Much of the research on the social coping of students with gifts and talents has relied on a single administration of an instrument while the participants were attending a summer program. This study attempts to understand how attendance at a residential high school (academy) may affect academically gifted students over time. Students in two…

Typical standardized achievement tests cannot provide accurate information about gifted students' abilities because they are not challenging enough for such students. Talent searches solve this problem through above-level testing--using tests designed for older students to raise the ceiling for younger, gifted students. Currently, talent search…

The Social coping Questionnaire (SCQ) measures strategies used by gifted adolescents to minimize the negative effect they believe their high ability has on their social interactions. Previous studies have supported the factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the SCQ. The current study provides construct validity…

Current self-concept theories suggest a multi-dimensional construct, with domain-specific self-concepts hierarchically related to global self-concept. The academic domain may be comprised of subject-specific domains that are related to performance in corresponding areas. Here, gifted students' responses to questions about how they compare with…

Two studies of gifted 3rd through 7th graders (n=311) enrolled in a summer academic program explored the possibility that social coping strategies could be measured. Six social coping strategies were identified: denying giftedness; minimizing focus on popularity; social interaction; humor; conformity; and denying the impact of giftedness on peer…

Examines ways of helping gifted adolescents cope with a perceived stigma. Research is cited showing that many gifted adolescents believe they are treated differently because of their abilities and behave differently because of this belief, including denial of one's giftedness. The school's role, ability grouping, and special needs of gifted girls…

Studied social coping among gifted high school students using a revised Social Coping Questionnaire (M. Swiatek, 1995). Results for 212 gifted students show that females were more likely than males to deny giftedness and maintain high activity levels, while males were more likely to use humor for coping. Results also indicate that problem-focused…

This reprint of an article on results of longitudinal studies of mathematically precocious youth is preceded by a commentary. The commentary stresses that results of the studies indicate that there is no evidence that accelerants lose interest in the area of acceleration or experience knowledge gaps. (Contains references.) (CR)

Talent searches for seventh and eighth graders have extensive empirical support, and the model has been successfully extended to elementary students. Research has focused on participants earning high scores on above-level tests, however, not typical participants. Here, 597 families and 93 schools that participated in the Carnegie Mellon Institute…

Third through sixth graders (n=4,514) scoring at or above the 95th percentile on standardized achievement tests reported on their educational experiences. Although 40% of students were in pull-out programs, 37% were not receiving any special programming. Gender, grade level, and type of school (public vs. private/parochial) explained little of the…

An expansion of the Social Coping Questionnaire was used to investigate how 229 gifted students (ages 11-17) coped with being identified as gifted. Results found five social coping factors: denial of giftedness, emphasis on popularity, peer acceptance, social interaction, and the hiding of giftedness. Females were more likely to deny abilities.…

This study examined gender differences in attitudes toward academic subjects in 2,089 gifted students in grades 3 through 6. Observed gender differences were consistent with those found in research with older students. Grade level differences suggest that attitudes toward several academic areas become more negative with age. Attitudes were not…

A study explored whether the 95th percentile qualifying score cutoff in use by the Elementary Student Talent Search was appropriate for 2,926 third to sixth graders who took the EXPLORE test. Results indicated participants earn EXLORE scores that are approximately normally distributed and that they compare favorably to eighth-grade norms.…

Examines gender differences in EXPLORE scores of gifted third through sixth graders. Results reveal that boys performed better on Mathematics and Science reasoning, and girls performed better on Reading, but effect sizes were negligible. Test performance of boys in mathematics was somewhat stronger than that of girls, but results favoring girls in…