To determine if a person is gifted or not, the government sets the criteria of identification since giftedness is an abstract concept. However, the standard has always been decided and affected by the attitudes of the education authority and the allocation of resources. The opportunities for some potential learners to participate in gifted…

For the past several decades, issues such as underrepresentation of racial/ethnic minority students in gifted programming, as well as the widening of the existing achievement gap between specific minority and majority groups have persisted. The majority of gifted education researchers studying underrepresentation in gifted programming focus on…

Schools often administer brief intelligence tests as the first step in the identification of students who are cognitively gifted. However, brief measures are often used without consideration of underlying constructs or the psychometric properties of the measures and without regard to the links between screening decisions and educational…

Exceptionally bright and capable students with learning disabilities, often referred to as being twice exceptional, may fail to meet learning disabilities criteria if a strict psychometric approach is taken. To make an accurate diagnosis, an evaluator must consider their special circumstances, unique abilities, educational histories, and…

Analysis of Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised protocols for identified gifted, high IQ, and average children (total N=599 and ages 5-16) identified a four-factor solution for the gifted sample (Perceptual Organization, Verbal Comprehension, Acquisition of Knowledge, and Spatial Memory). Results suggested gifted children process…

The article mentions six basic statements about sequential and simultaneous processes which are derived from A. Luria's clinical research. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children is then judged in terms of these statements. Suggestions for constructing tests which will entail planning as well as simultaneous and successive measures are…

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children is reviewed with respect to manuals, test construction, and norming procedures; reliability; and validity; evidence administration and scoring procedures; types of scores and interpretative guidelines; and the bias issue. (Author/CL)

Suggests that gifted children do not fit into traditional classrooms where the curriculum is based merely on age, and large numbers of gifted children are in inappropriate educational settings. The article examines: how to cast aside stereotypes about what giftedness means; who is gifted; what public schools do for gifted children; and how to help…

Recent decades have seen major changes in measurements of cognitive ability and interpretation of results. Theory describing the factorial structure of cognitive ability has blossomed. Advances in psychometric and statistical tools available to test developers have facilitated application of better theory to new assessment instruments.(SM)

The history of research and attention to artistically talented students from 1850 to the present is offered in this article. Programs for these students have lacked valid test instruments, longitudinal studies, and in-depth research. (DF)

Introduces a theme issue that focuses on the enterprise of assessment of individual differences in several domains. The issue presents the broad range of the field of psycho-educational assessment. Every article has at least one author is or has been a present member of the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University faculty or has earned doctoral…

Word concepts have long been recognized as an integral part of intelligence, and word definition tasks are frequently used to measure them. Entire subtests requiring definitions, usually called vocabulary tests, are common; because of their apparent stability and comparability with overall intelligence, these subtests have been given a preeminent…

Six issues relating to assessment of gifted/learning disabled (GLD) students are discussed: (1) incidence; (2) cut-off IQ scores; (3) barriers to identification; (4) use of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised; (5) differentiation between GLD and underachieving gifted; (6) qualitative differences between GLD, gifted, and learning…

The article describes the background of Larry P. v. Riles, a class action law suit involving disproportionate placement of minorities in classes for the educable mentally retarded in California, and outlines the specific findings and remedies underlying issues, including stigmatization of being classified retarded and the nature/nurture debate.…

The article details the progress of ideas and research in the life of psychologist and educator, Leta Hollingworth (1886-1939). Hollingworth investigated questions of woman's place in the world of achievement, the testing of intelligence, mental retardation, and eventually, education of the gifted. (Author/DB)