Lewis Terman and his colleagues (Jolly, 2008; Terman & Oden, 1959) that laid the groundwork for efforts in U.S. schools to identify and nurture students who are gifted.

Current trends in education have raised issues for gifted education similar to those raised for special education, such as the possible negative impact of high-stakes testing on students who are gifted and talented

The term “gifted and talented children” means children and, whenever applicable, youth, who are identified at the preschool, elementary, or secondary level as possessing demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, specific academic or leadership ability or in the performing and visual arts and who by reason thereof require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school.

Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment. These children and youth exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools. Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor.

Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains. Domains include any structured area of activity with its own symbol system (e.g., mathematics, music, language) and/or set of sensorimotor skills (e.g., painting, dance, sports).

(a) above-average ability; (b) task commitment or motivation; and (c) creativity, or the capacity for innovation, originality, expressiveness, and imagination and the ability to manipulate ideas in fluent, flexible, elaborate, and original ways

a keen perception of the characteristics and complexity of the arts and the interrelationships of the arts with other domains.

checklists that are domain specific, describing abilities or interests in a particular area, such as mathematics or music, can help professionals pinpoint student strengths.

ongoing identification of student learning needs and ability, is one approach used to assess cognitive abilities that often are not apparent when most forms of standardized tests are used.

Response to Intervention and Students Who Are Gifted and Talented

a characteristic of any program in which school personnel use test scores or school performance to assign (for all or part of the school day) same-grade students to groups or classes with markedly different levels of academic preparation.

Ownership of their abilities. These students know they have special abilities, yet they may also express disbelief about them. They may feel like impostors, waiting for someone to tell them that they are not that special after all.

Dissonance. These students often have set very high standards for themselves. When they do not always achieve those standards, they may be dissatisfied with the gap between what they expected of themselves and what they have accomplished, even if others do not ever think a gap existed.

Competing expectations. Adolescents who are gifted and talented often receive advice from parents, teachers, friends, grandparents, counselors, university representatives, and others. They may feel pulled in many directions, wanting to please everyone but also themselves.

Premature identity. Because of all the pressures they may experience, some adolescents take on an adult identity too soon. They may make career choices prematurely, decide on educational options before they should, and then experience frustration with their choices.