E. Jean Gubbins

Assumptions Underlying the Identification of Gifted and Talented Students

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 comprehensive identification system. Five factors were derived from 20 items. Respondents favored the use of individual expression criteria, ongoing assessment, multiple criteria for identification, and consideration of contextual factors. Teachers of the gifted and respondents from urban areas were more likely to favor these strategies. The sample opposed restricting identification to the sole use of achievement or IQ scores.

Reading Instruction for Talented Readers: Case Studies Documenting Few Opportunities for Continuous Progress

In this study, a team of researchers conducted multiple observations in 12 third- and seventh-grade reading classrooms in both urban and suburban school districts over a 9-month period. These observations focused on whether talented readers received differentiated reading curriculum and/or instructional strategies. Talented readers were defined as students reading at least two grades above their chronological grade placement who also had advanced language skills and advanced processing capabilities in reading. Results indicated that talented readers received some differentiated reading instruction in 3 of the 12 classrooms. In the other nine classrooms, no challenging reading material or advanced instruction was provided for these students during regular classroom reading instruction. Appropriately challenging books were seldom made available for talented students in their classrooms, and they were rarely provided with more challenging work. Different patterns did emerge across districts. For example, the three classroom teachers who did provide some level of differentiation all taught in suburban schools.

Using Planned Enrichment Strategies with Direct Instruction to Improve Reading Fluency, Comprehension, and Attitude toward Reading: An Evidence‐Based Study

In this study, we used a randomized design to investigate the effects of an enriched reading program on 226 urban elementary students’ (third through sixth grade) reading comprehension, oral reading fluency, and attitude toward reading in 2 elementary schools. The Schoolwide Enrichment Model in Reading Framework (SEM‐R) provides enriched reading experiences by exposing students to books in their areas of interest, daily supported independent reading of challenging self‐selected books using differentiated reading instruction, and interest‐based choice opportunities in reading. Prior to the study, a daily 1‐hour afternoon remedial literacy program was mandated by the district using workbooks and test‐preparation instruction in an attempt to increase reading scores. In the study, 14 teachers were randomly assigned to teach the treatment or a control group during this afternoon literacy block, and students were randomly assigned either to participate in the SEM‐R treatment group or to a control group that continued to receive remedial reading instruction and test preparation for 12 weeks. In addition, all students participated in the direct instructional approach, Success for All, for 90 minutes each morning. Results on oral reading fluency tests and attitudes toward reading scales indicated that students in the SEM‐R treatment group scored statistically significantly higher than control students in both oral reading fluency and attitude toward reading.

The Revolving Door Identification and Programming Model

The Revolving Door Identification Model (RDIM) offers a systematic approach to identification of and programming for gifted students. Conceptually, the model relies on the review of literature in “What Makes Giftedness?” (Renzulli, 1978). The application of this body of literature to implementation of the model in Torrington, Connecticut, was investigated. The role of RDIM in identifying gifted students and providing appropriate programming practices was looked at during the first year of RDIM operation.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Using Predifferentiated and Enriched Mathematics Curricula for Grade 3 Students: A Multisite Cluster-Randomized Trial

Despite the potential of differentiated curricula to enhance learning, limited research exists that documents their impact on Grade 3 students of all ability levels. To determine if there was a difference in achievement between students involved in 16 weeks of predifferentiated, enriched mathematics curricula and students using their district’s curricula, we conducted a multisite cluster-randomized control trial with 43 schools in 12 states. A series of three-level models, using pre- and postachievement test data, failed to show a main effect for treatment, but the results suggested a treatment by achievement-level interaction that was moderated by the achievement level of the school. As a result, the highest achieving students in the lower achieving schools seemed to receive the greatest benefit from the treatment curricula. An analysis of researcher-developed unit tests revealed that treatment students successfully learned and applied the curricula’s challenging mathematics. Thus, using the predifferentiated and enriched mathematics curricula with heterogeneous ability students appeared to “do no harm”—students who completed the treatment curricula did as well as their control counterparts, on average. Evidence of its achievement-related benefits is more ambiguous; however, the findings do suggest some benefits for the highest achieving students in lower achieving schools.

Teachers See What Ability Scores Cannot Predicting Student Performance With Challenging Mathematics

Teacher nominations of students are commonly used in gifted and talented identification systems to supplement psychometric measures of reasoning ability. In this study, second grade teachers were requested to nominate approximately one fourth of their students as having high learning potential in the year prior to the students’ participation in a randomized control trial of an advanced mathematics curriculum intervention. Treatment students completed researcher-developed unit pretests and posttests intended to measure higher order conceptual mathematical problem solving. Results from multilevel analyses indicate that third grade treatment students who were nominated during second grade significantly outperformed their un-nominated peers on these posttest measures, after controlling for students’ composite reasoning scores and pretest scores. This finding supports the view that teachers perceive student qualities beyond cognitive factors that facilitate student success with atypically challenging mathematics content, reinforcing prior recommendations to include teacher nominations as one component of gifted and talented identification systems.

Preaching to the choir: TV advisory usage among parents of gifted children

This investigation examines the use of the MPAA television advisory ratings in the decision‐making of parents of intellectually gifted children and explores the manner by which ratings information is incorporated into rules and regulations about television in the home. It comes on the heels of published reports suggesting the general inadequacy and counter productivity of the age‐based ratings. In comparison to parents of non‐gifted children, parents of gifted children were more likely to utilize TV ratings information in the mediation of their childrens televiewing. They tended to employ a highly inductive (communication‐oriented) style of child rearing and a highly evaluative (discussion‐based) method of TV mediation, tended to believe that television can have significant positive and/or negative effects on children, and were more concerned with cognitive‐ and affective‐level effects. The possible ramifications of these findings with regard to the new content‐driven ratings campaign and forthcoming V‐c...

Return Gift to Sender: A review of The Bell Curve, by Richard Herrnstein & Charles Murray

intelligence: Anglo whites, Ashkcnazi Jews (their qualification, not oms, of those of the Jewish 1-clifioll), certain Asians, and so on. Moreover, the definition makes no allowance for those who may not.score particularly highIv on cOI1l’elltional intelligence tests, but who show gifts according to broad<.’) theories 01 intelligence or giftedness, in gciicial. Consider justateBB or these nroclern conceptions of giftedncss. For l’xaIIlplc, aInong those written Oil ~ti-c people who are ,iitcct in terms of spatial, mrrsicul, bodilv-kiIlL’stl1L’ti,’, oliliti~II)Cl-s()IILII intelligeuccs in terms of (~arclncns (19t33) Of multiple intcll>gci>Lc;; or in rrcativr or praWical intdlig,’nlT in

Barriers to Underserved Students’ Participation in Gifted Programs and Possible Solutions

Gifted students’ learning gains result from complex, advanced, and meaningful content provided by a knowledgeable teacher through high-quality curriculum and instruction at an appropriate pace with scaffolding and feedback. These elements exert influence that increases with dosage and within structures that facilitate student engagement in rigorous experiences, including interactions with one another. Talent development is a two-part process. First, educators and parents must provide opportunities for talent to surface, and then they must recognize the talent and provide educational opportunities that engage the emerging talent and move it to exceptional levels. Unfortunately, a variety of barriers exist that limit underserved students’ participation in this process. We discuss these barriers within a proposed model of talent development.

Gifted Secondary School Students: The Perceived Relationship Between Enrichment and Goal Valuation

Grounded in the Enrichment Triad and Achievement Orientation Models, this qualitative case study builds understanding of the relationship between participation in Type III Enrichment and the achievement orientation attitude of goal valuation in gifted secondary school students. Participants included 10 gifted secondary school students, their parents, and their classroom teacher. Data included student, parent, and teacher responses in semistructured interviews, short-answer surveys, and student work. Findings indicate a relationship between participation in enrichment and goal valuation. Students engaged in Type III Enrichment perceived their projects as interesting, beneficial, and/or as related to perceptions of identity. In addition, factors of goal valuation were related to students’ continued interest and perceptions of enjoyment after completion of the enrichment projects. These findings have implications for structuring gifted education programs that meet the special needs of gifted secondary school learners.