Identification of Gifted Students

Identification

Identification

The identification process is perhaps the biggest problem in gifted education. In the United States, it is estimated that 47,846,000 children are enrolled in K-12 public schools. Of these students, approximately 2,393,000, or five percent, are considered gifted (Genius Denied, 2005). Developing procedures to identify these exceptional students can be an arduous task. However, Coleman has stated that, “Identification remains critical to ensuring that children receive the services they need to thrive in school” (2003, 1). There are several problems educators deal with when identifying gifted students. First, students from economically disadvantaged families or from culturally diverse backgrounds are considerably underrepresented in gifted programs. Also, gifted children with other noted disabilities are not represented. These students, also called twice-exceptional students, are especially hard to identify and instruct, as they may require advanced learning in certain areas as well as remedial education in other areas (Winebrenner, 2003).

Second, many educators are not trained to deal with such drastic above average intelligence, and they tend to rely on only one aspect of intelligence, such as an IQ score or a result from a standardized test, to identify intelligent students. These educators need to realize that intelligence is more complex, and may be evident more in portfolios, group projects, performance-based assessments, or a summation of work displayed over time. And finally, there is often a disparity between identification and the services involved. For example, a student identified as advanced in mathematics alone would probably not benefit from grade skipping, as he/she may fall behind in other areas. Moving the student ahead solely in mathematics would be more beneficial, but often this option is not feasible due to the constraints of the particular school (Coleman, 2003).

There are several negative consequences...