theories
These theories explain the
behaviors or
characteristics of gifted
and talented individuals
with empiric support.
They are based on
measurable scientific
definitions and data that,
at least in part, validate
the theory.
Sources Cited: (Missett & McCormick, 2013).
5. Use an individual’s
performance on a
standardized intelligence
test and their resulting
general intelligence score,
or Intelligence Quotient
(IQ), as the primary and
sometimes only indicator
of giftedness.
This is still the primary
factor that many schools
within the United States
consider when identifying
a student as gifted.
IQ-Based Conceptions of Giftedness
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale,
5th Edition
IQ Range IQ Classification
145-160 Very gifted or highly advanced
130-144 Gifted or very advanced
120-129 Superior
110-119 High Average
90-109 Average
80-89 Low Average
70-79 Borderline impaired or delayed
55-69 Mildly impaired or delayed
40-54 Moderately impaired or delayed
6.
How does your state define
giftedness?
Use the link below to discover how your state
defines giftedness when determining whether a
student is eligible for gifted programming:
https://www.nagc.org/resources-
publications/gifted-state
7. Renzulli’s 3-Ring
Conception of Giftedness
The top 15-20%
within any domain.
An individual’s original
and interesting thinking,
curiosity, willingness to
take risks, and openness
to new ideas.
An individual’s focus,
perseverance, dedication,
self-confidence, and ability
to carry out work.
“History does not
remember persons
who merely scored
well on IQ tests”
(Renzulli, 2005, p. 256).
Sources Cited: (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2008; Missett & McCormick, 2013).
8.
Renzulli on Giftedness
Please click on the video below to hear Joseph Renzulli’s explanation of
his conception of giftedness and comments on giftedness.
9. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory
Sources Cited: (Kaufman & Sternberg, 2008; Missett & McCormick, 2013).
Image Source: https://gradeslam.org/blog/multiple-intelligence-theory-is-it-real
Gardner rejected notions of global intelligence and proposed that everyone
possesses the capability to process information through eight distinct
intelligences which represent independent cognitive systems.
10.
Gagne’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent
Image source: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/gats/assets/pdf/poldmgtcolrdiag.pdf
11.
Gagne on the Differentiated Model
of Giftedness and Talent
Please click on the video below to hear Francyos Gagne’s explanation of
his conception of giftedness and talent development.
12.
Teachers recognize academic traits associated with IQ-
Based conceptions of giftedness.
They are less likely to recognize nontraditional
characteristics of giftedness exhibited by diverse students.
Teachers are more accepting of IQ-based conceptions of
giftedness.
Based on their more traditional conceptions of giftedness,
Teachers are often reluctant to refer students who have
been labeled with a disability for gifted programs.
How Do Our Conceptions of Giftedness
Affect Students in the Classroom?
Sources Cited: Missett & McCormick, 2013).
13.
Conclusion
There is no single way to define giftedness.
Take a moment to reflect on the different conceptions
of giftedness presented today.
What model of giftedness does your school district or
state follow?
Which conception of giftedness resonates with you
and why?
14.
The State of the Nation in Gifted Education. An education talk
radio segment which discusses the NAGC’s biennial report on
the degree of support individual states offered to gifted and
talented education. Link:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edutalk/2015/12/11/the-
state-of-the-nation-in-gifted-education
Beyond Wit and Grit. A presentation by Howard Gardner that
explores his theory of Multiple Intelligences and successful
living: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfzrN2yMBaQ
What’s in a Name? A blog post which discusses the various
terms used to refer to gifted and talented students:
https://welcometothedeepend.com/2012/04/30/whats-in-a-
name/
For Further Reading
and Additional Resources
Use the accompanying packet, or a piece of paper, to write down your understanding of giftedness. This a free write that is meant to prime your thoughts on giftedness. Use some of the following questions to spur your thinking:
What does it mean to be Gifted? How is this different from being smart?
What does a gifted student look like? How do they behave?
Are all students gifted? Why or why not?
Intelligence testing began in America early in the 20th century. The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was published in 1916 by Lewis Terman. It measures an individual’s ability in fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory which together comprise an individual’s general intelligence. An individual’s performance on this scale or other similar scales such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale or the Kaufman Tests are used to determine their IQ. As you can see from the table, an IQ between 80 and 119 is considered average. Below 80 is considered borderline intellectual impairment, and below 70 is considered intellectually disabled. Typically, an individual with an IQ of 130 or higher is deemed gifted. Individuals of average intelligence – whether it be high, low, or middling – comprise over 90% of the population. Individuals with intellectual disabilities or giftedness account for 2% of the population each. Individuals who are profoundly intellectually impaired or gifted account for .1% of the population. Einstein, with an IQ of more than 160, was considered profoundly gifted. In Pennsylvania, an IQ of 130 or higher is important, but not the sole factor in determining giftedness.
Renzulli’s 3-Ring conception of giftedness goes beyond IQ or even domain-specific aptitudes to incorporate psychological processes as an important component of giftedness. Under Renzulli’s model, an individual must demonstrate above average ability in one or more domains, task commitment, and creativity in order to be considered gifted. A high IQ alone is not enough. More than that, under Renzulli’s model, above average ability encompasses individuals who perform within the top 15-20% of any domain. By contrast, under traditional views of giftedness, only the top 3-5% of performers on a standardized measure of intelligence are considered gifted. This is because Renzulli lends weight to the psychological processes of creativity and task commitment. A child with a lower IQ who might fall into the above average intelligence range on an IQ test, yet possesses high levels of creativity and task commitment, is more likely to succeed and excel under Renzulli’s model of giftedness than the child who possesses a gifted IQ, but has little to no creativity or task commitment.
This is a domain-specific model of intelligence and giftedness. Gardner proposed that individuals have not one cognitive system for processing information – general intelligence – but eight, and individuals have unique capabilities within each intelligence. One person is people smart and another is logic or word smart. Though, according to Kaufman and Sternberg (2008), it has broadened educators’ views of intelligence and been very popular within the education community, it has received criticism. The theory, as a whole, has not been empirically tested. The assessments which exist to measure these intelligences have not been proven to possess adequate psychometric validity. Lastly, those intelligences that have been tested, excluding bodily-kinesthetic, have been shown to be strongly influenced by an individual’s general intelligence. Research has not demonstrated that Gardner’s eight intelligences are in fact distinct processes. However, the concept of multiple intelligences is still relevant to identification of domain-specific gifts or talents and the ways in which an educator differentiates instruction within the classroom. If you are interested in exploring Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory in more depth, I have included a link to a presentation by Howard Gardner under further readings and additional resources.
According to Missett and McCormick (2013) this “is a developmental theory of giftedness that distinguishes between giftedness and talent.” Everyone is born with varying levels of natural ability or aptitude within four specific domains: intellectual, creative, socioaffective, and sensorimotor. These natural abilities then develop into skills and knowledge in a particular domain based on environmental intrapersonal factors. Environmental factors include people in the individual’s life, their milieu – their cultural, physical, social, and familial environment – their access to specific provisions, and life events. So, as an example, an individual with an aptitude for fine motor dexterity may become a talented pianist if he or she lives within a culture that values the piano, was raised by parents who valued the piano or taught by a teacher who understood the piano, had the opportunity to receive piano lessons, and possessed the motivation and volition to learn the piano. Without a piano, that individual’s natural aptitude for the instrument won’t develop. They may master a different instrument, or they may develop a different talent. Surgeons, for example, also develop their fine motor dexterity which results in an entirely different talent. Under this theory, one cannot be talented without first being gifted. However an individual can be gifted and never develop those gifts into talent. Think of academic underachievers who never develop their natural gifts into talents.
