Gifted Assessments.
Tests & Assessments
This article was published on the Advanced Psychology website, and it focuses on the characteristics of gifted students. Have you ever wondered how you can identify a gifted child? There are some inherent characteristics of gifted learners outlined in this source. First, gifted students exhibit excellent language abilities. These learners often understand complex language and form recognizable sentences in their childhood. In addition, they learn words easily, possess sophisticated vocabulary, and speak relatively fast. Second, gifted kids also possess excellent learning abilities. This group focuses on areas of interest such as mathematics, science, or geography. In addition, they ask questions that portray progressive insight. Also, these students require little teacher supervision, prefer reading to engaging in physical activities and demonstrate excellent memory. Moreover, gifted students display gravitation towards adults, are creative thinkers, and have excellent concentration abilities, meaning they can concentrate for extended periods.
Shenfield, T and Advanced Psychology. (2014, December 14). Gifted assessments.
https://www.psy-ed.com/wpblog/gifted-assessments/#
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The National Association for Gifted Children published this article. It discusses the use of tests and assessments to identify gifted kids. If you ask someone to identify a gifted student in class, they will most likely choose the individual who excels academically. Thus, tests and assessments are great ways of identifying these learners. Testing provides teachers with a systematic and objective way to identify gifted learners. Tests and assessments provide scores and numbers which portray a learner's performance compared to others. Nonetheless, tests should be used with subjective assessment tools when identifying gifted students. Achievement and ability tests are the two types for identifying gifted students. Achievement tests showcase whether a student is more advanced than his grade-level classmates. These students can be standardized tests (SRA and MATs) or academic specific (science and geography). On the other hand, ability tests provide information concerning the student's intellectual domain.
National Association for Gifted Children. (n.d.). Tests & assessments.
Grouping
This article was written and uploaded by the National Association for Gifted Children organization. It details a model for gifted education: grouping. Tutors tend to place gifted kids in the same environment with struggling students hoping that the gifted ones will help the struggling group academically. However, studies show that gifted kids excel more academically when grouped with their kind. Usually, schools place gifted learners into one learning environment (classroom). Grouping involves allowing a group of gifted learners to access appropriate levels of complexity and challenge. Most people regard grouping as the most suitable method of providing more challenging work to gifted learners. Thus, these kids are introduced to advanced content. This article also discusses the two types of grouping band: performance-based and ability grouping. Lastly, this source details the importance of the grouping model in gifted education.
National Association for Gifted Children. (n.d.). Grouping. https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/gifted-education-practices/grouping
Cluster Grouping
Mathew Lynch wrote this article in 2020. It covers the grouping model for gifted education, particularly focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of this model. Some people believe that gifted students should be grouped since they will perform higher than when interacting with struggling students. However, others believe that gifted students should coexist with struggling students and help them academically. There are several advantages associated with grouping gifted learners. First, gifted learners are more comfortable when learning with other gifted students. In addition, grouping leads to increased academics since these students deal with more challenging assignments. On the other hand, this approach also has some disadvantages. First, this approach is inefficient without practical instructions and procedures. Placing gifted students in one class will not automatically improve their academic outcomes. Second, teaching a cluster group of gifted students requires motivation and dedication from tutors. Lastly, there is little evidence-based research concerning the effectiveness of grouping.
Lynch, M. (2020, May 9). The Edvocate's guide to cluster grouping. The Edvocate.
https://www.theedadvocate.org/the-edvocates-guide-to-cluster-grouping/
Curriculum Compacting
Identification
Classify
The University of Connecticut published this article in 2016. It details a model for gifted education: curriculum compacting. It is challenging to meet the needs of gifted learners when they are mixed with the regular students in one classroom. Nonetheless, there are strategies that tutors can employ to fulfill this group's needs. Compacting the curriculum is one approach tutors can adapt to fulfill the gifted students' educational needs. This strategy allows tutors to adjust the curriculum for learners that mastered its content. Thus, the tutors replace the content with enrichment options and other top-tier activities. Studies have shown that tutors can eradicate 70 percent of the curriculum's content for gifted learners, and this move will not negatively impact their performance or test scores. In 1984, the then former secretary of education, Terrel Bell, proclaimed that gifted kids demonstrate mastery of the curriculum since the textbooks have been "dumbed down." Curriculum compacting allows gifted learners to avoid these "dumbed down" textbooks.
University of Connecticut. (2015, February 10). Curriculum compacting: A systematic procedure for modifying the curriculum for above-average ability students. Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development.
https://gifted.uconn.edu/schoolwide-enrichment-model/curriculum_compacting/#
Mathew Lynch wrote this article in 2020. It describes five steps tutors could adopt to identify gifted kids. Nomination is the first step. Just because a kid is smart does not mean they are gifted. Employing a nomination process helps identify gifted learners outright. Multifaceted screening is the second step in identifying gifted kids. Since standardized tests and test scores do not always identify gifted learners and thus, there is a need for adequate screening. Teacher feedback narrative is the third step in identifying gifted students. Tutors spend a considerable amount of time with learners per week. Thus, relying on objective and unbiased feedback from teachers can further collaborate findings in the screening phase. Portfolio presentation is the fourth step in the identification of gifted kids. Portfolios show which skills students has mastered over time. Unbiased, multiple observations is the last step. Typically, one observation is not enough to reveal whether a kid is gifted or not.
Lynch, M. (2020, May 9). Five steps to better-gifted student identification. The Edvocate.
https://www.theedadvocate.org/five-steps-to-better-gifted-student-identification/
This article was written by John Munro, a professor at the Australian Catholic University. The source provides an overview of what various forms of giftedness might look like in your classroom. Gifted learners tend to attract less attention and may feel left out. Therefore, it is important to identify kids in a classroom. They have the capacity for innovative ideas and creativity. They have the potential to be the next Albert Einstein. However, they need to be identified and introduced to an appropriate way of learning. Teachers can identify gifted kids through the media. The media have embraced gifted learning. Kids show up on TV and display their ability to store vast amounts of information and spell long words they have never heard before. One can also identify gifted students by looking at twice-exceptional students. The "twice exceptional" learners may display low academic success, but they view the world differently from everyone else, and hence, they come up with big ideas and amazing innovations.
Munro, J. (2019, January 21). How to identify, understand and teach gifted children. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/how-to-identify-understand-and-teach-gifted-children-107718
Acceleration#1
This source was written by Ralph Emerson in 2011 and published on the Saint Paul Public Schools website. If you do not understand the concept of acceleration, this article can be valuable. This source discusses the acceleration concept/ model in gifted education. Acceleration describes an intervention that allows gifted students to go through an educational program faster than their classmates. This article does highlight the benefits and importance of acceleration. First, it helps gifted students avoid boredom in school and become disinterested in education. This article also details indicators that students should be accelerated. First, the learner should possess a high academic ability. This source also highlights other elements of acceleration, such as types of acceleration, how acceleration affects the social life of students, and what educators can do to support acceleration
.Emerson, R. W. (2011). Acceleration of Gifted Students. Saint Paul Public Schools, 1-7.
https://www.spps.org/cms/lib/MN01910242/Centricity/Domain/1524/MDE%20AccelerationFAQ.pdf.pdf
Acceleration#2
This article is present on the Davidson Institute website, and it was uploaded on March 2021. If you think acceleration involves only grade-skipping, then you are wrong. This gifted education model (acceleration) manifests in many ways. This article highlights 20 types of acceleration for gifted students. Early admission to kindergarten is an example of student acceleration. It involves lettings kids join kindergarten before attaining the minimum school entry age. Continuous progress is another type of acceleration. It involves giving students new content as the rest of the class masters prior content. Schools also use telescoping curriculum as a means of student acceleration where students complete a curriculum in less time than is typical. Extracurricular programs, distance learning, and concurrent enrolment are other types of acceleration.
Davidson Institute. (2021, March 19). Types of acceleration.
https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/types-of-acceleration/
Acceleration#3
The Iowa University published this article. Most researchers, policymakers, and educators are unaware of academic acceleration's best practices. Thus, this website outlines these best practices, such as skills to implement acceleration effectively, the ability to assess learners for acceleration, and research supporting student acceleration. Acceleration involves students moving through the academic ladder faster than their peers. Typically, this learning approach aims to match the student's pace of learning with their readiness to learn. Grade skipping, skipping subjects and early entrance to school are examples of acceleration.
The University of Iowa. (n.d.). Educators. https://www.accelerationinstitute.org/educators.aspx
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