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Gifted and Talented

Johnathan Masters
Dr. Sandy Mahoney
Research Project
June 23, 2014

I was in several Gifted and Talented programs, man years ago, when the public education system in Kentucky had captured my childhood. I made good grades, but the awards, and recognition of my intelligence and academic achievements is what made me feel capable, and confidence in my abilities grew. Educational theorist bell hooks from Christian County, Kentucky talked about the difference between segregated Black schools in 50s and 60s and the integrated schools afterwards, the White schools, which she was there during the transition. For bell hooks, the difference was absolutely fundamental, and to go back to the “good ole days of yore”, of segregated Black schools, was her conclusion, which represents a radical departure of the current Industrial-Prussian education in America today. For bell hooks, during the times of segregated Black schools, Black folks in general, and the Black educators specifically, understood that the general European immigrant society they were living in was against them—the white supremacist racial dictatorship—the vast majority of racist white folks in America were against Black folks even being considered human beings, let alone letting them get an education. The Black educators understood the world around them, and so therefore, elevating the best and brightest of the Black students was absolutely paramount to the success of the Black community. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and because of the pressure for Black educators to find and develop future captains of industry, to find a leadership class to help pull the masses of Black folks up, was enormous. The Black educators took this task serious, and would go above and beyond the call of duty in order to elevate the best and brightest. The Black educators would allow more freedom and autonomy, so that satisfaction in academic achievement would lead the best and brightest. Black educators would even make house calls and visits, to really get to know their “best hopes”, where they are in the family hierarchy, to make sure all obstacles were removed, to make for the best conditions for the best and brightest to learn new skills, and to be indoctrinated with being concerned about helping the general community. Black folks decided that the best way to win was to develop a leadership class, of teachers, police officers, lawyers, doctors, politicians, capable laborers, artisans, merchants, farmers, for both selfish reasons, and for basic sustenance, for what lies in the best and brightest is the hope that one of them will be the one who leads humanity into Martin Luther King's promised prairie meadow land.
The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and other races. Now the training of men is a difficult and intricate task. Its technique is a matter for educational experts, but its object is for the vision of seers. If we make money the object of man-training, we shall develop money-makers but not necessarily men; if we make technical skill the object of education, we may possess artisans but not, in nature, men. Men we shall have only as make manhood the object of the work of the schools—intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge of the world that was and is, and of the relation of men to it—this is the curriculum of that Higher Education which must underlie true life. On this foundation we we may build bread winning, skill of hand and quickness of brain, with never a fear lest the child and man mistake the means of living for the object of life. (DuBois, 1903).

There aren't many studies about the effects of the Gifted and Talented programs and their participants (Gomez and Conejeros, 2013), but from my own perspective, I really enjoyed mine. It liberated me from the daily boring drumbeat drole of my core studies, and enabled me to explore my other talents and skills that weren't being put to good use in the general mainstream. Public schools are horrible at excellence. It's a race to the middle with public education. This is a utilitarian tactic. You do not want to teach to the top 10% because then you have 90% lost and behind. You can't dumb it down for the bottom 10% because then virtually everybody suffers and is left behind, so teachers are rationally expected to teach to the middle of the class. Because they are teaching at a par level, those who have gifted talents are left behind, or left bored, and sleeping, after they've finished the final exam in 10 minutes on the first day of class.

There's plenty of literature that suggests by focusing on the dimmest of children with NCLB, we take the limelight off of the hope for the future of America, and possibly, mankind (Kaplan, 2004) (Gallagher, 2004). “Since 2001, all NAGC [National Association of Gifted Children] presidents have taken this position.” (Heward, 2013).

What makes one Gifted and Talented? There's many differing definitions, but in general, usually high IQ is one indication of being Gifted and Talented, and having a remarkable mastery of any skill is Gifted and Talented too. Here's a list of characteristics of Gifted and Talented people: Creativity; Can learn, quickly and easily; Can relate ideas to each other; Make sound judgments; Appreciate multiple and opposing points of view; Perceive higher order cognitive thinking skills, such as those listed on top of Bloom's Taxonomy, Evaluate, Analyze, and Synthesis; Can acquire and manipulate abstract symbol systems, Solves problems by reframing the problem and creating novel solutions, etc. … (Heward, 2013).

Here's a list of characteristics that have been noted in highly gifted students with IQs of 145 and above:
  • Intense intellectual curiosity
  • Fascination with basic words and simple ideas
  • Perfectionism and need for precision
  • Learning with great/large/murky intuitive leaps
  • Intense need for mental stimulation and challenge
  • Difficulty conforming to the thinking/logic/reasoning of others
  • Early moral and existential concerns
  • Tendency toward introversion (Heward, 2013)

The federal government, NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children), Joseph Renzulli, Jane Piirto, and June Maker all have their own definitions of what Gifted and Talented is.

The current federal definition was “first promulgated in the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1988 (PL 100-297) as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and now included in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001”. (Heward, 2013) The federal government defines gifted and talented children as those who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities. (Heward, 2013).
The NAGC (National Association for Gifted Children defines gifted individuals as:
those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional abilty to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g. mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports). (p. 1). (NAGC, 2010a)

Joseph Renzulli's definition of giftedness is based on the 3 traits of 1) above-average general abilities, 2) high level of task commitment, and 3) creativity, and ability to learn.

Jane Piirto defines the gifted as “having superior memory, observational powers, curiosity, creativity, and ability to learn school-related subject matters rapidly and accurately with a minimum of drill and repetition, have a right to an education that is differentiated according to those characteristics” (p. 37) (Piirto 2007).
June Maker defines Gifted and Talented student as a problem solver who can (a) create a new or clearer definition of an existing problem, (b) devise new and more efficient or effective methods, and (c) reach solutions that may differ from the usual, but are recognized as being effective, perhaps more effective, than previous solutions. (Maker, 1993, p. 71; Maker, 2005)

Three other measures of intelligence are: 1) Sternburg's (2003, 2007) triarchic theory of intelligence; 2) Gagne's (2003) differentiated model of giftedness and talent, and; 3) Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.

In college, there's “Scholars” housing, and scholarship students that are held in a higher regard than the average college student, even though college itself is already an elitist institution. How my Gifted and Talented program in both Northern Kentucky elementary schools unfolded was a few days a week, or a month, the Gifted and Talented teacher would pull students mainstream classes to work on other independent projects with other Gifted and Talented students, for no grade; the motivation of having satisfaction in completing one's own academic pursuits was enough. I also remember completing a bunch of intellectual puzzles and games. We would have to make up the work in the classrooms we left, in addition to the work in Gifted and Talented; so we'd have double the work of the “normies”.

There's many changes that need to be made. We could have a whole school for Gifted and Talented, or perhaps a class in of itself that's dedicated to just Gifted and Talented. But having Gifted and Talented set-up the way I just described it, basically more labor is being piled on top of the best and brightest in addition to their current schoolwork, for little credit and not even for a grade. So that puts Gifted and Talented too much on the periphery, when it should be mainstreamed; not only for the 3-5%, but for the entire school, since we're all leaders. All 7 Billion of us. While my participation in the Gifted and Talented programs disturbed the other classes marginally, virtually seamless and invisible, since it was just for a few hours for a few days in the month, considering how satisfied I was with the Gifted and Talented programs I was in, I generally support Gifted and Talented programs, and believe that more resources and opportunities for the best and brightest to blossom and shine need to be bequeathed and implemented.

Gifted and Talented experts are pointing out that Common Core, while raising the standards for many states, still isn't challenging enough for Gifted and Talented students. The director of NAGC Jane Clarenbach said, “Some students will be able to meet the standards faster than others, and the developers [of common core] realized that one size does not fit all... they specifically [said that] children with disabilities and advanced learners are going to need more.” (Ash, 2013). The bottom line for Jane Clarenbach is that “Differentiation continues to be necessary for gifted learners under the common core.”

But it's not only Differentiation that Gifted and Talented students need. For Gifted and Talented learners, they are given more freedom and autonomy, to dictate the terms of their own educational programs, to follow their own pursuits and curiosities. Gifted and Talented learners should work on cooperative learning tactics, so they can socially interact with other unique folks with talents, skills, and brains, and avoid being embarrassed of being talented or intelligent, to be given confidence from belonging to a group that has other unique Gifted and Talented learners. Cooperative learning should be utilized, because in addition to learning, relationships are being developed, and those relationships are being based upon learning together, and as well as respecting others discoveries, and knowledge. More discovery, more creative play, and projects should be used, such as actual academic games, role play, debate, etc.

“However, despite the stereotyping and name-calling (“nerds,” “geeks,” etc.) that is present in US Schools, white males continue to outscore girls at the highest levels on tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the American College Test, the Differential Aptitude Test, and most achievement tests (Boothe, 2004). African-American and Latino/Hispanic males consistently underperform compared to females of all races, and to white men. (Ford, 2010b). “In 1993, the US Department of Education reported that gifted programs have only 10% of students who are poor.” So there's more than 10% poor folks in America, and so this is disproportionate, and shows that poor kids are discriminated against, even if they are Gifted and Talented. (Heward, 2013).

Everybody is capable of great achievements, and therefore, everybody should be praised for their creativity, given encouragement for their achievements, and be taught the exact same as those with IQs of 200, with the same high expectations, freedom to learn and discover, more choice and autonomy, independent projects, and differentiated instruction, where academic progress dictates the curriculum instead of the fascist behavorialists or the overly bloated bureaucracy. While federal reports that 3% to 5% of the general population are Gifted and Talented (Heward, 2013), it's important to inflate that number, to 10... 15... 25%... 100%, in order to catch all of the Gifted and Talented in one's school, to make sure none of them slip through the cracks, but while we select a portion of the school population to be treated with special treatment, putting more resources and time and money into our possible “saviors”, aren't we inherently labeling the rest of the population as average, or maybe even... *gasp* below par? Also, is that how things are? What's the data on this? Just because one doesn't have a 200 IQ, that doesn't mean they can't be the next person who discovers the cure for cancer, and have the same capabilities as those who are so-called Gifted and so-called Talented. While some folks are just “naturally” Gifted and Talented, most folks are taught and trained to have the so-called Gifted and Talented qualities, and maybe it may take a “normie” a little bit more time to get to the right answer, when focused in their field of expertise, they can excel, lead, take apart, create new, analyze, judge, etc. along with all of the autistic Einstein's and super X-men intelligent Steven Hawking's of the world.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines” (Emerson, 1841).

America, Kentucky, Earth... we have many problems we are faced with, and since we need solutions to these problems, not just participant-ribbon winners, but actual, practical, useable and successful solutions, we need to educate and elevate those who are capable of getting the job done. With a limited budget, our society should direct more resources to the talented 10th, to the smart kids, the 3-5% intellectually, or musically, or creatively Gifted and Talented, the only possible hope for humanity, for our communities, and our families. But if times aren't 3rd world country bleak, and there's no emergency, or eminent Titantic/Hindenburg-like disaster crisis just over the horizon, and resources is cornucopia bountiful, times are so good, that fruits spill over the edges of our plates, then of course everybody should be trained to be the best that they can be. To be given the freedom and opportunity that the so-called Gifted and Talented get, and the encouragement, and to be inversely considered as “average” or lesser than anybody, ever, for any reason, especially when the disabling labeling schools are prone to do hits hard, and does so every year, until they graduate, or move... if I was one of the “normies”, I would need to protest the decision to not allow me in, like in Sanford, Florida. I would demand that they either to let me in the program. Or to elevate everybody, and to stop with the discrimination!

I remember being in Gifted and Talented myself, and I really enjoyed it. While I haven't found much redeeming value in much of the oppression I endured under totalitarian regimes, when I think about the Gifted and Talented class at Gallatin County, Kentucky Elementary School I was in, and at CMZ (Crittenden Mount Zion) Elementary School, and Grant County Middle School, which was also in Kentucky, I am pleased with the results of it. Ms. Flowers was my Gifted and Talented teacher at Gallatin County Elementary school. We played some fun intellectual games. In Grant County, we had mock trials, and I remember constructing a crossword puzzle with Tim Fox.

A Gifted and Talented class would be an awesome class to teach. My Gifted and Talented classes had no grades, so the things we did, we did just because we wanted to do them. For some reason, my Babe Ruth report I did in like the 2nd grade, or 3rd, in the Gifted and Talented program at Gallatin County Elementary school, I remember vividly. I just made a small book, with folded construction paper, cut-out pictures, and wrote about different parts of Babe Ruth's life. My white female teacher, whose named escapes me, seemed very impressed with it too. I also remember when I was denied Gifted and Talented in an Elementary School in Sanford, Florida and how my life was devastated afterwords ever since. While that's being over-the-top dramatic, pretentious, ostentatious hyperbole, if you will, I did feel some sort of rejection, and wanted to figure out why. Being “like everybody else” has it's advantages, especially at 8 years of age, but I was considered Gifted and Talented at other schools, and felt like either those schools were inferior than this one, or that they had different standards, or that I wasn't special or unique at all, whatsoever. Today, my educated guess would be that I didn't pass their general trivia knowledge... like who invented the first light bulb, and other knowledge-based questions. So while Crittenden Mount Zion (CMZ) valued my creativity moreso, because I remember making funny/crazy drawings in order to “appear” creative. So my creative “potential” (doesn't everybody have creative potential? Who doesn't?) mattered to CMZ whereas Sanford, Florida's Gifted and Talented teacher at the local elementary school, in 1990, it did not. At Gallatin County Elementary, I was chosen because of my grades. Or maybe it was political. Or maybe it was just because of my grades, and they did have inferior standards than Sanford, Florida's.

Or maybe they were right; that I am smarter than others. But I do not feel any smarter than anybody else out here. I feel like anything I have ever accomplished, could just as easily have been accomplished by any other person on this planet, who just puts in the same time and effort as I had. Again, I acknowledge that “natural” talent exists, but I believe the overwhelming vast majority of those with lucrative and profitable, maybe even legendary, or life-saving, gifts and talents are folks who became Gifted and Talented by 1 of 2 ways: 1) the luck of the draw, i.e. by having great youthful training, or; 2) by good ol' fashioned Benjamin Franklin self-driven brow-beating laborious work. While I can understand how the Gifted and Talented can feel isolated, and maybe even discriminated against, without an avenue for their gifts and talents to shine, to classify Gifted and Talented as a disorder would be ridiculous, because those who have no gift and have no talents are the ones lacking, are the ones who are disadvantaged in society, who has a “disorder” (I.e. stupidity, or ignorance) that disadvantages them in society, the world, the marketplace, etc. They maybe qualified for government grants because, as the old generally known adage goes, “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Gifted and Talented being grouped with other disabilities feels like it's done moreso for politicians and educators to secure funds for their advanced learners, and since there's no comprehensive policy for Gifted and Talented learners, educators are forced to use IDEA, and other programs that were initially designed for helping folks out who have disorders that hinder their learning. The ones with the “disorder” would be the ignorant and the incompetent, and they would need the government handout assistance, which is another reason to protest not being included in the ultra exclusive Gifted and Talented programs, even if you're not. Then you get to see who the Gifted and Talented are, and you'll be able to rise along with them. We fly when we befriend great American bald eagles, not stupid stinky ploppy turkies. Gifted and Talented lobbyists should push for sweeping comprehensive Gifted and Talented policies for everybody. Make it a part of common core. Also, we should have one common way to cite papers.

So while I cannot think of many redeemable moments of my public education, let alone classes or teachers, the few moments of Gifted and Talented I recall being exposed to, I am very satisfied with. It should have been for credit, but c'est la vie. Gifted and Talented gave me confidence in my abilities, as well as being comfortable with being “different. I also got to be around others who were Gifted and Talented. I got to use my creativity, it was fun to be taken out of class, especially for a Gifted and Talented program which is a badge of honor. It is also interesting to note that other Gifted and Talented students weren't just the good students who participated a bunch in class, but instead, they were folks from all walks of life: the high IQ, and the talented. Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences points out how the stereotype of the dumb jock is flatout wrong on the face of the accusation, because having physical talents is a major form of intelligence in of itself.

So in conclusion, if there's a crisis or a shortage of funds, lack of basic services, personnel, supplies, buildings, vehicles, technology, etc., then having a Gifted and Talented program is a must, for the future of humanity could depend on it. But absent of a catastrophe, all should be expected to rise to Gifted and Talented levels, with Gifted and Talented tools and encouragement, with some type of safety net to catch those who aren't up to task. A lifetime subsidy for them. In short, for poor schools: finance your saviors. For the rest: make 'em all Gifted and Talented.
Bibliography

Ash, Katie. (2013). October 30. “Gifted Learners: Poised to 'Join the Conversation'”. Education Week.

Boothe, D. (2004). Gender differences in achievement and aptitude test results: Perspectives from the recent literature. In D. Boothe & J. Stanley (Eds.), In the eyes of the beholder: Critical issues for diversity in gifted education (pp. 179-189). Waco, TX: Prufrock.


Emerson, Ralph Waldo. (1841). “Self-Reliance.” Essays: First Series. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Reliance

Ford, D.Y. (2010b). Reversing underachievement among gifted Black students (2nd ed.). Waco, TX: Prufrock.

Gallagher, J.J. (2004). No Child Left Behind and gifted education. Roeper Review, 26(3), 121-123.

Gomez-Arizaga, Maria, Conejeros-Solar. December (2013). “Am I That Talented? The experiences of gifted individuals from diverse educational backgrounds at the postsecondary level.” High Ability Studies. Vol. 24. Issue 2. p135-151.

Heward, William L. (2013). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. 10th Edition; pgs. 456, 457, 458, 470, 471, 479, 490. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc

Kaplan, S. (2004). Where we stand determines the answers to the question: Can the No Child Left Behind legislation be beneficial to gifted students? Roeper Review, 26(3), 124-125.

Maker, C.J. (1993). Creativity, intelligence, and problem-solving: A definition and design for cross-cultural research and measurement related to giftedness. Gifted Education International, 9(2), p. 71.

Maker, C.J. (2005). The DISCOVER project: Improving assessment and curriculum for diverse gifted learners (RM05206). Storrs, CT: National Research Center of the Gifted and Talented.

NAGC. (2010a). Redefining giftedness for a new century: Shifting the paradism (NAGC Position Paper). WashinGifted and Talentedon, DC. Author. Available: http://www.nagc.org/index2.aspx?id=375#definition


Piirto, J. (2007). Talented children and adults: Their development and education. Waco, TX: Prufrock.  

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