Destroying Some Myths about Gifted KIDS

MYTH #1: All kids are gifted.

• All kids are special and deserving, but not all have exceptional academic

gifts that require additional support in school.

• Most people readily accept that many kids have exceptional athletic or artistic abilities so far beyond their peers that they require additional or different training.

• This same thought needs to apply to academically gifted students so they can reach their full potential.

• Your Subtopics Go HereMYTH #2: Gifted kids are high achievers.

• Many gifted students are high achievers, but many underachieve.

• Underachievement is the discrepancy between a student’s performance and his/her actual ability. Roots of this problem vary:

• Because learning comes quickly and easily, usually one to two repetitions, they will not make an effort on things they have already mastered.

• May be bored or frustrated in an unchallenging situation, causing them to lose interest, learn bad (or no) study habits, or distrust the school environment

• May mask abilities to try to fit in socially with age-peers, which usually creates frustration and loneliness

• May not be motivated by grades

MYTH #3: Gifted students don’t need help; they’ll do fine on their own.

• Just like athletes training for the Olympics, gifted students need guidance from well trained, challenging teachers to develop their talents.

• Gifted kids often think abstractly and with complexity and may need help developing concrete study and test-taking skills.

• They may not be able to select one answer in a multiple choice question because they see how all the answers may be right.

MYTH #4: Gifted students are highly motivated and well behaved.

– Some are both; many are neither!

– When students can’t see the point of doing some tasks, such as repetitive drills,

they often act out.

– Their enthusiasm to learn and respond sometimes causes them to dominate discussions and blurt out answers.

– Some find it difficult to focus on one thing when they are interested in everything.

– Others may get so absorbed in one topic, they can’t stop and become obsessive.

– Some may expect perfection in everything they do, so they have difficulty managing time and

taking risks.

MYTH #5: Gifted students are happy, popular, and well adjusted in school.

– Many gifted students flourish in the school environment, but for some, school is an experience to be endured, not celebrated.

– Some basic differences:

• Emotional and moral intensity

• Sensitivity to expectations and feeling

• Perfectionism

• Deep concerns about societal problems

– It is estimated that 20-25% of gifted children have social and emotional difficulties, about twice as many as the general population of students.

MYTH #6: This child can’t be gifted—he’s special ed!

– Some gifted students also have learning or other disabilities.

– These “twice-exceptional” students are often at risk in the classrooms because

• Disability overrides giftedness, never identified for gifted services

• Giftedness overrides disability, never identified for special ed services

• Disability and gifts cancel out each other, making student appear “average,” perhaps never identified for either giftedness or a disability

– Examples• Learning Disabilities• ADHD• Asperger’s Syndrome

(Autism spectrum)

MYTH #7: Gifted students make everyone else in the class smarter by serving as role models or by providing a challenge to others.

– Seeing a student at a similar performance

level succeed motivates students because it adds to their own sense of ability.

– Watching or relying on someone who is expected to succeed does little to increase a struggling

student’s sense of self-confidence.

– Similarly, gifted students benefit from interactions with peers at similar performance levels.

–Most gifted students abhor cooperative learning groups for this reason!

MYTH #8: Gifted students are naturally creative and well rounded.

– Not all academically gifted students are creative; many creative students are not academically gifted.

– Gifted students are asynchronous: Their chronological age, social, physical, intellectual, and emotional development may all be at different levels.

– Example: Kindergarten student who reads fluently at a fourth grade level, but may not be able to write legibly or tie his shoes.

MYTH #9: Acceleration options, such as early entrance, grade skipping or early exit, are socially harmful for gifted students.

– Academically gifted students often feel out of place with their age peers and naturally gravitate toward older students who are more similar as “intellectual peers.”

– Research shows that students who accelerate do extremely well after they skip.• No or very small negative effects on self-

acceptance and personal adjustment• Any “gaps” in learning are quickly

bridged.

MYTH #10: Gifted programs are elitist.

– Gifted education is not about status—it is about meeting student needs.

– We would never think of NOT offering special services to a child whose IQ is 30 points below the norm (100). Why would we think of not offering services to one whose IQ is 30 points BEYOND the norm?

SOURCES:• Becker Schools Website. “Questions and Answers.”

www.becker.k12.mn.us/educaiton/components/faq• Cheltenham Association for Gifted Education (CAGE).

“Ten Common Gifted Education Myths.” http://cheltenham.gifted.org

• ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. Adapted from College Planning for Gifted Students, 2nd edition, by Sandra Berger. www.tag-tenn.org/myths.html

• Gully, Diann. “Twice Exceptional Students: Who Are They? How Can We Help Them?” NVCTGE Parent Seminar, March 28, 2009.

• Kulik, James. "Effects of Accelerated Instruction on Students." Review of Educational Research 54, 3: 409-425.

• Missett, Tracy C. “A Compelling Case for Acceleration,” NVCTGE Parent Seminar, March 28, 2009.

• Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development. “Distinguishing Myths from Reality: NRC/GT Research. www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html

• Sousa, David A. How the Gifted Brain Works. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2002.