Effective talent-identification procedures minimize the proportion of students whose subsequent performance indicates that they were mistakenly included in or excluded from the program. Classification errors occur when students who were predicted to excel subsequently do not excel or when students who were not predicted to excel do. Using a…

Jay, an African American male, was placed in the gifted class in fifth grade. He lined up with his new class on the first day of school, but refused to enter the classroom. He was angry that he had been placed in the class with "those kids" and wanted to be in the other class where his friends were. Each day thereafter, Jay struggled with being…

This article examines different manifestations of verbal talent and how teachers can identify and cultivate special verbal abilities in students. The provision of role models relevant to students' interests is stressed and a list of recommended biographies is included, as are literary experiences available to student writers. The relationship of…

Presents a set of 22 sequentially structured statements on the nature and origin of human abilities, gifts, and talents. The statements are grouped into three sections: the nature of human abilities, individual differences and their origins, and the specific case of gifts and talents. (Author/CR)

The booklet presents information for parents of gifted and talented children. Topics addressed include the following: identification (early development, intellectual traits, language and academic skills, interests, and social and individual characteristics); parents' role in the education of their gifted/talented children; ways to encourage the…

The author sees S. Reis and J. Renzulli's case for a broadened conception of giftedness as being conceputally weak; points out the theoretical short-comings of the enrichment triad; and suggests that the "Revolving Door Identification Model" is accommodating and misleading. (Author/CL)

Artistic talent is examined by countering popular misconceptions about students with superior abilities. A conception of artistic talent is presented in which parallels are drawn between the representation of intelligence on a normal distribution and representation of talent in art on a naive-to-sophisticated continuum. (Author)

The paper supports the talent search concept of using the Scholastic Aptitude Test to find highly able junior high age populations. Three underlying principles--off-level testing, specific aptitude rather than global testing, and specific matches between tested aptitudes and curriculum focus--are discussed. (CL)

The author describes the advantages of the Talent Search Identification Model for gifted student identification. The model, widely used, uses standardized achievement tests to identify junior high students. Recommendations are offered for students scoring within specified ranges on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. (CL)

A psychology professor at the University of Utah maintains that every student will be better than average in some category if schools can find the right categories. In a question and answer format, guidelines are provided for school administrators pursuing this approach. (Author/JF)

Standardized music aptitude and achievement tests are reviewed, and the importance of early identification of musically talented children is stressed. An identification matrix is presented along with information on availability of 15 tests. (CL)

The study sought to provide empirical support for multidimensional definitions of talent through the examination of traditional and nontraditional talent distributions among 1,141 sophomore young women representing public, private, and parochial high schools. Clusters defined by the analysis revealed the existence of talents independent of…

The article lists and briefly describes 78 noncommercially available instruments useful in studying and measuring creative behavior and creative talent. In addition to a brief description of the instrument, each entry lists the author(s) and the journal or publication reporting on the instrument. (DLS)

The article describes the artistic development of a gifted child who excels at painting, and includes the text of a conversation with him on such things as the themes of his paintings, how he views them, and early influences on his artistic development. (DLS)

Gifted education urgently needs reform, including the acknowledgement of multiple types of ability or talent and long-range recognition and development of talent using multiple measures in order to understand the total person. (SK)