Felicia A. Dixon

An Empirical Typology of Perfectionism in Gifted Adolescents

We document a typology of perfectionism in a sample of academically talented adolescents and directly examine its relationship to indices of psychiatric symptomatology, adjustment, self-esteem, and coping. Adolescents enrolled in a state-funded residential academy for academically gifted high school students (N = 141) responded to the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990), the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, the Mastery Coping and Superior Adjustment scales from the Self-Image Questionnaire for Young Adolescents, the Perception of Personal Security and Academic Competence scales from the Self-Esteem Index, and the Coping Inventory (COPE). A 2-step cluster analysis of perfectionism scores revealed four clusters: Mixed-Adaptive (n = 51), Mixed-Maladaptive (n = 20), Pervasive (n = 30), and Self-Assured Nonperfectionist (n = 39). The Pervasive and Mixed-Maladaptive clusters showed a uniformly poor profile of mental health, adjustment, and coping relative to Mixed-Adaptive and Nonperfectionists. The Mixed-Adaptive cluster reported greater academic competence and superior adjustment than did the Nonperfectionist cluster, although these cluster groups were statistically similar on other dimensions of mental health and adjustment. These results suggest that maladaptive perfectionism takes two forms: pervasive and mixed. Implications for intervention and directions for future research are discussed.

Fourth-Grade Teachers' Perceptions of Giftedness: Implications for Identifying and Serving Diverse Gifted Students.

The present study sought to examine the perceptions of giftedness and identification procedures held by experienced teachers of gifted minority students. Twenty-seven 4th-grade teachers of gifted students in an urban school system with a high representation of minority and economically disadvantaged students were surveyed. Results indicated that experienced teachers still held a narrow conception of giftedness and were not aware of how culture and environmental factors may influence the expression of giftedness in minority and economically disadvantaged students. Findings also indicated that these teachers expressed concerns for approximately one third of their students qualifying for the gifted program. These concerns were based primarily on students having a skill deficit in one area, poor work habits, or behavioral or family problems. Teachers were less likely to notice gifted characteristics in these students compared to other identified students, even though both groups were identified in the same way. Implications for teaching gifted minority and economically disadvantaged students are discussed.

Differentiated Instruction, Professional Development, and Teacher Efficacy

Teachers often struggle to provide all students access to specific learning activities that work best for them—and what works best for some students will not work for others. Differentiating instruction makes sense because it offers different paths to understanding content, process, and products, considering what is appropriate given a child’s profile of strengths, interests, and styles. This study focused on teacher efficacy as a way to explain teacher willingness to differentiate instruction. We found that a greater number of professional development hours in differentiation of instruction was positively associated with both teacher efficacy and the teacher’s sense of efficacy beliefs. This study demonstrated that teacher efficacy is an important dimension in implementing the process of differentiation regardless of what level or what content area the teacher taught (elementary, middle, or high school). Implications and future directions for research are also discussed.

Development of an identification procedure for a large urban school corporation: Identifying culturally diverse and academically gifted elementary students

This paper describes the identification process of a Priority One Jacob K. Javits grant, Clustering Learners Unlocks Equity (Project CLUE), a university‐school partnership. Project CLUE uses a “sift‐down model” to cast the net widely as the talent pool of gifted second‐grade students is formed. The model is based on standardized test scores, a nonverbal ability test score, and/or a checklist completed by parents and/or teachers. Analysis of the year one data revealed an increase in Hispanic and English as a Second Language (ESL) student representation in the gifted program. Teachers’ reactions to the identification process after working with the gifted students identified through Project CLUEs screening process are also described.

Social and Academic Self-Concepts of Gifted Adolescents

Self-concept is a construct that is greatly challenged during adolescence. Gifted students undergo the same developmental processes as their less able peers, but the way they handle these transformations may be quite different. Although self-concept seems to be a multifaceted, hierarchical construct, too often educators force it into a unidimensional definition that they apply in the same way to all students. A review of the literature on the academic and the social self-concepts of gifted adolescents reveals the importance of considering the unique talents of the individual rather than considering gifted students as a homogeneous group.

Psychological Characteristics of Academically Gifted Adolescents Attending a Residential Academy: A Longitudinal Study

Students attending a state-supported residential academy for academically gifted adolescents (N = 139) completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for Adolescents (MMPI-A; Butcher et al., 1992) upon entrance to document their psychological characteristics. The same students completed a postadministration of the MMPI-A at the end of their 2nd year at the school. Results indicated that the gifted students were quite similar to the normative group of adolescents on the MMPI-A. While several statistically significant changes were observed over time, the effect-size calculations accounted for only a modest percentage of the variance in all cases. Scores on the 2nd administration of the MMPI-A declined among the majority of students who manifested elevated scores on the initial administration.

Effects of Technology on Critical Thinking and Essay Writing Among Gifted Adolescents

This article presents results of a study that compared critical thinking in two writing samples (essays) from gifted adolescents who attended a residential school. The essays were written at the beginning of the junior year (when students were admitted to the school) and at the beginning of the senior year. All students in the study composed their first essay in handwritten form. On the second essay, some students were randomly assigned to a computer condition and composed their essays on the computer. Results demonstrated a gender-specific effect of using computers to compose essays. Boys using the computers produced significantly more words, sentences, and paragraphs than boys who did not use the computer to write and received higher ratings on a structured rubric. Girls scored the same in both conditions and performed consistently at a level on par with the boys using computers.

The differentiated classroom observation scale

This article presents a new classroom observation scale that was developed to examine the differential learning activities and experiences of gifted children educated in regular classroom settings. The Differentiated Classroom Observation Scale (DCOS) is presented in total, with clarification of the coding practices and strategies. Although the DCOS was developed to examine the impact of differentiated classroom practices for gifted children, it is expected that the scale could be used for observing the educational experiences of any identifiable group of children. Reflections on the benefits offered by the DCOS that are not available with existing measures are provided, and include (a) the ability to contrast the educational experiences of two groups of learners; (b) documentation of a variety of educational factors including pedagogy, student engagement, and level of cognitive activity; and (c) preservation of contextual factors for deeper investigation through a database‐driven record keeping system that maintains disaggregated data from a series of short observational segments.

The discussion examination: Making assessment match instructional strategy

This article focuses on a personal classroom experience that led to the development of a discussion examination as a strategy for making assessment match classroom practice in a class for secondary verbally gifted students. The literature read in the courses and the levels of thought emphasized in class discussion inspired the author to use an assessment format that more closely mirrored what went on in the classroom experience. An example of the grid used to assess the process as well as a point system for evaluation are provided. Encouragement for the process and cautions for precision in using it are included.

Teaching to Their Thinking: A Strategy to Meet the Critical-Thinking Needs of Gifted Students

Critical thinking is important for lessons in classes for gifted and talented students. Since definitions of critical thinking are plentiful and varied, teachers must decide what behaviors are most productive in the classroom. One viable method to promote critical thinking through productive discussion is the Dixon-Hegelian method. This paper discusses the merits of this method and describes a classroom that used it. The teacher is introduced and her growth in allowing critical thinking to take place is described. This descriptive study was conducted in a combined 4th- and 5th-grade class of identified gifted students. The students were taught an integrated language arts and social studies unit using two major texts: The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, 1986) and A Girl of the Limberlost (Porter, 1986).