Education of the Special Populations of the Gifted

As noted earlier, one of the problems that impact the underrepresentation of certain populations of gifted students is our inability to recognize these students’ display of gifted behaviors in the classroom. Frasier (1990) set out to do just that and her efforts produced 10 core attributes to help in identifying students with the potential for exceptional performance in every culture, socioeconomic level, and area.

Rollover each Core Attribute below to view a General Description of each attribute.

Core Attribute	General Description

Motivation: Evidence of desire to learnForces that initiate, direct and sustain individual or group behavior in order to satisfy a need or attained goal

Communication skills: Highly expressive and effective
use of words, numbers, symbols, etc.Transmission and reception of signals or meanings through a system of symbols (codes, gestures, language, numbers)

Interest: Intense (sometimes unusual) interestsActivities, avocations, objects, etc. that have a special worth or significance and are given special attention

Problem-solving ability: Effective (often inventive)
strategies for recognizing and solving problemsProcess of determining a correct sequence of alternatives leading to a desired goal or to successful completion or performance of a task

Imagination/Creativity: Produces many ideas;
highly originalProcess of forming mental images of objects, qualities, situations, or relationships, which are not immediately apparent to the senses; solve problems by pursuing nontraditional patterns of thinking

Memory; Large storehouse of information on
school or non-school topicsExceptional ability to retain and retrieve information

Inquiry: Questions, experiments, exploresMethod or process of seeking knowledge, understanding or information

Insight: Quickly grasps new concepts and makes
connections; senses deeper meaningsSudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based primarily on trial and error

Reasoning: Logical approaches to figuring out solutionsHighly conscious, directed, controlled, active, intentional, forward-looking, goal oriented thought

Humor: Conveys and picks up on humor wellAbility to synthesize key ideas or problems in complex situations in a humorous way; exceptional sense of timing in words and gestures

Click here for a PDF of the Core Attribute table above.

Implications for using these core attributes (a) to facilitate educators' recognition of gifted abilities in student populations from minority or economically disadvantaged families and areas, and (b) to guide educators in the selection of measures for identification of minority or economically disadvantaged families and areas include:

1. Students from minority and economically disadvantaged families and areas are likely to fare better in the identification procedures for gifted programs when a variety of test and non-test measures are used to assess potential across the wide range of traits, behaviors, and aptitudes associated with the giftedness construct.
2. The use of a wide variety of test and non-test measures makes it less likely that students who are underrepresented in gifted programs will be handicapped by identification systems that rely on one or two measures to determine eligibility for gifted program services.
3. The interpretation of performances on this variety of measures would require the use of standards that accommodated the differences in the expression of gifted student characteristics as exhibited by students who come from diverse cultural, ethnic, economic, and environmental backgrounds. The core attributes of giftedness provide a common framework within which to make these interpretations.
4. The core attributes of giftedness provides an important way to assist educators working with minority or economically disadvantaged students in the establishment of links between specific gifted characteristics and the manner in which they may be displayed in their classrooms.

A complete review of these studies can be found at The National Research Center on Gifted and Talented, Core Attributes of Giftedness: A Foundation for Recognizing the Gifted Potential of Minority and Economically Disadvantaged Students, Frasier et al, September 1995, Number RM9521I, a project funded through the USDOE, Javits Act.  Click here for the complete Core Attributes of Giftedness: A Foundation for Recognizing the Gifted Potential of Minority and Economically Disadvantaged Students document.

It might be helpful to share information about the Core Attributes of Giftedness with parents. They might be able to provide valuable insights about their children that may not be evident in the school setting.

Week 2 addresses more specifically how to identify these special populations and the challenges associated with traditional IQ and achievement testing.

Summary

This week we've looked at the progress of refining the definition of gifted from a historical perspective. Truth is that the concept of giftedness is really defined by the beliefs, values, and needs of our society.  In our current economic and global circumstances, it's not surprising that our efforts and focus must be on identifying those students with the greatest potential, from every culture, race, and economic strata if we are to continue to compete and grow as the greatest nation in the world.