Research has suggested that relatively older children are more likely to be identified as gifted and talented students compared with their younger peers. Such a phenomenon disadvantages the youngest students while at the same time confers additional advantages to the older students as a result of receiving specialized and/or extra instruction. The…

Students of color are often underrepresented in academic programs for gifted and talented students. This study explored the impact of The Teacher's Observation of Potential in Students (TOPS) tool on teachers' ability to systematically observe and document the academic strengths of 5-to 9-year-old students across nine domains. Teachers…

This study surveyed 1,234 empirical studies on giftedness, gifted education, and creativity during 1998-2010 (April), using PsycINFO database and targeted journals as main sources, with respect to main topics these studies focused on, methods they used for investigation, and the conceptual spaces they traversed. Four main research topics emerged…

This study focused on the analysis of a large-scale data set (N = 326,352) collected by the Georgia Department of Education using multilevel path analysis to model the probability that a student would be identified for participation in a gifted program. The model examined individual- and school-level factors that influence the probability that an…

Data of item responses to the Impossible Figures Task (IFT) from 492 Chinese primary, secondary, and university students were analyzed using the dichotomous Rasch measurement model. Item difficulty estimates and person ability estimates located on the same logit scale revealed that the pooled sample of Chinese students, who were relatively highly…

Twenty-five years ago, armed with the courage of her convictions and a respectable collection of empirical evidence, the author articulated what she considered to be a compelling argument against the cosmetic use of multiple selection criteria as a guiding principle for identifying children and youth with high potential. To assess the current…

It is not likely that any group of educators of the gifted ever sat around a table and came to the decision that a "patch-on" approach to programming for bright learners represented best practice. Nonetheless, it is as common today as 25 years ago that programming for students identified as gifted often represents such an approach. Patch-on…

This article presents a comprehensive portrait of talent search testing and associated educational programs in the United States, now some 35 years after Dr. Julian Stanley originated the concept. Survey data from the six major talent search centers in the United States were used to examine the scope of talent search educational offerings,…

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…

This article describes Project Breakthrough, federally funded as a demonstration through the Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act. Project staff worked for 3 years with three elementary schools in South Carolina to train teachers in the use of language arts and science curriculum developed by the Center for Gifted Education at the College of…

The study of the creative personality has established itself as a major avenue of research on creativity and creative problem solving, other areas being creative process, product, and environment (or press). With respect to personality research, over the past 50-plus years, many studies have examined characteristics, attitudes, preferences,…

This study examined a national sample of classroom teachers, teachers of the gifted, administrators, and consultants from rural, suburban, and urban areas regarding their assumptions about the gifted identification process. Respondents indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with 20 items that reflected guidelines for a…

Describes a system of categories to subdivide the gifted and talented population into the following more homogeneous subgroups: mild, moderate, high, exceptional, and extreme. Based on the metric system, each of the five levels, including the minimum threshold, selects the top 10% of the previous level. (Author/CR)

A study evaluated the relationship of teacher nomination instruments to later performance of 121 students from low-income backgrounds in a gifted program. Results indicate nominations based on thinking abilities, general gifted behaviors, and special learning skills were related to later performance on creativity, group skills, and language…

Analysis of self-nominations on peer nomination forms for identifying classroom peers with superior abilities, completed by 391 students (grades 4 to 8), found frequent (41%) self-nominations. Self-nominations were influenced by type of ability assessed and correlated significantly with peer nominations but much less with teacher nominations.…