AIG Facts
Academically and/or intellectually gifted students perform or show the potential to perform at substantially high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment. Academically or intellectually gifted students exhibit high performance capability in intellectual areas, specific academic fields, or in both. Academically or intellectually gifted students differentiated education services beyond the Standard Course of Study with appropriate instruction at their performance levels. Outstanding abilities are present in students across all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.
Indicators:
Communication-highly expressive and effective use of words, numbers,
and symbols
Motivation-exhibits a desire to learn
Humor-conveys and picks up humor
Inquiry-questions, experiments, explores
Insight-quickly grasps new concepts and makes a connection, senses
deeper meaning
Interests-intense, sometimes unusual interests
Problem solving-effective, often inventive strategies for recognizing
and solving problems
Memory-large storehouse of information for school or nonschool topics
Reasoning-logical approaches to figuring out solutions
Imaginative/Creative-produces many ideas, highly original
Children who are gifted and have disabilities share many of the traits and challenges of both groups gifted and disabled.
School districts throughout the United States use a variety of instruments and procedures to identify gifted students. If an instrument is used to identify specific areas of talent, then school districts should be prepared to adapt curriculum to nurture and foster identified talent areas.
Gifted students benefit from learning together and should be placed with similar students in their areas of strength.
Gifted children may spend from one-fourth to one-half of their regular
classroom time waiting for others to catch up -- even more if they are
in a heterogeneously grouped class. Their specific level of academic achievement
is often two to four grade levels above their actual grade placement. Such
children often respond to non-challenging or slow-moving classroom situations
by "off-task" behavior, disruptions, or other attempts at self-amusement.
The program has been expanded from one in which a narrow composite
of testing data determined eligibility to one in which multiple indicators
of giftedness, including standardized testing data, are considered. At
least one current (within 12 months) standardized aptitude or achievement
test must be at or above the 90th percentile to warrant further evaluation
and data collection. Aptitude tests reveal intellectual ability (the students
capacity for learning), while achievement tests show acquired knowledge.
The State of North Carolina requires reevaluation of AG students whose
initial identification and service was implemented prior to the second
semester of third grade. This reevaluation should be completed before the
end of fifth grade.
At the third grade level, the effort is made to search out and identify
students who qualify for AG services. All third graders take the Cognitive
Abilitites Test (CogAT) and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Students
whose scores are at or above the 90th percentile on these tests are nominated
for further screening.
Resources:
http://ericec.org/facts/myths.html
www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed370295.html
http://www.abss.k12.nc.us/schools/schmainstu/ec/aig_plan.pdf
http://www.aea10.k12.ia.us/webfiles/curr/CogAT.html
http://www.rebelairsoft.com/itbs.html
http://www.allthetests.com/index.html
Common Myths About Gifted Students
Gifted students are a homogeneous group, all high achievers.
Gifted students do not need help. If they are really gifted, they
can manage on their own.
Gifted students have fewer problems than others because their intelligence
and abilities somehow exempt them from the hassles of daily life.
The future of a gifted student is assured: a world of opportunities
lies before the student.
Gifted students are self-directed; they know where they are heading.
The social and emotional development of the gifted student is at
the same level as his or her intellectual development.
Gifted students are nerds and social isolates.
The primary value of the gifted student lies in his or her brain
power.
The gifted student's family always prizes his or her abilities.
Gifted students need to serve as examples to others and they should
always assume extra responsibility.
Gifted students make everyone else smarter.
Gifted students can accomplish anything they put their minds to.
All they have to do is apply themselves.
Gifted students are naturally creative and do not need encouragement.
Gifted children are easy to raise and a welcome addition to any classroom.
Truths About Gifted Students
Gifted students are often perfectionistic and idealistic. They may
equate achievement and grades with self-esteem and self-worth, which sometimes
leads to fear of failure and interferes with achievement.
Gifted students may experience heightened sensitivity to their own
expectations and those of others, resulting in guilt over achievements
or grades perceived to be low.
Gifted students are asynchronous. Their chronological age, social,
physical, emotional, and intellectual development may all be at different
levels. For example, a 5-year-old may be able to read and comprehend a
third-grade book but may not be able to write legibly.
Some gifted children are "mappers" (sequential learners), while others
are "leapers" (spatial learners). Leapers may not know how they got a "right
answer." Mappers may get lost in the steps leading to the right answer.
Gifted students may be so far ahead of their chronological age mates
that they know more than half the curriculum before the school year begins!
Their boredom can result in low achievement and grades.
Gifted children are problem solvers. They benefit from working on
open-ended, interdisciplinary problems; for example, how to solve a shortage
of community resources. Gifted students often refuse to work for grades
alone.
Gifted students often think abstractly and with such complexity that
they may need help with concrete study- and test-taking skills. They may
not be able to select one answer in a multiple choice question because
they see how all the answers might be correct.
Gifted students who do well in school may define success as getting
an "A" and failure as any grade less than an "A." By early adolescence
they may be unwilling to try anything where they are not certain of guaranteed
success.
Adapted from College Planning for Gifted Students, 2nd edition, by
Sandra Berger.