Assessment in Gifted Education: A Review of the Literature From 2005 to 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thuy Hong Cao ◽  
Jae Yup Jung ◽  
Jihyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Gifted Identification ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Gifted Program ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Gifted Education Programs

Assessment is a crucial component of gifted education. Not only does it facilitate the recognition of the potential and specific needs of gifted students, it also monitors the progress and growth of gifted students, and allows for the evaluation of gifted education programs. In the present review, we synthesize the literature on assessment in gifted education published in the period from 2005 to 2016. We suggest that gifted assessment research has witnessed notable advances, which are apparent in both the extensive range of assessment instruments/methods that now exist and the diverse ways in which assessment data are now used. Future research attention nevertheless appears to be necessary on the optimal approaches to (a) use multiple criteria in gifted identification, (b) address the disproportionate representation of disadvantaged groups in gifted programs, and (c) promote the development of guidelines for gifted program evaluation.

scholarly journals School Integration Limits the Ability of Local Norms to Diversify Gifted Programs: A Mathematical Analysis with Implications Related to the Achievement Gap

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell T. Warne
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Analysis ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
National Level ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Gifted Program ◽  
Education Community ◽  
Local Norms ◽  
Building Level

Several experts within gifted education have advocated for the use of local norms when selecting students for gifted programs, instead of national-level norms. Local norms compare students to the peers in their school to identify gifted students and are believed to produce a more diverse gifted program. However, one limiting factor on the ability of local norms to diversify gifted programs has been almost completely overlooked in the gifted education community. Through a simplified example, I show in this article that local building-level norms are best at diversifying gifted programs when schools are highly segregated. Conversely, I also show that—when achievement gaps are present and a uniform admissions cutoff is applied—using building-level norms in highly integrated schools produce gifted programs that are highly segregated. In short, the use of building-level local norms trades one form of segregation for another. Implications and recommendations for gifted education and beyond are explored. A preprint version of this article is available at XXXX.

Equitable Access, Locale, Funding, and the Alignment to Performance Ratings in Texas Gifted Programs

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-30
Author(s):  
Jaret Hodges ◽  
Kacey Crutchfield ◽  
Lindsay Ellis Lee
Keyword(s):  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Performance Ratings ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Gifted Children ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Gifted Program ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Talented Students

Self-assessments utilizing designated, objective standards are critical in program evaluation. Although 2013–2014 Texas policy mandated districts self-assess their gifted programs using the community and student engagement performance rating system, little is known about how districts determined their self-assessment ratings. Following gifted program evaluation guidelines from the Texas State Plan for Gifted/Talented Students and the National Association for Gifted Children Pre-K–Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards, researchers used logistic ordered regression to examine Texas districts’ 2014–2015 locale, proportional representation, and budgetary allotments in relation to gifted program self-assessed performance ratings. Results indicate proportional representation of Black and Hispanic students in gifted programs did not influence school district self-assessed ratings. On the contrary, locale, proportion of Black and Hispanic students to the overall district population, and budget allocation did relate to self-assessed ratings of gifted programs. Future research directions and implications for the use of self-assessments within gifted program evaluation are discussed.

Providing Equity in Gifted Education in a Single-State Country

2021 ◽  
pp. 001698622110405
Author(s):  
Sema Tan
Keyword(s):  
Gifted Education ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Entire Country ◽  
Single State ◽  
Delivery Options ◽  
Unequal Opportunities

Turkey adopts a single-state (centralized/unitary) system that results in following the same identification procedures and providing similar service delivery options for the entire country. At first glance, this might seem like a fair way to achieve equity within public school gifted programs. However, a close look at this system reveals several handicaps such as implementing the same teacher training program for all teacher candidates, ignoring the unequal opportunities provided in the most (İstanbul) and least (Şırnak) economically developed cities, and the accessibility of services delivered to gifted students. Turkey has paid much attention to the education of the gifted and taken several important steps for improvement in the last three decades. However, a need for bigger changes to achieve equity in gifted education is clear. With a careful planning and implementation, appropriate changes might pave the way for gifted students to access more equal opportunities to fulfill their potential.

Beyond Gifted Education: Building a Shared Agenda for School Reform

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Sapon-Shevin
Keyword(s):  
School Reform ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Policy Agendas ◽  
Fear Of Abandonment ◽  
Gifted Education Programs

This article explores the ways in which gifted education programs as they are currently defined, designed, and implemented lead schools away from rather than toward broader school reform. The author argues that gifted education programs function as a form of educational triage, providing an excellent education for those students for whom educational failure would not be tolerated while leaving the general educational system untouched and immune from analysis and critique. Educational, political, and economic justifications for gifted education are explored with particular reference to alternative ways to conceptualize the debate and the response so that the needs of all students are addressed. Consequences for teachers, students, and society of implementing gifted programs are discussed. Some of the key issues critical to the reexamination of the gifted construct are then explored, including: silence, the pain of gifted students, characteristics of appropriate differentiation, the fear of abandonment of gifted students, the excellence/equity debate, and the possibilities of wide-scale reform. The article concludes with an elaboration of research and policy agendas that could move the educational system forward and avoid positioning school reform advocates, gifted education proponents, and full inclusion supporters in opposition to one another.

Gifted Education and the Threat of Irrelevance

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Borland
Keyword(s):  
Gifted Education ◽  
Educational Philosophy ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Major Topic ◽  
As If

In this paper, I argue that, when one subjects the field of gifted education to critical appraisal, the most important finding that emerges is a sense that the field is increasingly irrelevant in the educational scheme of things. At a time when education is a major topic in the discourse of the nation and when fundamental issues of educational philosophy and practice are being raised, our field has been largely marginal. Instead of asking the questions that are and ought to be basic to our field, we have left that task to others, contenting ourselves instead with defending gifted programs as if they were an end, not a means to an end. I develop this argument in the context of a number of fundamental questions that bear on the theory and practice of educating gifted students, questions that have, for the most part, been raised by individuals outside the field of gifted education.

scholarly journals Learning from the voices and life trajectories of our most able students: A listening guide analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-49
Author(s):  
Harry Killas ◽  
C Owen Lo ◽  
Marion Porath ◽  
Yuen Sze Michelle Tan ◽  
Chia-Yen Hsieh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gifted Education ◽  
Original Film ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Listening Guide ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Life Trajectories ◽  
The Listening Guide

The “Superkids,” a group of highly gifted students, were first portrayed in a 2004 documentary. In response to the question of what happened to these students after the original film, a second documentary has been produced. The sequel focused on these individual’s lives, their retrospective insights about gifted education, their educational and career choices, and their reflections on their early adulthood. Transcripts of filmed interviews were analyzed using The Listening Guide, a qualitative method for understanding and interpreting voices. The researchers further highlighted first-person voices that may not have been apparent in interviews. This information was used to identify contrapuntal voices among the participants that reflected their views on the meaning of giftedness and their experience of studying in full-time congregated gifted programs. These voices provided a foundation for understanding the variety of pathways to accomplishment, the meaning of the gifted label, and the purpose of education at large.

Gifted Education and the Spectre of Elitism

1986 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Howley
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Social Stratification ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Gifted Education Programs ◽  
Intellectual Climate ◽  
The Way ◽  
Current Practices

This paper explains current practices in gifted education as they relate to the schools' role in legitimating existing patterns of social stratification. It discusses the way in which the anti-intellectual climate of public schools fosters the provision of noncognitive instruction to the most cognitively apt students. In particular, the paper presents arguments to support the thesis that schools provide noncognitive instruction to gifted students in order to thwart their development as intellectuals. This phenomenon is especially germane considering the historical antagonism between intellectuals and the ruling class. Finally, the paper evaluates the extent to which gifted education programs are elitist. It suggests that noncognitive programs for the gifted are necessarily elitist whereas challenging cognitive programs for such students may in fact threaten the elitism of the ruling class.

scholarly journals Effect of Local Norms on Racial and Ethnic Representation in Gifted Education

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 233285841984844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Peters ◽  
Karen Rambo-Hernandez ◽  
Matthew C. Makel ◽  
Michael S. Matthews ◽  
Jonathan A. Plucker
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Large Data ◽  
School Level ◽  
Gifted Identification ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Ethnic Representation ◽  
Large Data Set ◽  
Normative Criteria

Educators have sought to understand and address the disproportional representation of students from certain student subgroups in gifted education. Most gifted identification decisions are made with national comparisons where students must score above a certain percentage of test takers. However, this approach is not always consistent with the overall goal of gifted education. Scholars have long argued for the use of local normative criteria to increase the diversity of students identified for gifted services, and although some districts across the country have applied such recommendations, little research has been carried out. In this study, we use a large data set to assess the extent to which identifying gifted students with either school-level norms or a combination of national and school-level norms would improve gifted education representation rates for students who are from African American and Latinx families. A preprint of this registered report and this project’s preregistration documentation are available at https://osf.io/z2egy/ .

Gifted Program Evaluation: Catalyst for Change or Keeper of the Culture

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 196-204
Author(s):  
Janice I. Robbins
Keyword(s):  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Gifted Students ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Gifted Program ◽  
Program Evaluations ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Educational Role

This article presents a view of barriers to effective gifted program evaluation resulting from ineffective tools for measuring growth in gifted students and the human barriers confounding the evaluation process. The role of advocacy in the design, implementation, and utilization of evaluation studies is examined. Long held beliefs and biases related to gifted education are recognized as influencing program evaluations. The recognition of the strengths and challenges inherent in the educational role of specific stakeholder groups is presented. Suggestions for developing an emerging cadre of advocates for gifted education are detailed.

scholarly journals Reflections on Rural Gifted Education in Texas

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139
Author(s):  
Katie D. Lewis ◽  
Cecelia Boswell
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Gifted Education ◽  
Gifted Programs ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Rural Districts ◽  
Gifted Learners ◽  
Gifted Program ◽  
Gifted Programming ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Pedagogy And Curriculum

Rural gifted education historically has struggled with its own identity. Limited research exists on rural gifted programming, effective ways to implement gifted pedagogy and curriculum, and how to maximize limited time, resources, and funding. Rural communities are complex, dynamic entities, full of nuances and guided by a sense of place and rural culture. Faced with limited funding, resources, and time, rural gifted programs struggle to provide consistent quality enrichment to gifted learners. This study reflects on how rural gifted education policies and procedures in Texas have evolved over the last 30 years and the realities of providing gifted programs in rural school districts. Findings highlight a need for written policies and procedures for gifted programing, challenges gifted teachers face in rural districts, and the positives of being educated in a rural gifted program.

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