Sherry K. Bain

Social Self-Concept, Social-Attributions, and Peer Relationships in Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Graders Who Are Gifted Compared to High Achievers.

Socially related self-concept, attributions for social success and failure, and peer relationships were investigated for fourth through sixth graders identified as intellectually gifted and a comparison group of high achievers not identified as gifted. The group identified as gifted scored significantly higher on 3 of 4 socially related self-concept subscales (p < .01) and on the general self-concept scale (p < .05) of the Self-Description Questionnaire-I (Marsh, 1988). On the Student Social Attribution Scale (Bell & McCallum, 1995), an interaction effect was noted, with the group identified as gifted scoring higher than the comparison group on attributions for social success due to ability and effort and lower on attributions for social failure due to ability, effort, and task difficulty. Though teachers‘ ratings of peer relationships yielded no differences between the 2 groups, boys across groups were rated significantly higher than girls (p < .05).

Serving Children Who Are Gifted: Perceptions of Undergraduates Planning to become Teachers.

Seeking information about preconceived notions of the educational needs of children who are gifted, we asked 285 undergraduates in prerequisite classes for teacher education to complete questionnaires. Topics addressed included the need for special services for children who are gifted, perceptions of forms of service delivery in elementary schools, and egalitarian versus elitist issues in gifted education. Preferences among our respondents fell in favor of services carried out in general classroom settings at elementary schools, reflecting egalitarian attitudes. We found misconceptions, compared to empirical evidence, for notions about tutoring practices and academic acceleration. In their response rates to items, undergraduates previously served as gifted differed only occasionally from those not served as gifted. We discuss implications of our findings in terms of the need for proponents of gifted programs to address some misconceptions that appear to be related to school reform and appropriate services for children who are gifted.

Perceptions of developmental, social, and emotional issues in giftedness: Are they realistic?

We questioned 285 undergraduate students enrolled in human development and educational psychology courses about their perceptions of issues related to giftedness. Participants responded to statements that reflect potential myths or misconceptions related to development, family relations, emotional functioning, and social functioning among individuals who are gifted. Many of the groups perceptions followed no dominant trend and varied little from published evidence. The exceptional issues involved perceptions of homogeneity among children who are gifted, synchronous development, emotional and social functioning in children who are gifted, and emotional functioning of their non‐gifted siblings. In the latter three cases, participants overestimated the probability of distress. We discuss implications for programmatic needs, and the need to educate the public regarding disparate and stigmatizing perceptions.

Test Review: Review of Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition: Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (2004). "Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition". Bloomington, MN: Pearson, Inc.

The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Second Edition (KBIT-2; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004b) is designed to provide a brief, individualized format for measuring verbal and nonverbal intelligence in children and adults from the ages of 4 years, 0 months through 90 years, 11 months. The test consists of only three subtests. Two are classified as Verbal subtests, and one is classified as a Nonverbal subtest. The KBIT-2 was developed alongside the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II; Kaufman & Kaufman, 2004a) and is primarily associated with the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of assessment and interpretation (Carroll, 1997). According to the KBIT-2 Manual, the entire test can be administered in approximately 15 to 30 minutes. Kaufman and Kaufman (2004b) recommend that the KBIT-2 be used as a screener for intellectual abilities in situations such as identification of children who are at-risk for academic problems, as part of gifted and talented selection (although full-scale assessment may be necessary to fulfill state guidelines), as part of assessment procedures for job applicants, as part of test batteries where the intellectual profile is not the primary concern, for forensic purposes, for re-evaluations, and for various similar circumstances that do not demand full-scale assessment of cognitive ability. The test authors caution against using the KBIT-2 for the purposes of diagnosis or placement, as more comprehensive assessment would most likely be necessary for these purposes. Unlike full-scale intelligence tests, the KBIT-2 is classified as a Level B instrument and may be administered by psychologists as well as by nonpsychologists such as educators and vocational or medical personnel who have received appropriate training and practice. Kaufman and Kaufman justify this recommendation based on the objective scoring elements. The verbal questions require one-word responses, and visual items require only pointing to the correct choice. Interpretation of test results should be carried out by individuals with formal training in assessment. The original KBIT (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990) contained three subtests: Expressive Vocabulary, Definitions, and Matrices. In revising the test, the test authors decided to drop the Definitions subtest because of its reading requirement, replacing it with the new Verbal Knowledge Subtest, which requires no reading on the part of the examinee and which was deemed to be a cleaner measure of verbal ability. Additionally, the new Riddles Subtest, administered to all ages, was developed to replace the KBIT Expressive Vocabulary Subtest, administered only to

Bullying and Victimization Rates among Gifted and High-Achieving Students.

Bullying and victimization rates among 90 gifted and nongifted, high-achieving (HA) high school students were assessed by using the Reynolds Bully Victimization Scale (BVS; W. M. Reynolds, 2003). The mean scores indicate that gifted and HA high school students bully others and are victimized by others generally at unelevated rates based on BVS scores. Rates of bullying and victimization found among gifted and HA high school students were not significantly different from each other either. Bullying and victimization rates for male and female participants were also compared, and no significant differences were found between males and females for either bullying or victimization. Results from this study do not provide support for social interventions for gifted students as a group but suggest that gifted programs continue to focus on promoting primarily advanced intellectual endeavors (N. Colangelo, S. Assouline, & M. U. M. Gross, 2004). However, individual gifted students may need targeted interventions focused on reducing bullying and victimization.

Linking theoretical models to actual practices: A survey of teachers in gifted education

A regional survey of teachers of gifted and talented (G/T) programs, grades kindergarten through nine, in a southeastern state, was carried out. The principle foci of the survey were on theoretical models identified and used by teachers, and the importance of perceived outcome goals for children who are gifted. Respondents claimed awareness of several models of intervention but varied widely in the use of these models. Implications of the disparity between awareness and use of models are discussed. Outcome goals ranked by respondents varied in order, based on three grade level groupings of the teachers, most likely indicating changing perceptions of developmental needs as children progress through grade levels.

Publications in Four Gifted Education Journals from 2001 to 2006: An Analysis of Article Types and Authorship Characteristics.

We reviewed articles from four premier journals in the field of gifted education for the years 2001 to 2006 (N = 506). We classified articles according to types, including narrative, descriptive, correlational, meta-analysis, causal-comparative, experimental, and qualitative. Results indicated that 46% of the articles were narrative, 16% qualitative, 13% causal-comparative, 10% correlational, 9% descriptive, 2% experimental, 1% meta-analytic, and 3% fell into multiple categories. We also collected information concerning the first authors of each article to determine the frequency of publication, gender, professional affiliation, and review board membership. Our results indicated that there is a need for more diversity in the gifted education field, particularly in terms of professional affiliation. The most salient need, however, is for more evidence-based research.

Improving Creative Problem-Solving in a Sample of Third Culture Kids

We investigated the effects of divergent thinking training (with explicit instruction) on problem-solving tasks in a sample of Third Culture Kids (Useem and Downie, 1976). We were specifically interested in whether the childrens originality and fluency in responding increased following instruction, not only on classroom-based worksheets and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1990), but also on activities related to real-world dilemmas. Our treatment group of 15 children exhibited gains over 10 weeks of instruction whereas our comparison group of 15 children did not improve in performance. The respective effects of explicit instructions to improve originality or fluency were evident on classroom-based worksheets, on the TTCT and on Realistic Story Telling Problems [adapted from Real World Problems based on Okuda et al. (1991), Runco and Okuda (1988)]. Our results, albeit from a small sample, imply that relatively simple, explicit instructions focusing on originality or fluency can aid third culture children in adopting effective problem-solving stances as they construct their new cultural environment.

Predicting Women's Persistence in Adult Literacy Classes with Dispositional Variables.

Adult literacy programs offer individuals, particularly women, opportunities to improve their educational levels and economic circumstances; however, persistence in these programs is an issue for many. Two hundred forty five participants in a statewide adult literacy program took the Adult Education Persistence Scale, a measure of self-efficacy, resilience, attitudes toward school, and attributions, a measure we developed in an effort to identify dispositional variables that predict persistence. Results indicated that dispositional variables modestly predicted persistence, identifying high and low attendees with 69% accuracy. We recommend screening for dispositional variables to identify those at risk for dropout and to provide relevant support.

Bullying and Victimization among Gifted Children in School-Level Transitions.

We examined rates of bullying and victimization among children identified as gifted who were in transition from elementary to middle school in a Southern U.S. school district. We also investigated levels of distress associated with bullying and victimization. Our results indicated that the fourth graders, before transition to middle school, reported a significantly higher prevalence of bullying compared with the fifth graders, following transition. We also found significant, strong correlations between victimization and levels of internalizing and total distress, and between bullying and levels of externalizing distress. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of the need for protective factors and intervention services for children who are gifted and children in general education classrooms.