In the Cultivating Diverse Talent in STEM project, funded by the National Science Foundation in the United States, new assessments were developed, field tested, used to identify students with exceptional talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and compared with existing methods (grade point average [GPA], letters of…

Serious identification of the gifted started with the work of Lewis Terman early in the 20th century. Terman's model, based largely on IQ, may have made sense in the early 20th century, but it no longer makes sense today. The problems that society needs its gifted individuals to solve in the 21st century require much more than IQ--in addition to…

The article examines problems associated with the design of identification studies and suggests three alternative designs: performance criteria in academic mastery in a domain specific area, creative productivity in domain specific or interdisciplinary areas, and long-range creative productivity. (CL)

Problems inherent in the process of identifying creativity in children are considered. Parallels in determining basketball talent through observation, tryout games, and identification of selected characteristics are drawn. Examples of creativity checklists and self-report inventories are given. (CL)

This article argues that creativity tests are best thought of as measures of creative potential because creative achievement depends on additional factors not measured by creativity tests, such as technical skill, field knowledge, mental health, and opportunity. The need for assessment to be based on several tests is emphasized. (Contains…

The paper examines the nature of giftedness. Part I reviews enduring questions and sources of controversy in the search for the meaning of giftedness, including the purpose for defining giftedness, difficulties with isolating a unitary definition of giftedness, and the distinction between gifted and potentially gifted persons. Part II describes…

The paper describes methods of identifying giftedness, instruments for assessing creativity, and the need for a single measure of many different kinds of talent. Development of the Khatena-Morse Multitalent Perception Inventory, which identifies talent in the areas of art, music, leadership, and creativity, is discussed. (JDD)

The monograph presents a model for identifying gifted/talented children which is based on a multidimensional concept of intelligence, designed to include the less accepted school population in its initial search, and tied to a staff development program for teachers who must be part of the screening process. Rationale for the Multi-Dimensional…

Research findings on the measurement of creativity in young children are reviewed, focusing on construct validity, relationship between response quality and quantity, and situational factors affecting scores. The article concludes that creativity is measurable in young children, but current methods rely on inappropriate unidimensional forms of…

The second of three documents on Project SEARCH (Search for Exceptional Abilities Reachable among Children with Handicaps) describes the development of a systematic procedure for assessing the gifts and/or creative talent potential of handicapped students. It is explained that of 278 special education students evaluated by an adaptation of the…

The subjective judgment of observers was used to assess verbal creativity. Students, aged 5-10, told a story to accompany a picture series. Teachers rated the stories relative to one another. Interjudge reliability of the creativity measure was highly satisfactory. Two subsequent studies affirmed the results, with slightly lower interjudge…

The Connecticut Program for Handicapped/Talented Children was designed to devise an assessment procedure for documenting developed or potential talent in handicapped children and to provide program services for handicapped children with high creative potential. Multi-arts experiences in the areas of visual arts, music, and theatre-movement have…

A study evaluated the relationship of teacher nomination instruments to later performance of 121 students from low-income backgrounds in a gifted program. Results indicate nominations based on thinking abilities, general gifted behaviors, and special learning skills were related to later performance on creativity, group skills, and language…

The American Indian Gifted and Talented Assessment Model has as its goal the appropriate, fair, and thorough assessment of gifted and talented Indian students. The model stresses the need to augment standardized instruments with measures that consider individual ability and needs. (CB)

This report describes a model demonstration project in Upper Arlington, Ohio, schools which developed a multifactored approach to the identification of creative thinking ability. The project focused on determining the characteristics and needs of creatively gifted children in a process which included research-based activities, standardized and…