To identify gifted preschool children, parents and teachers need to be aware of some of the characteristics that these children possess. Gifted preschool children may have verbal and mathematical abilities that are advanced beyond their years, show creativity and imagination, and have an excellent memory. They exhibit a high level of curiosity,…

A training exercise is presented to help teachers become familiar with key concepts in the Scales for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students. Activities suggested include matching concepts with items from the scales and categorizing children's behaviors according to the scales. (CL)

The article discusses the identification of gifted and talented students and describes a group of slides that were developed to illustrate various learning and behavioral characteristics of such students. Examples of eight of the slides are presented, along with the traits they exemplify. (DLS)

The digest addresses issues related to preschool gifted and talented children. Such a child is defined as one who functions significantly above average age level in language development, thinking skills, creative thinking skills, physical adaptability, social skills, and/or leadership. Early identification is viewed as important, and the use of…

The authors offer examples of situations that can be used to allow for the display of traits often associated with the gifted. (SW)

Briefly defines six gifted and talented areas, to make the point that academic talent is not the only form of giftedness. Lists some exemplary educational strategies for the psychosocially, underachieving, and culturally different gifted. (SJL)

While equality of eduation is an important value, the overriding quest for equity has jeopardized the pursuit of excellence in public schools. Without advanced or enriched programs, gifted students may fall short of their potential or lose interest in school. Since curricula have been "dumbed down" to help weaker students, gifted students perceive…

In this digest the problem of underachievement among gifted students is examined. Gifted underachievers manifest three behavior patterns in the school setting: non-communication and withdrawal, passive compliance, and aggressive/disruptive behavior. Gifted underachievers have been identified in greater numbers recently. Some of the causes of…

The paper examines difficulties in identifying and serving gifted minority students, especially Blacks. Approaches that have been tried and found unsuccessful (such as using preparatory programs to try to bring students' IQ scores to the acceptance level for program admission) are reviewed. Research is described on traits exhibited by gifted…

Reasons for misidentifying intellectually gifted children through standardized tests are discussed, and a teacher nomination form for potentially gifted students is presented. (CL)

The manual describes implementation of Project STEP (Strategies for Targeting Early Potential), designed to identify potentially gifted minority children in kindergarten and grade 1. The objective is an enriched educational program with which to identify students whose language, cultural, or economic differences may limit the validity of…

The digest examines aspects of serving gifted and talented handicapped students in the schools. This population includes persons of outstanding ability or potential who are capable of high performance despite handicaps such as visual, hearing or orthopedic impairments; emotional disturbances; or learning disabilities. Examples of prominent gifted…

Mathematically gifted middle school students need both curriculum enrichment and acceleration. Suggested teaching strategies include using a combination of methods to accommodate individual differences, encouraging Math Club activities, evaluation of students' formal reasoning abilities, and scheduling math classes that group students at similar…

This digest is derived from Susan Baum's "Being Gifted and Learning Disabled...From Definition to Practical Intervention." The learning disabled gifted are grouped into three categories: identified gifted students who have subtle learning disabilities, unidentified students whose gifts and disabilities may be masked by average…

This paper describes characteristics of creatively gifted children and explains why new procedures are necessary to identify creative children with exogenous behavior disorders. Educational strategies are needed that will give these children independence, so that their creative potential can flourish. (PP)