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Berger, Sandra L., Ed.

Gifted Students: Flyer File.

Council for Exceptional Children, Reston, Va.; ERICClearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children,Reston, Va.

Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED),Washington, DC.90

RI8806200771p.

Council or Exceptional Children, Publication Sales,1920 Association Dr., Reston, VA 22091 ($22.50

nonmembers; $18.00 members; Publication No. E105).Collected Works - General (020) -- InformationAnalyses - ERIC Information Analysis Products (071)-- Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055)

MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.

*Academically Gifted; Career Education; ChildAdvocacy; Child Rearing; Creativity; EducationalNeeds; Elementary Secondary Education; FlexibleProgression; *Gifted; Gifted Disabled; *Individual

Needs; Mathematics; Microcomputers; Minority Groups;Parent Child Relationshiv; Postsecondary Education;Preschool Education; Reading Instruction; StressManagement; Student Needs; Summer Programs; *Talent;Talent Identification; Underachievement

This collection of 20 digests on gifted students isintended to orovide practical information for students themselves,their families, professional educators, community groups, and others.Resources, hints and tips, and suggestions for additional reading areincluded in most digests. Digests have the following titles andauthors/primary contributors: "Giftedness and the Gifted: What's ItAll About?" (D. W. Russell and others); "Helping Your Highly GiftedChild" (Stephanie Tolan); "Underachieving Gifted Students" (JamesDelisle and Sandra Berger); "Gifted but Learning Disabled: A PuzzlingParadox" (Susan Baum); "Meeting the Needs of Gifted and TalentedMinority Language Students" (Linda Cohen); "Guiding the GiftedReader" (Judith Wynn Halsted); '`Discovering Mathematical Talent"(Richard Miller); "Personal Computers Help Gifted Students WorkSmart" (Geoffrey Jones); "Fostering Academic Creativity in GiftedStudents" (Paul Torrance and Kathy Goff); "Developing Leadership ink7ifted Youth" (Frances Karnes and Suzanne Bean); "MentorRelationships and Gifted Learners" (Sandra Berger); "NurturingGiftedness in Young Children" (Wen'y Roedell); "Helping GiftedStudents with Stress Management" (Leslie Kaplan); 'HelpingAdolescents Adjust to Giftedness" (Thomas Buescher and SharonHigham); "College Planning for Gifted and Talented Youth" (SandraBerger); "Discovering Interests and Talents through SummerExperiences" (Cindy Ware); "Career Planning for Gifted and TalentedYouth" (Barbara Kerr); "Fostering the Postsecondary Aspirations ofGifted Urban Minority Students" (Margaret McIntosh and M. JeanGreenlaw); "Supporting Gifted Education Through Advocacy" (SandraBerger); "Readings and Resources for Parents and Teachers of GiftedChildren" (Sandra Berger, Comp.); "Meeting the Needs of Able Learnersthrough Flexible Pacing" (Neil Daniel and June Cox). (DB)

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUC IONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document haS been reproduced asreceived f:orn the persOn Or organi.ationOriginating a

C Minor changes have been made to improvereproduction Quality

Points of view Of 0 Or rh SMaIed Ur)* doCu-men' do not necessarily represent officialOERI position or policy

FLYER FILE ON

Gifted StudentsEdited by Sandra L. Berger

A product of the ERIC Clearinghouse onHandicapped and Gifted Students

Published by The Council for Exceptional Children,1920 Association Drive, Reston, VA 22091-1589

ERIC1

The Council for Exceptional Children

The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) is the only professionalorganization dedicated to improving the quality of education forall exceptional children induding those with disabilities and thosewho are gifted. CEC is an international association with approxi-mately 55,000 members. Since its founding in 1922, CEC has beencommitted to providing exceptional students with appropriateeducational experiences designed to nurture their potential andsupport their achievements. To this end, CEC has set the followinggoals:

To promote the special education profession through theestablishment of professional standards of practice and a code ofethics for all professionals involved in the education of exceptionalpersons.

To advance the education of exceptional children by improvingaccess to special education for children underserved or inappropri-ately served, such as the gifted and talented, young adults overage 18, certain low incidence exceptionalities, and ethnic andculturally diverse populations, and by extending special educationto children who could benefit from, but are not now consideredentitled to, special education. Examples are children who areabused, neglected, suicidal, drug dependent, or who have acommunicable disease.

To improve the quality of instruction by supporting thedevelopment and dissemination of new knowledge, technology,methodology, curriculum, and materials on a worldwide basis.

As the host organization for the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handi-capped and Gifted Children, CEC is able to support the publicationand dissemination of ERIC products to special educators and othersinterested in the education of exceptional children. For moreinformation call 703/620-3660, The Council for ExceptionalChildren, 1920 Association Drive, Reston VA 22091-1589.

Cover design adapted from art submitted by Judith C. Leemann, Student,Class of 1989, York High School, Yorktown, Virginia.

4

Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive 0 Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICFlyer File

INTRODUCTION

An effective approach to nurturing giftednessin children and adolescents requires a coop-erative partnership between home andschool, characterized by mutual respect andan ongoing sharing of ideas and obser7a-tions about the children involved. To accom-plish this, parents and educators must knowsomething about giftedness and understandthe needs of the children.

There are numerous publications dealingwith the nature and nurture of gifted children.Indeed, during the past decade there hasbeen an information explosion on this sub-ject. However, parents and educators contin-ue to ask, "Where can I find information thatwill help me raise my gifted child? How can Ihelp gifted youngsters build a positive self-concept; develop talents in productive atis-fying ways; and become successful, self-fulfilled adults?"

ERIC Digests are designed to answerthese questions by providing practical infor-

mation, based on a unifying theme, for giftedstudents, their families, professional educa-tors, community groups, and others. Contrib-utors were selected because of their exper-tise, wisdom, and proven ability to provideinformations that is valuable and easy to use.Resources, hints and tips, and suggestionsfor additional reading are included in most di-gests.

These materials are in the public domainand may be freely duplicated for use ashandouts, newsletter supplements, mail en-closures, and vertical-file resources. Creditmust be given to the author of any work re-produced. Material may not be reproducedor distributed for any commercial purposewithout written permission. The original ma-terial in these packets was developed for theERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped andGifted Children to respond to informationneeds of the field.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. 8188062007.Th9 opinions expressed in this report dc not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

TIME COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive o Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICFlyer File

ERIC DIGESTS ON GIFTED LEARNERS'

Introduction

Giftedness and the Gifted: What's it allAbout?

Helping Your Highly Gifted ChildStephanie S. Tolan

Underachieving Gifted StudentsJames R. De lisle & Sandra L. Berger

Gifted But Learning Disabled: A ruzzlingParadox

Susan Baum

Meeting the Needs of Gifted and TalentedMinority Language Students

Linda M. Cohen

Guiding the Gifted ReaderJudith Wynn Halsted

Discovering Mathematical TalentRichard Miller

Personal Computers Help Gifted StudentsWork Smart

Geoffrey Jones

Fostering Academic Creativity in GiftedStudents

E. Paul Torrance & Kathy Golf

Developing Leadership In Gifted YouthFrances A. Karnes & Suzanne M. Bean

Mentor Relationships and Gifted LearnersSandra L. Berger

E487 Nurturing Giftedness in Young ChildrenWendy C. Roedell

E488 Helping Gifted Students with StressManagement

Leslie S. Kaplan

E489 Helping Adolescents Adjust to GiftednessThomas M. Buescher & Sharon J.Higham

E490 College Planning for Gifted and TalentedYouth

Sandra L. Berger

E491 Discovering Interests and Talents ThroughSummer Experiences

Cindy Ware

E492 Career Planning for Gifted and TalentedYouth

Barbara Kerr

E493 Fostering the Postsecondary Aspirationsof Gifted Urban Minority Students

Margaret E. McIntosh & M. JeanGreenlaw

E494 Supporting Gifted Education ThroughAdvocacy

Sandra L. Berger

E495 Readings & Resources for Parents andTeachers of Gifted Children

E464 Meeting the Needs of Able LearnersThrough Flexible Pacing

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproducedand disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarRy reflectthe positions or poii-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.milr,

'ERIC! Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive o Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E476 EC-90

GIFTEDNESS AND THE GIFTED: WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

What Does Giftedness Mean?

Many parents say, "I know what giftedness is, but Ican't put it into words." This generally is followed byreference to a particular child who seems to manifestgifted behaviors. Unfortunately, there are many mis-conceptions of the term, all of which become deter-rents to understanding and catering to the needs ofchildren identified as gifted. Let's study the followingstatement:

Giftedness is that precious endowment of po-tentially outstanding abilities which allows aperson to interact with the environment withremarkably high levels of achievement andcreativity.

This statement is the product of a small neighborhoodgroup of parents who took a comprehensive view ofthe concept of giftedness before focusing on any at-tempt to define the gifted child. They thought, first,that within giftedness is a quality of innateness (or, asthey said, "a gift conferred by nature"), and second,that one's environment is the arena in which the giftscome into play and develop. Therefore, they reasonedthat the "remarkably high :evels of achievement andcreativity" result from a continuous and functional in-teraction between a person's inherent a id acquiredabilities and characteristics.

We often hear statements such as "She's a bornartist," or"He's a natural athlete," or conversely, "Suc-cess never came easy for me; I had to learn the hardway," or "He's a self-made man." Those who manifestgiftedness obviously have some inherent or inbornfactors plus the motivation and stamina to learn fromand cope with the rigors of living.

We suggest that you wrestle with the term in yourown way, looking at giftedness as a concept that de-mands the investment of time, money, and energy.This will help you discuss giftedness more meaning-fully with other parents, school administrators, schoolboard mem')ers, or anyone who needs to understandthe dynamics of the term.

7

Who Are Gifted Children?

Former U.S. Commissioner of Education Sidney P.Mar land, Jr., in his August 1971 report to Congress,stated, "Gifted and talented children are those identi-fied by professionally qualified persons who by virtueof outstanding abilities are capable of high perfor-mance. These are children who require differentiatededucational programs and/or services beyond thosenormally provided by the regular school program in or-der to realize their contribution to self and society."

The same report continued:

Children capable of high performance includethose with demonstrated achievement and/orpotential ability in any of the following areas,singly or in combination:

1. general intellectual ability2. specific academic aptitude3. creative or productive thinking4. leadership ability5. visual or performing arts6. psychomotor ability

Using a broad definition of giftedness, a school sys-tem could expect to identify 10% to 15% or more of itsstudent population as gifted and talented. A brief de-scription of each area of giftedness or talent as de-fined by the Office of Gifted and Talented will help youunderstand this definition.

General intellectual ability or talent. Laypersons andeducators alike usually define this in terms of a highintelligence test scoreusually two standard devia-tions above the meanon individual or group meas-ures. Parents and teachers often recognize studentswith general intellectual talent by their wide-rangingfund of general information and high levels of vocabu-lary, memory, abstract word knowledge, and abstractreasoning.

Specific academic aptitude or talent. Students withspecific academic aptitudes are identified by their out-

standing performance on an achievement or aptitudetest in one area such as mathematics or languagearts The organizers of talent searches sponsored bya number of universities and colleges identify stu-dents with specific academic aptitude who score atthe 97th percentile or higher on standard achievementtests and then give these students the Scholastic Apti-tude Test (SAT). Remarkably large numbers of stu-dents score at these high levels.

Creative and productive thinking. This is the ability toproduce new ideas by bringing together elementsusually thought of as independent or dissimilartheaptitude for developing new meanings that have so-cial value. Characteristics of creative and productivestudents include openness to experience, setting per-sonal standards for evaluation, ability to play with ide-as, willingness to take risks, preference for complexi-ty, tolerance for ambiguity, positive self-image, andthe ability to become submerged in a task. Creativeand productive students are identified through the useof tests such as the Torrance Test of Creative Think-ing or through demonstrated creative performance.

Leadership ability. Leadership can be defined as theability to direct individuals or groups to a common de-cision or action. Students who demonstrate giftednessin leadership ability use group okills and negotiate indifficult situations. Many teachers recognize leader-ship through a student's keen interest and skill inproblem solving. Leadership characteristics includeself-confidence, responsibility, cooperation, a tenden-cy to dominate, and the ability to adapt readily to newsituations. These students can be identified throughinstruments such as the Fundamental InterpersonalRelations Orientation Behavior (FIRO-B).

Visual and performing arts. Gifted students with talentin the arts demonstrate special talents in visual art,music, dance, drama, or other related studies. Thesestudents can he identified by using task descriptionssuch as the Creative Products Scales, which were de-veloped for the Detroit Public Schools by Patrick By-rons and Beverly Ness Parke of Wayne State Univer-sity.

Psycnomotor ability. This involves kinesthetic motorabilities such as practical, spatial, mechanical, andphysical skills. It is seldom used as a criterion in giftedprograms.

Other ViewpointsRobert Sternberg and Robert Wagner (1982) havesuggested that giftedness is a kind of mental self-management. The mental management of one's life ina constructive, purposeful way has three basic ele-ments. adapting to environments, selecting new envi-

ronments, and shaping environments. According toStemberg and Wagner, the key psychological basis ofintellectual giftedness resides in insight skills that in-clude three main processes: (1) separating relevantfrom irrelevant information, (2) combining isolatedpieces of information into a unified whole, and (3) re-lating r.ewly acquired information to information ac-quired in the past.

Stemberg and Wagner emphasized problem-solving abilities and viewed the gifted student as onewho processes information rapidly and uses insightabilities. Howard Gardner (1983) also suggested aconcept of multiple intelligences, stating that there areseveral ways of viewing the world: linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, in-terpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence.

Joseph Renzulli (1986) stated that gifted behaviorreflects an interaction among three basic clusters ofhuman traits: above-average general and/or specificabilities, high levels of task commitment (motivation),and high levels of creativity. According to Renzulli,gifted and talented children are those who possess orare capable of developing this composite of traits andapplying them to any potentially valuable area of hu-man performance.

A good source for pursuing the characteristics ofgiftedness in depth is Barbara Clark's informativebook, Growing Up Gifted (1988), which presents anexhaustive list of characteristics under five majorheadings. Cognitive (thinking), Affective (feeling),Physical, Intuitive, and Societal.

No one child manifests all of the attributes de-sciil:ftcl by researchers and the Cffice of Gi;ied andTalented. Nevertheless, it is important for parents tobe fully aware of the ways in which giftedness can berecognized. Often, certain behaviors such as con-stantly having unique solutions to problems, askingendless, probing questions, or even the masterful ma-nipulation cf others are regarded by parents as unnat-ural, unlike other children, and trying to parental pa-tience. Therefore, our recommendation is to study thecharacteristics of gifted children with an open mind.Do not use the list as a scorecard; simply discuss andappreciate the characteristics and let common sense,coupled with love, take over.

Some General Characteristics

(These are typical factors stressed by educational au-thorities as being indicative of giftedness. Obviously,no child is outstanding in all characteristics.)

1. Shows superior reasoning powers and markedability to handle ideas, can generalize readilyfrom specific facts and can see subtle relation-ships, has outstanding problem solving ability.

2. Shows persistent intellectual curiosity; askssearching questions, shows exceptional interestin the nature of man and the universe.

3. Has a wide range of interests, often of an intel-lectual kind; develops one or more interests toconsiderable depth.

4. Is markedly superior in quality and quantity ofwritten and/or spoken vocabulary; is interestedin the subtleties of words and their uses.

5. Reads avidly and absorbs books well beyond hisor her years.

6. Learns quickly and easily and retains what islearned; recalls important details, concepts andprinciples; comprehends readily.

7. Shows insight into arithmetical problems that re-quire careful reasoning and grasps mathemati-cal concepts readily.

8. Shows creative ability or imaginative expressionin such things as music, art, dance, drama;shows sensitivity and finesse in rhythm, move-ment, and bodily control.

9. Sustains concentration for lengthy periods andshows outstanding responsibility and indepen-dence in classroom work.

10. Sets realistically high standards for self, is self-critical in evaluating and correcting his or he,own efforts.

11. Shows initiative and originality in intellectualwork; shows flexibility in thinking and considersproblems from a number of viewpoints.

12. Observes keenly and is responsive to newideas.

13. Shows social poise and an ability to communi-cate with adults in a mature way.

14. Gets excitement and pleasure from intellectualchallenge; shows an alert and subtle sense ofhumor.

A Quick Look at IntelligenceThe attempts to define giftedness refer in one way oranother to so-called "inborn" attributes, which, for lackof a better term, are called intelligence. Significant ef-forts have been made to measure intelligence, but,because the concept is elusive, test constructors sim-ply aim at testing what they feel are typical manifesta-tions of intelligence in behaviors. Perhaps a littlerhyme used for years by kindergarten teachers willhelp to describe this elusiveness:

Nobody sees the wind; neither you, nor Butwhen the trees bow down their heads, thewind is passing by.

Just as we cannot actually see the wind, we cannotfind, operate on, or transplant intelligence. Yet we seethe working or manifestations of intelligence in the be-haviors of people.

The man-made computation of an intelligencequotient, or IQ, is probably the best general indicatorof intelligence, but in no way is it infallible. All too of-ten, a child's IQ is misunderstood and becomes a life-long "handle." However, given our present knowledge,the results of a standardized intelligence test adminis-tered by a competent examiner provide as reliable anindication as possible of a person's potential ability tolearn and cope Until some scientific breakthrough isdeveloped, we will rely on the IQ score to approxi-mate how mentally gifted a person may be.

The nature of intelligence was once explained inthis way:

If intelligence were something you could see,touch, and weigh, it would be something like a can ofpaint. The genius would have a gallon, the personwho has severe retardation, only hail a pint. The restof us would have varying amounts between theseextremes, with the majority possessing about twoquarts. This is clear enough, but it is only half thestory.

Each can of paint contains the same five or six in-gredients in varying amounts. One can may be "long"on oil, another on pigment, a third on turpentine, thefourth on gloss or drying agent. So, although two canscontain the same amount of paint, the paint may be ofvastly different consistency, color, or character.

Good painters want to know the elements in thepaint with which they are working. Parents and teach-ers want to know the kinds of intelligence with whichthey are working. What are the special qualities of thisintelligence? In what proportions are these elementspresent? Most important, how can these elements beused?

We recommend that you do not become boggeddown in probing into the concept of intelligence Its in-tricacies and mysteries are fascinating, but it must notbecome a convenient synonym for giftedness. An ex-cellent coverage of the concept of intelligence is pro-vided by Barbara Clark in Growing Up Gifted.

The exciting advances in research on brain func-tioning, coupled with the realization that a child's intel-ligence is only one key to understanding giftedness,have underscored the importance of studying all char-acteristics of the gifted child.

The Gifted Child is Called Many Things

Often parents are confused by the many terms usedin referring to the gifted child. Many parents hearthese terms usedsometimes adopting them in their

9

own conversationswithout knowing whether theyare synonymous with "gifted" or are just words thathelp to explain the concept.

The term genius used to be widely employed butnow it is reserved for reference only to the phenome-nally gifted person. Talented tends to be used whenreferring to a particular strength or ability of a person.Thought should be given to whether the talent is truly

gift or is, rather, an ability that has become a highlydeveloped skill through practice. It is safe to say thatgenerally the person identified as gifted is one whohas multiple talents of a high order.

The terms prodigy and precocious are most corn-nionly used when a child evidences a decidedly ad-vanced degree of skill in a particular endeavor at avery early age, as well as a very-dliciplined type ofmotivation. It is interesting to note that the derivationof the words precocious or precocity comes from theancient Greek word for "precooked" and connotes theidea of early ripening.

Superior is a comparative term. When a child isclassified as "superior," we would like to know towhom, or what group, he or she is superior, and towhat degree. A child may be markedly superior to themajority of children in a specific mental ability such asverbal comprehension and at the same time be equal-ly inferior in spatial relations or memory. The loose-ness of the term limits its usage in most cases tobroad generalization. A high IQ may be anything, de-pending on what it is higher than.

Rapid learner is a helpful term in understandinggiftedness, because it is a distinct characteristic mani-fested by the identified gifted child.

The term exceptional is appropriate when refer-ring to the gifted child as being different in the charac-teristics listed earlier.

At this point it is important to bring into focus aterm that continues to be tossed around altogether

:oo loosely in reference to education of the gifted.That term is elitism.

By derivation, elite means the choice, or best, orsuperior part of a body or class of persons. However,time and an overemphasis on egalitarianism have im-parted a negative connotation to the word, implyingsnobbishness, selectivity, and unfair special attention.

But in fact, gifted children are elite in the sameway that anyone becomes a champion, a record-holder, a soloist, an inventor, or a leader in importantrealms of human endeavor. Therefore, their parentshave a distinct responsibility to challenge those whocry "elitism" and explain to them ttie true meaning ofthe term.

The only reason for mentioning these termsandthere are many moreis to caution parents that se-mantics and language usage can be tricky and con-fusing. Thus, your personal understanding and appli-cation of the term gifted becomes doubly important.

References

Clark, B. (1988). Growing up gifted (3rd ed.). Colum-bus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. New York: Ban-tam Books.

Marland, S. (1972). Education of the gifted and talent-ed. Report to Congress. Washington, DC: U. S.Government Printing Office.

Renzulli, J. (1986). The three ring conception of gift-edness: A developmental model for creative pro-ductivity. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson(Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp.53-94.New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sternberg, R., & Wagner, R. (1982). A revolutionarylook at intelligence. Gifted Children Newsletter, 3,11.

Adapted from D. W. Russell, D. G. Hayes, & L. B. Dockery, My Child Is Gifted/ Now WhatDo I Do? (2nd ed. 1988), North Carolina Association for the Gifted and Talented, Inc.,P.O. Box 5394, Winston-Salem, NC 27113-5394; and D. Sisk, The State of Gifted Educa-tion: Toward a Bright Future, Music Educators Journal, (Parch 1990), pp. 35-39. Adapt-ed by permission.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI8806207.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

10

rEgga Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E477 EC-90

HELPING YOUR HIGHLY GIFTED CHILD

Most parents greet the discovery that their child is notmerely gifted but highly or profoundly gifted with acombination of pride, excitement, and fear. They mayset out to find experts or books to help them cope withraising such a child, only to find that there are no realexperts, only a couple of books, and very little under-standing of extreme intellectual potential and how todevelop it. This digest deals with some areas of con-cern and provides a few practical suggestions basedon the experience of other parents and the modestamount of research available.

Differences

To understand highly gifted children it is essential torealize that, although they are children with the samebasic needs as other children, they are very different.Adults cannot ignore or gloss over their differenceswithout doing serious damage to these children, forthe differences will not go away or be outgrown. Theyaffect almost every aspect of these children's intellec-tual and emotional lives.

A microscope analogy is one useful way of under-standing extreme intelligence. If we say that all peoplelook at the world through a lens, with some lei ,sescloudy or distorted, some clear, and some magnified,we might say that gifted individuals view the worldthrough a microscope lens and highly gifted individu-als view it through an electron microscope. They seeordinary things in very different ways and often seewhat others simply cannot see. Although there are ad-vantages to this heightened perception, there are dis-advantages as well.

Since many children eventually become aware ofbeing different, it is important to prepare yourself foryour child's reactions. When your child's giftednesshas been identified, you might open a discussion us-ing the microscope analogy. If you are concerned thatsuch a discussion will promote arrogance, be sure tolet the child know that unusual gifts, like hair and eyecolor, are not earned. It is neither admirable nor con-temptible to be highly gifted. It is what one does withone's abilities that is important.

A United Front

As in most other aspects of parenting, it is importantfor both parents (or the adults who bear primary re-sponsibility for raising the child) to agree on some ba-sic issues regarding the child's poter.tial. Some par-ents of exceptionally gifted children were themselvesgifted or exceptionally gifted children. If they did notlearn to accept and understand their own giftedness,they may find it difficult to accept their child's unusualcapacities. Raising a highly gifted child may help par-ents come to terms Min many difficult aspects of theirown lives, but it helps if they focus first on the needsof the child and come to an agreement about how tomeet them.

What Highly Gifted Children Need

Exceptionally gifted children have two primary needs.First, they need to feel comfortable with themselvesand with the differences that simultaneously openpossibilities and create difficulty. Second, they needto develop their astonishing potential. There is astrong internal drive to develop one's abilities. Thwart-ing that drive may lead to crippling emotional damage.Throughout the parenting years, it is wise to keep inmind that the healthiest long-term goal is not neces-sarily a child who gains fame, fortune, and a NobelPrize, but one who becomes a comfortable adult anduses gifts productively.

The Early Years

Before your child begins formal schooling, differencescan be handled by your willingness to follow thechild's lead and wet needs as they arise. It is possi-ble and important to treat an infant's or toddler's pre-cocity with a degree of normalcy. For example, a 2-year -old who prefers and plays appropriately with toysdesigned for 6-year-olds should be given those toys.The 3-yeas -uld who reads should be given books. Thechild who speaks very early and with a sophisticatedvocabulary should be spoken to in kind.

Public Attitudes

Even when parents can take precocious achieve-malts in stride, friends, family, and strangers maynot. Unthinking people will comment (often loudly andin front of the child) that a 2- or 3-year-old who sits inthe grocery cart reading packages aloud is a phenom-enon.

It may be surprisingly difficult to avoid letting pa-rental pride lure you into encouraging your child to'perform" in public. Keep in mind the goal of makingthe child as comfortable as possible with individual dif-ferences. The more casually you accept unusual earlyaccomplishments, the more your child will be able tosee those accomplishments as normal. Later, whengifts are no longer quite as noticeable, the child willnot feel that what made him or her valuable hassomehow been lost.

Multiple Ages

Highly gifted children are many ages simultaneously.A 5-year-old may read like a 7-year-old, play chesslike a 12-year-old, talk like a 13-year-old, and sharetoys like a 2-year-old. A child may move with lightningspeed from a reasoned discussion of the reasons fortaking turns on the playground to a fell-scale tempertantrum when not allowed to be first on the swing.You can help yourself maneuver among the child sages by reading about developmental norms (Gesellis a good guide) so that you are ready for (and avoidpunishing) behavior that, although it seems childish ina precocious child, is absolutely age appropriate.

School

If your 9 month-old begins speaking in full sentences,you probably will not tell the child to stop and wait tillother 9-month-olds catch up. You would not limit sucha child to using nouns because that is as muchspeech as most 9-month-olds can handle. However,in public or private school that may be the approachsome educators use.

It is important to realize that they are not purpose-ly setting out to keep your child from learning, al-though that might be the effect. Many educators havenever knowingly dealt with a highly gifted child. Theydo not recognize them, and they do not know how tohandle them. Some educators base teaching methodson developmental norms that are inap.,priate forhighly gifted children. Although they may be willing tomake ar effort to accommodate these youngsters,they may lack sufficient information or experience andnot know what type of effort to make.

When a child enters school already able to dowhat the teacher intends to teach, there is se:dom avariety of mechanisms for teaching that child some-

thing else. Even if there were a way to provide time,attention, and an appropriate curriculum, it would benecessary for the teacher to use different teachingmethods. Highly gifted children learn not only fasterthan others, but also differently. Standard teachingmethods take complex subjects and break them intosmall, simple bits presented one at a time. Highly gift-ed minds can consume large amounts of informationin a single gulp, and they thrive on complexity. Givingthese children simple bits of information is like feedingan elephant one blade of grass at a timehe willstarve before he even realizes that anyone is trying tofeed him.

When forced to work with the methods and paceof a typical school, highly gifted children may look notmore capable than their peers, but less capable.Many of their normal characteristics add to this prob-lem. Their handwriting might be very messy becausetheir hands do not keep pace with their quick minds.Many spell poorly because they read for comprehen-sion and do not see the words as collections of separ-ate letters. When they try to "sound our a word, theirlogical spelling of an illogical language rest:Its in er-rors. Most have difficulty with rote memorization, astandard learning method in the early grades.

Lack of Fit

The difficulty with highly gifted children in school maybe summarized in three words. They don't fit. Almostall American schools organize groups of children byage As we have seen, the highly gifted child is manyages The child's intellectual needs might be yearsahead of same-age peers, although the gulf may belarger in some subject areas than in others.

Imagine 6-year-old Rachel. She reads on a 12th-grade level, although her comprehension is "only" thatof a 7th grader. She does multiplication and division,understands fractions and decimals, but counts onher fingers because she has never memorized addi-tion and subtraction facts ur multiplication tables. Herfavorite interests at home are paleontology and as-tronomy; at school her favorite interests are lunch andrecess. She collects stamps and plays chess. Al-though she can concentrate at her telescope for hoursat a time, she cannot sit s141 when she is bored. Shecries easily, loses her temper (*hen, bosses other chil-dren when they "don't do it right," and cannot keeptrack of her personal belongings. She has a sophisti-cated sense of humor that disarms adults but is notunderstood by other children.

Putting Rachel into a regular first grade withoutpaying special attention to her differences is a recipefor social, emotional, and educational disaster. Even ifa gifted program is available (they commonly begin inthird or fourth grade), it is unlikely to meet her ex-treme needs.

12

Educating a highly gifted child in school is likeclothing a 6X child in a store where the largest availa-ble garment is a size 3 (or with a gifted program, a3X). Parents have to resort to alterations or individualtailoring of whatever kind they can manage.

In dealing with school issues, it is important to re-member that you know more about your child thananyone else. Your knowledge, information, and in-stincts are useful and important, and they should berecognized in designing a school program. Your childneeds individual attention. Anything :.1.1se may be di-rectly P--1 seriously harmful.

Trik is no ideal school pattern for the highly gift-ed chid. However, when normal school patterns leadto difficulty, is important to obtain real differentiation.

Acceleration

Because highly gifted children may begin school al-ready knowing much of the material covered in earlygrades and because they learn quickly, some type ofacceleration is necessary. For some children and insome situations, grade skipping is the best choice.Placing a child with older children who share interestsmay be socially and intellectually beneficial and resultin a more appropriate curriculum. It is also a simpleand economical solution for the school. Some childrenbegin school early, others skip several early grades,others skip whole educational levels, such as juniorhigh or even high school. Skipping a single year isseldom helpful, because the difference between onegrade level and the next lb too small. Grade skippingis not without problems, but allowing highly gifted chil-dren to stay in a class that meets few if any of theirneeds may do serious and long-term damage.

Another type of acceleration is subject matter ac-celeration. A child may take mathematics with a classfour grades ahead, reading with a class two gradesahead, and physical education with age peers. Thistype of acceleration takes into consideration the varying developmental ages of the highly gifted child. Forfurther flexibility, you might consider evening classesor weekend classes at a high school or college andask the school to excuse coverage of those subjectsin regular classes. A child might go to school with agemates only in the morning or only in the afternoon.This method calls for school and parent flexibility andmay lead to logistical problems with scheduling andtransportation, but it is often more satisfactory thangrade skipping, because the child associates at leastpart of the time with age peers.

When the School Will Not Change

When parents approach teachers and administratorswith information and documentation, in a spirit ofcooperation rather than confrontation, offering sug-gestions and help rather than attacking, some positive

changes in normal methods usually result. Some-times, however, schools refuse to make changes forone child. When this happens, parents have fewchoices. One is to move to a school system that willmake changes. Another is home schooling.

For many highly gifted children home schooling isa nearly ideal solution to the problem of fit. Instead oflaboriously altering ready-made programs, parentscan tailor an education precisely to the child's needs.Clubs, sports, scouting, and other activities supply so-cial interaction with other children while parents serveas teachers or facilitators or engage tutors or mentorsin various subject areas.

Home schooling is seldom an easy choice. Insome districts .t is either illegal or beset with regula-tions that make it almost as rigid as classroom school-ing. When both parents or the single resident parentmust work, it may be impossible. Some parents andchildren find the level of togetherness stifling, whileothers cannot avoid pushing and demanding toomuch. However, home schooling may be a positivechoice for many families. Many children move surpris-ingly smoothly from home schooling in the early yearsinto high school or college when their intellectualneeds outgrow the home environment. One of the ma-jor benefits of education at home is the maintenanceof self-esteem, which is highly problematic in a schoolenvironment.

Social/Emotional Needs

In the movie E. T. there was something heartrendingin the small alien's attempts to "phone home," in hisconstant longing for others of his kind despite the lov-ing concern of the family who cared for him. Highlygifted children endure some of that same pain. It ishard for them to find kindred spirits, hard for them tofeel they fit into the only world they know.

Highly gifted children may have trouble establish-ing fulfilling friendships with people of their own agewhen there are few or no other highly gifted childrenwith whoin to interact. As a high school student toldhis mother, "I can be that part of myself that is like myclassmates, and we get along fine. DA tiere's no oneI can share the rest of me with, no one who under-stands what means the most to me." For most highlygifted children, social relationships with age peers ne-cessitate a constant monitoring of thoughts, words,and behavior.

One of the greatest benefits of the talent searchesproliferating in colleges across the country is thechance for highly gifted children to spend time withothers like themselves. For 3 weeks in the summer,children who qualify (by scoring high enough on theSAT or ACT in the seventh grade or earlier) attendclass on a college campus with other highly giftedchildren. Rather than feeling like oddballs, they sud-

denly feel normal. Lifelong friendships may form in amattei of days Many summer program participantsconsider the interaction as valuable as theclasses.

What else can yon do to help highly gifted chil-dren find friends? It helps children to understand thatthere are different types of friends. They may playbaseball, ride bikes, and watch TV with one person;talk about bJoks or movies with another; and playchess or discuss astronomy with another. Some ofthese friends may be their own age, some may beyounger or, more often, older. Only in school is it sug-gested that people must be within a few months ofeach other in age to form meaningful relationships.

Conclusion

Raising a highly gifted child may be ecstasy, agony,and everything between. Adults must perform almostimpossible teats of balancesupporting a child's giftswithout pushing, valuing without overinvBsting, cham-pioning without taking over. It is costly, physically andemotionally draining, and intellectually demanding. Inthe first flush of pride, few parents realize that theirtask is in many way:. similar to the task faced by par-ents of a child with severe handicaps. Our world doesnot accommodate differences easily, and it matters lit-tle whether the difference is perceived to be a deficitor an overabundance.

We have covered only a few issues in this space,but the most important help you can give highly giftedchildren can be expressed in a single sentence. Givethem a safe home, a refuge where they feel love andgenuine acceptance, even of their differences. Asadults with a safe home in their background, they canput together lives of productivity and fulfillment.

ResourcesBoyer, A. (1989). Surviving the blessing: Parenting the high-

ly gifted child. Understanding Our Gifted, 1(3), 5,17,20-21.

Dirks, J. (1979). Parents' reactions to identification of thegifted. Rotwer Review, 2(2), 9-10.

Feldman, D. H., with Goldsmith, L. T. (1986). Nature's gam-bit: Child prodigies and the development of human po-tential. New York: Basic Books.

Grost, A. (1970). Genius in residence. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.

Higham, S., & Buescher, T. M. (1987). What young giftedadolescents understand about feeling different. In T. M.Buescher (Ed.), Understanding gifted and talented ado-lescents (pp. 26-30). Evanston, IL: The Center for Tal-ent Develop' tent, Northwestern University.

Hollingworth, L. S. (1942). Children above 180 10 Stanford-Binet: Origin and development. Yonkers-on-Hudson,NY: World Book.

Janos, P. M., Maywood, K. A., & Robinson, N. M. (1985).Friendship patterns in highly intelligent children. RoeperReview, 8 (1), 46-49.

Janos, P. M., & Robinson, N. M. (1985). The performanceof students in a program of radical acceleration at theuniversity level. Gifted Child Quarterly, 29(4), 175-179.

Kearney, K. (1989). Homeschooling gifted children. Under-standing Our Gifted, 1(3), 1,12-13,15-16.

Kline, B. E., & Meckstroth, E. A. (1985). Understanding andencouraging the exceptionally gifted. Roeper Review, 8(11,24-30.

Lewis, G. (1984). Alternatives to acceleration for the highlygifted child. Roeper Review, 6(3), 133-136.

Powell, P. M., & Haden, T. (1987). The intellectual and psy-chosocial nature of extrema giftedness. Roeper Re-view, 6(3), 127-130.

Silverman, L. K. (1989). The highly gifted. In J. F. Feldhu-sen, J. Vanlassel- Baska, & K. R. Seeley (Eds.), Excel-lence in educating the gifted (pp. 71-83). Denver. Love.

Silverman, L. K., & Kearney, K. (1989). Parents of the ex-traordinarily gifted. Advanced Development, 1, 41-56.

Tolan, S. S. (1989). Special problems of young highly giftedchildren. Understanding Our Gifted, 1(5), 1,7-10.

Tolan, S. S. (1985, January). Stop accepting, start demand-ing! Gifted Child Monthly 6(1), 6.

Wan, S. S. (1985 Nov./Dec.). Stuck in another dimension:The exceptionally gifted child in school. G/CIT, 41, 22-26.

Webb. J. T., Meckstroth, E. A,. & Tolan, S. S. (1982). Guid-ing the gifted child. Columbus, OH: Ohio PsychologyPublishing Co.

©Copyright 1989, Stephanie S. Tolan. Properly attributed, this material may be reproduced.Stephanie Tolan is a noted author of children's books and one of the authors of Guiding the GiftedChild

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

14

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive o Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E478 EC-90

UNDERACHIEVING GIFTED STUDENTS

There is perhaps no situation more frustrating for par-ents or teachers than living or working with childrenwho do not perform as well academically as their po-tential indicates they can. These children are labeledas underachievers, yet few people agree on exactlywhat this term means. At what point does under-achievement end and achievement begin? Is a giftedstudent who is failing mathematics while doing superi-or work in reading an underachiever? Does under-achievement occur suddenly, or is it better defined asa series of poor performances over an extended timeperiod? Certainly, the phenomenon of underachieve-ment is as complex and multifaceted as the childrento whom this label has been applied.

Definition of Underachievement

Early researchers (Raph, Goldberg, & Passow, 1966)and some recent authors (Davis & Rimm, 1989) havedefined underachievement in terms of a discrepancybetween a child's school performance and some abili-ty index such as an IQ score. These definitions, al-though they seem clear and succinct, provide little in-sight to parents and teachers who wish to addressthis problem with individual students. A better way todefine underachievement is to consider its variouscomponents.

Urderachievement, first and foremost, is a behavior,and as such it can change over time. Often, under-achievement is seen as a problem of attitude or workhabits. However, neither habits nor attitude can bemodified as directly as behaviors. Thus, referring to"underachieving behaviors" pinpoints those aspects ofchildren's lives which they are most able to alter.

Underachievement is ccntent and situation specific.Gifted children who do not succeed in school are of-ten successful in outside activities such as sports, so-cial occasions, and after-school jobs. Even a childwho does poorly in most school subjects may displaya talent or interest in at least one school subject.Thus, labeling a child as an "underachiever disre-gards any positive outcomes or behaviors that child

displays. It is better to label the behaviors than thechild (e.g., the child is 'underachieving in math andlanguage arts" rather than an "underachieving stu-dent").

Underacnievement is in the eyes of the beholder. Forsome students (and teachers and parents), as long asa passing grade is attained, there is no underachieve-ment_ "After all," this group would say, "A C is an aver-age grade." To others, a grade of B+ could constituteunderachievement if the student in question were ex-pected to get an A. Recognizing the idiosyncratic na-ture of what constitutes success and failure is the firststep toward understanding underachieving behaviorsin students.

Underachievement is tied intimately to self-conceptdevelopment. Children who learn to see themselvesin terms of failure eventually begin to place self-imposed limits on what is possible. Any academicsuccesses are written off as "flukes," while low gradesserve to reinforce negative self-perceptions. This self-deprecating attitude often results in comments suchas 'Why should I even try? I'm just going to fail any-way," or "Even if I do succeed, people will say it's be-cause I cheated." The end product is a low self-concept, with students perceiving themselves asweak in academics. Under this assumption, their ini-tiative to change or to accept a challenge is limited.

Strategies to Reverse Patterns ofUnderachievement

Luckily, it is easier to reverse patterns of underachiev-ing behavior than it is to define the term under-achievement.

Whitmore (1980) described three types o; strate-gies that she found effective in working with under-achieving behaviors in students.

1. Supportive strategies. Classroom techniquesand designs that allow students to feel they arepart of a "family," versus a "factory," includemethods such as holding class meetings to dis-cuss student concerns, designing curriculum ac-

15

tivities based on the needs and interests of thechildren; and allowing students to bypass as-signments on subjects in whicn they have previ-ously shown competency.

2. Intrinsic strategies. These strategies incorporatethe idea that students' self-concepts as learnersare tied closely to their desire to achieve aca-demically (Purkey & Novak, 1984). Thus, aclassroom that invites positive attitudes is likelyto encourage achievement. In classrooms of thistype, teachers encourage attempts, not just suc-cesses, they value student input in creatingclassroom rules and resdonsibilities, and they al-low students to evaluate their own work beforereceiving a grade from the teacher.

3. Remedial strategies. Teachers who are effectivein reversing underachieving behaviors recognizethat students are not peilectthat each childhas specific strengths and weaknesses as wellas social, emotional, and intellectual needs. Withremedial strategies, students are given chancesto excel in their areas of strength and interestwhile opportunities are provided to improve inspecific areas of lea: ing deficiencies. This re-mediation is done in a "safe" environment inwhich mistakes are considered a part of learningfor everyone, including the teacher.

The key to eventual success lies in the willingness ofparents and teachers to encourage students whenev-er their performance or attitude shifts (even slightly) ina positive direction.

Participation in Gifted Programs

Students who underachieve in some aspect of schoolperformance, but whose talents exceed the bounds ofwhat is generally covered in the standard curriculum,have a right to an education that matches their poten-tial. To be sure, a program for gifted students mayneed to alter its structure or content to meet these stu-dents' specific learning needs, but this is preferable todenying gifted children access to educational servicesthat are the most accommodating to their abilities.

Role of the Family

The following are some broad guidelinesrepresenting many viewpointsfor strategies to pre-vent or reverse underachieving behavior.

Supportive strategies. Gifted children thrive in a mutu-ally respectful, nonauthontarian, flexible, questioningatmosphere. They need reasonable rules and guidelines, strong support and encouragement, consistentlypositive feedback, and help to accept some :imita-tions their own as well as those of others. Althoughthese principles are appropriate for all children, par-

ents of gifted children, believing that au,ancec intel-lectual ability also means advanced social and emo-tio.iai skills, may allow their children excessive deci-sion-making power before they have the wisdom andexperience to handle such responsibility (Rimm,1986).

Gifted youngsters need adults who are willing tolisten to their questions without comment. Some ques-tions merely preface their own opinions, and quick an-swers prevent them from using adults as a soundingboard. When problem solving is appropriate, offer asolution and encourage students to come up with theirown answers and criteria for choosing the best solu-tion. Listen carefully. Show genuine enthusiasm aboutstudents' observations, interests, activities, and goals.Be sensitive to problems, but avoid transmitting unre-alistic or conflicting expectations and solving pro-blems a student is capable of managing.

Provide students with a wide variety of opportuni-ties for success, a sense of accomplishment, and abelief in themselves. Encourage them to volunteer tohelp others as an avenue for developing tolerance,empathy, understanding, aryl acceptance of humanlimitations. Above all, guide th.m toward activities andgoals that reflect their values, interests, and needs,not just yours. Finally, reserve some time to have fun,to be silly, to share daily activities. Like all youngsters,gifted children need to feel connected to people whoare consistently supportive (Webb, Meckstroth, & To-len, 1982).

Intrinsic strategies. Whether or not a gifted youngsteruses exceptional ability in constructive ways depends,in part, on self-acceptance and self-concept. Accord-frig to : !alsted (1988), "an intellectually gifted child willnot be happy [and] complete until he is using intellec-tual ability at a level approaching full capacity.... It isimportant that parents and teachers see intellectualdevelopment as a requirement for these children, andnot merely as an interest, a flair, or a phase they willoutgrow" (p. 24).

Provic"..ng an early and appropriate educationalenvironment can stimulate an early love for learning.A young, curious student may easily become "turnedoff" if the educational environment is not stimulating;class placement and teaching approaches are inap-propriate; the child has ineffective teachers; or assign-ments are consistently too difficult or too easy. Thegifted youngster's ability to define and solve problemsin many ways (often described as fluency of innova-tive ideas or divergent thinking ability) may not becompatible with traditional gifted education programsor specific classroom requirements, in part becausemany gifted students are identified through achieve-ment test scores (Torrance, 1977). According to LindaSilverman (1989), Director of the Gifted Child Devel-

1 6

opment Center in Denver, Colorado, student's learn-ing style can influence academic aci ievement. Shecontends that gifted underachievers c.ften have ad-vanced visual-spatial ability but underceveloped se-quencing skills, thus they have difficulty loaning suchsubjects as phonics, spelling, foreign langiages, andmathematics facts in the way in which these subjectsare usually taught (Silverman, 1989a, 198th). Suchstidents often can be helped by knowledgeableadults to expand their learning styles, but they alsoneed an environment that is compatible with their pre-ferred ways of learning. Older students can participatein pressure-free, noncompetitive summer activitiesthat provide a wide variety of educationai opportuni-ties, including in-depth exploration, hands-on learning,and mentor relationships (Berger, 1989).

Some students are more interested in learningthan in working for grades. Such students mightspend hours on a project that is unrelated to academ-ic classes and fail to turn in required work. Theyshould be strongly encouraged to pursue their inter-ests, particularly since those interests may lead to ca-reer decisions and life-long passions. At the sametime, they should be reminded that teachers may beunsympathetic when required work is incomplete. Ear-ly career guidance emphasizing creative problemsolving, cdcision making, and setting short- and long-term goals often helps them to complete required as-signments, pass high school courses, and plan forcollege (Berger, 1989). Providing real-world experi-ences in an area of potential career interest may alsoprovide inspiration and motivation toward academicachievement.

Praise versus encouragement. Overemphasis onachievement or outcomes rather than a child's efforts,involvement, and desire to learn about topics of inter-est is a common parental pitfall. The line betweenpressure and encouragement is subtle but important.Pressure to perform emphasizes outcomes such aswinning awards and getting A's, for which the studentis highly praised. Encouragement emphasizes effort,the process used to achieve, steps taken toward ac-complishing a goal, and improvement. It leaves ap-praisal and valuation to the youngster. Underachiev-ing gifted students may be thought of as discouragedindividuals who need encouragement but tend to re-ject praise as artificial or inauthentic (Kaufmann,1987). Listen carefully to yourself. Tell your childrenwhen you are proud of their efforts.

Remedial strategies. Dinkmeyer and Losoncy (1980)have cautioned parents to avoid discouraging theirchildren by domination, insensitivity, silence, or intimi-dation. Discouraging comments such as "If you're sogifted, why did you get a D in r or I've given

17

you everything; why are you so ?" are never ef-fective. Constant competition may also lead to under-achievement, especially when a child consistentlyfeels like either a winner or a loser. Avoid comparingchilocen with others. Show them how to function incompetition and now to recover after losses.

Study-skills courses, time-management classes,or special tutoring may be ineffective if a student is along-term dnderachiever. This approach will work onlyif the student is willing and eager, the teacher is cho-sen carefully, and the course is supplemented by ad-ditional strategies designed to help the student. Onthe other hand, specie' tutoring may help concernedstudent who is experiencing short-term academic diffi-culty. In genera, special tutoring for a gifted student ismost helpful wben the tutor is carefully chosen tomatch the interests and learning style of the student.Broad-ancied study-skills courses or tutors who donot understand the student may do more harm thangood.

Conch:MonSome students, particularly those who are highly capable and participate in a variety of acties, appealto be high achievers when learninr in a hiOlv struc-tured academic environment, but .ey are at risk ofunderachieving if they cannot establish priorities, fo-cus on a selected number of activities, and set long-term goals. On the other hand, some students appearto be underachievers but are not uncomfortable ordiscouraged. They may be quite discontent in middleor secondary school (in part because of the organiza-tion and structure), but happy and successful whenlearning in an environment with a different structure.They may handle independence quite well.

Underachievement is made up of a complex webof behaviors, but it can be reversed by parents andeducators who consider the many strengths and tal-ents possessed by the students who are labeled asunderachievers.

ReferencesBerger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students. Res-

ton, VA: The ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped andGifted Children.

Davis, G. A., & Rimm, S. B. (1989). Education of the giftedand talented (2nd ed.). Englewood Chffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Dinkmeyer, D., & Losoncy, L. (1980). The encouragementbook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice-Hall.

Halsted, J. W. (1988). Guiding gifted readers: From pre-school to high school. Columbus: Ohio Psych: )igyPublishing.

Kaufmann, F. (1987). The courage to succeed: A new lookat underachievement. Unpublished paper presented atthe 12th annual Northern Virginia Conference on Gift-ed/Talented Education, Fairfax, VA.

Purkey, W. W., & Novak, J. A. (1984). Inviting school suc-cess (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Raph, J. B., Goldberg, M. L., & Passow, A. H. (1966). Brightunderachievers. New York: Teachers College Press.

Rimm, S. (1986). The underachievement syndrome. Caus-es and cures. Watertown, WI: Apple Publishing Com-pany.

Silverman, L. (1989a). Spatial learners. Understanding OurGifted, 1 (4), 1, 7, 8, 16.

Silverman, L. (1989b). The visual-spatial learner. PreventingSchool Failure, 34 ( ), 15-20.

Torrance, E. P. (1977). Encouraging creativity in the class-room. Dubuque, IA: William C. Brown.

Webb, J., Meckstroth, E., & Tolan, S. (1982). Guiding thegifted child. Columbus: Ohio Publishing Company.

Whitmore, J. F. (1980). Giftedness, conflict and under-achievement. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Resources for StudentsAdderholdt-Elliott, M. (1987). Perfectionism. What's bad

about being too good? Free Spirit Publishing Co., 123N. Third St., Suite 716, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Ex-plores the problem of perfectionism, explains the differ-ences between healthy ambition and unhealthy perfec-tionism, and gives strategies for getting out of theperfectionist trap.

Bottner, B. (1986). The world's greatest expert on absolute-ly everything . . . is crying. New York: Dell Publishers.Deals with how perfectionism affects interpersonal rela-tio nships.

Delisle, J., & Galbraith, J. (1987). The gifted kids' survivalguide II. Free Spirit Publishing Co., 123 N. Third St.,Suite 716, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Helps students un-derstand the meaning of giftedness, how to take chargeof their own education, how to handle other people'sexpectations, how to make and keep friends.

Cinkmeyer, D., & Losoncy, L. (1980). The encouragementbook. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Provides aplan, strategies, hints, and tips for helping discouragedstudents.

Ellis, D. (1986). Becoming a master student. College Survi-val, Inc., 2650 Jackson Blvd., Rapid City, SD 57702-3474. Written primarily for college students, this bookprovides dynamic ways of teaching study skills, timemanagement, and goal setting. Students are encour-

aged to try innovative approaches to academic and life-management skills. Publisher will provide assistance tocounselors and educators concerned about studentsuccess and retention.

Galbraith, J. (1984). The gifted kids' survival guide (ages 1Jand under). Free Spirit Publishing Co., 123 N. Third St.,Suite 716, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Support and practi-cal suggestions for gifted youngsters who are strug-gling with typical problems such as schoolwork, peerrelationships, and community expectations.

Halsted, J. W. (1988). Guiding gifted readers-From pm-school to high school. Columbus: Ohio PsychologyPublishing. A guide to using bibliotherapy and an excel-lent annotated list of books to use with gifted students.

Harvey, J., & Katz, C. (1986). If I'm so successful, why do Ifeel Ince a fake? The imposter phenomenon. New York:Pocket Books.

Heide, F., & Chess, V. (1985). Tales for the perfect child.New York: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books. Presentsa funny look at what would happen if chidren were per-fect.

Manes, S. (1987). Be a perfect person in just three days.New York. Bantam/Skylark Books. A student decidesthat he wants to be perfect and finds a book on thetopic.

McDermott, G. (1980). Sun flight. Soquel, CA: Four WindsPress. Shows students how aiming too high with unrea-listic standards can be self-defeating.

McGee-Cooper, A. (1983). Time management for unman-ageable people. P.O. Box 64784, Dallas, TX 75206.Provides a "right-brain" method for work/study skillsand time-management.

On being gifted. (1976). New York. Walker and Co. Writtenby students (ages 15 to 18) who participated in the Na-tional Student Symposium on the Education of the Gift-ed and Talented, this book is an articulate presentationof student concerns such as peer pressure, teacher ex-pectations, and relationships.

Smith, D. (1978). Dreams and drummers. New York. Thom-as Y. Crowell. The story of a perfectionist who learnsthat we cannot always be Number One at. everything.

Zadra, D. (1986). Mistakes are great. Mankato, MN. Crea-tive Education. Provides examples of famous mistakesand how they can be turned into positive learning expe-riences.

Prepared by James Delisle, Ccordinator of Gifted Education, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, andauthor of Gifted Children Speak Out; and Sandra L. Berger, author of College Planning for GiftedStudents.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

)This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department ct Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. R188062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poll-ciea of OERI or the Departmont of Education.

1 i

LERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILIY:IEN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST 4E479 EC-90

GIFTED BUT LEARNING DISABLED: A PUZZLING PARADOX

How can a child learn and not learn at the same time? Whydo some students apply little or no effort to school taskswhile they commit considerable time and effort to demand-ing, creative activities outside of school? These behaviorsare typical of some students who are simultaneously giftedand learning disabled. For many people, however, the termslearning disabilities and giftedness are at opposite ends of acontinuum. In some states, because of funding regulations,a student may be identified and as fisted with either learningdisabilities or giftedness, but not bith.

Uneasiness in accepting this seeming contradiction interms stems primarily from faulty and incomplete under-standing. This is not surprising, because the "experts" ineach of these disciplines have difficulty reaching agree-ment. Some still believe that giftedness is equated with out-standing achievement across all subject areas. Thus, a stu-dent who is an expert on bugs at age 8 may automaticallybe excluded from consideration for a program for gifted stu-dents because he cannot read, though he can name andclassify a hundred species of insects. Many educators viewbelow-grade-level achievement as a prerequisite to a diag-nosis of a learning disability. Thus, an extremely bright stu-dent who is struggling to stay on grade level may slipthrough the cracks of available services because he or sheis not failing.

Who Are the Learning Disabled Gifted?

Recent advances in both fields have alerted professionalsto the possibility that both sets of behavior can exist simulta-neously (Baum & Owen, 1988; Fox, Brody, & Tobin, 1983;Whitmore & Maker, 1985). Children who are both gifted andlearning disabled exhibit remarkable talents or strengths insome areas and disabling weaknesses in others. They canbe grouped into three categories. (1) identified gifted stu-dents who have subtle "ruing disabilities, (2) unidentifiedstudents whose gifts and disabilities may be masked by av-erage achievement, and (3) identified learning disabled stu-dents who are also gifted.

Identified gifted students who have subtle learning disabili-ties. This group is easily identified as gifted because of highachievement or high IQ scores. As they grow older, discrep-ancies widen between expected and actual performance.These students may impress teachers with their verbal abili-ties, while their spelling or handwriting contradicts the im-age. At times, they may be forgetful, sloppy, and disorga-

19

nixed. In middle school or junior high, where there are morelong-term written assignments and a heavier emphasis oncomprehensive, independent reading, some bright studentsfind it increasingly difficult to achieve. Concerned adults areconvinced that if these students would only try harder, theycould succeed.

While increased effort may be required for these stu-dents, the real issue is that they simply do not know how!Because they may be on grade level and are consideredgifted, they are likely to be overlooked for the screening pro-cedures necessary to identify a subtle learning disability.Identification of a subtle disability would help them under-stand why they are experiencing academic difficulties. Moreimportant, professionals could offer learning strategies andcompensation techniques to help them deal with their duali-ty of learning behaviors.

A word of caution is necessary at this point. A learningdisability is not the only cause of a discrepancy between po-tential and achievement. There are a number of other rea-sons why bright children may be underachieving. PerhapsaApectations are unrealistic. Excelling in science, for exam-ple, is no ass,Jrance that high-level performance will beshown in other academic areas. Motivation, interest, andspecific aptitudes influence the amount of energy studentsare willing to apply to a given task. Social or emotional prob-lems can interfere with achievement. Grades and school aresimply unimportant to some students. Some youngstershave not learned how to study because, during primarygrades, school was easy and success required minimaleffort.

Unidentified students. The second group of youngsters inwhich this combination of learning behaviors may be foundare those who are not noticed at all. These students arestruggling to stay at grade level. Their superior intellectualability is working overtime to help compensate for weak-nesses caused by an undiagnosed learning disability. In es-sence, their gift masks the disability and the disability masksthe gift. These students are often cliff:tilt to find becausethey do not flag the need for attention by exceptional behav-ior. Their hidden talents and abilities may emerge in specificcontent areas or may be stimulated by a classroom teacherw:-io uses a creative approach to learning. The disability isfrequently discovered in college or adulthood, when the stu-dent happens to read about dyslexia or hears peers de-scribe their learning difficulties.

Identified learning disabled students who are also gifted.These bright children, discovered within the population ofstudents who are identified as learning disabled, are oftenfailing miserably in school. They are first noticed because ofwhat they cannot do, rather than because of the talent theyare demonstrating. This group of students is most at risk be-cause of the implicit message that accompanies the LD cat-egorization that there is something wrong with the studentthat must be fixed before anything else can happen. Par-ents and teachers alike become totally focused on the prob-lem. Little attention, if any, is paid to the student's strengthsand interests, other than to use them to remediate weaknesse s.

Interestingly, these children often have high-level inter-ests at home. They may build fantastic structures with plas-tic bricks or start a local campaign to save the whales. Thecreative abilities, intellectual strength, and passion theybring to their hobbies are clear indicators of their potentialfor giftedness (Renzulli, 1978). Because these students arebright and sensitive, they are acutely aware of their difficultyin learning. Furthermore, they tend to generalize their feel-ings of academic failure to an overall sense of inadequacy.Over time, these pessimistic feelings overshadow any posi-tive feelings connected with what they accomplish on theirown at home. Research has shown that this group of stu-dents is often rated by teachers as most disruptive atschool. They are frequently found to be off task; they mayact out, daydream, or complain of headaches and stomach-aches; and they are easily frustrated and use their creativeabilities to avoid tasks (Baum & Owen, 1988; Whitmore,1980). Since school does not offer these bright youngstersmuch opportunity to polish and use their gifts, such resultsare not surprising.

Curricular Needs

Although each of these subgroups has unique problems,they all need an environment that will nurture their gifts, attend to their learning disability, arid provide them emotionalsupport to deal with their inconsistent abilities. Four generalguidelires can assist professionals in developing programsthat will meet the needs of these students.

Focus attention on the development of the gift. Remediationof basic skills historically has been the single focus of effortsto serve students once they have been classified as learn-ing disabled. Few opportunities exist for bright students withlearning disabilities to demonstrate gifted behaviors. Re-search has shown that a focus on weaknesses at the ex-pense of developing gifts can result in poor self-esteem, alack of motivation, depression, and stress (Baum, 1984;Whitmore & Maker, 1985). In addition to offering remedia-tion, it is essential to focus attentiot on the development ofstrengths, interests, and superior intellectual capacities.These students need a stimulating educational environmentthat will enable them to develop their talents and abilities ful-ly. Enrichment activities should be designed to c ...umventweaknesses and highlight abstract thinking and creativeproduction.

Over the last 6 years, the state of Connecticut hasfunded a variety of special programs for gifted students whohave learning disabilities. All the programs have empha-

sized the development of gifts and talents. The results ofthe projects have indica'ed dramatic improvement in stu-dent self-esteem, motivation, and productive learning be-haviors. Improved achievement in basic skills for many stu-dents has been an unexpected bonus (Baum, 1988). In fact,according to Whitmore and Maker (1985), more gains areseen when intervention focuses on the gift rather than thedisability.

Provide a nurturing environment that values individual differ-ences. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1962),individuals must feel that they belong and are valued in or-der to reach their potential, or self-actualize. How valuedcan a student feel if the curriculum must be continually mod-ified or assignments are watered down to enable the stu-dent to achieve success? Currently, only certain abilities arerewarded by schools, primarily those that involve strong ver-bal proficiency. Indeed, according to Howard Gardner'1983), schools spend much of their time teaching studentsthe skills they would need to become college professors.Success in the real world depends on skills or knowledge inother areas besides reading and writing.

A nurturing environmentone that shows concern fordeveloping student potentialvalues and respects individu-al differences. Students are rewarded for what they do well.Options are offered for both acquiring information and com-municating what is learned. The philosophy fosters and sup-ports interdependence; students work in cooperative groupsto achieve goals. Many types of intelligence are acknowl-edged: A well-produced video production about life in theAmazon is valued as much as a well-written essay on thesame topic. In such an environment no child will feel like asecond-class citizen, and gifted students with learning disa-bilities can excel.

Encourage compensation strategies. Learning disabilitiestend to be somewhat permanent. A poor speller will alwaysneed to check for errors in spelling before submitting a finaldraft. Students who have difficulty memonz% mathematicsfacts may need to use a calculator to assure accuracy.Thus, simply remediating wealtr.essus may rot be appropri-ate or sufficient for students who ars gifted and learning dis-abled. Remediation will make these learners somewhatmore proficient, but probably not excellent, in their areas ofweakness. For instance, students who have difficulty withhandwriting ultimately will fare much better if they are al-lowed to use a computer to record the!' ideas on paper thanthey will after years of remediation in handwriting. The fol-lowing list outlines suggestions for providing compensationtechniques to help students cope with weaknesses typicalof learning disabled students:

1. Find sources of information that are appropriate forstudents who have difficulty reading. Some examplesare visitations, interviews, photographs, pictorial histo-ries, films, lectures, or experimentation. Remember,these children do not want the curriculum to be lesschallenging or demanding. Rather, they need alterna-tive ways to receive the information.

2. Provide advanced organizers to help students receiveand communicate information. Students who have dif-ficulty organizing and managing time also benefit from

20

receiving outlines A class lectures, study guides, anda syllabus of topics to be covered. Teach studentswho have difficulty transferring ideas to a sequentialformat on paper to use brainstorming and webbing togenerate outlines and organize written work. Providemanagement plans in which tasks are listed sequen-tially with target dates for completion. Finally, providea structure or visual format to guide the finished prod-uct. A sketch of an essay or science project board willenable these students to produce a well-organizedproduct.

3. Use technology to promote productivity. Technologyhas provided efficient means to organize and accessinformation, increase accuracy in mathematics andspelling, and enhance the visual quality of the finishedproduct. In short, it allows students with learning disa-bilities to hand in work of which they can feel proud.Preventing these students from using word process-ing programs to complete all written assignments islike prohibiting blind children from using texts printedin braille!

4. Offer a variety of options for communicating ideas.Writing is not the only way to communicate; all learn-ing can be expressed and applied in a variety ofmodes. Slides, models, speeches, mime, murals, andfilm productit...., are examples. Remember, however,to offer these options to all children. Alternate modesshould be the rule rather than the exception.

5. Help students who have problems in short-term mem-ory develop strategies for remembering. The use ofmnemonics, especially those created by studentsthemselves, is one effective strategy to enhancememory. Visualization techniques have also proved tobe effective. Resources are listed at the end of thisdigest.

Encourage awareness of individual strengths and weak-nesses. It is imperative that students who are gifted andlearning disabled understand their abilities, strengths, andweaknesses so that they can make intelligent choices abouttheir future. If a goal that is important to such a student willrequire extensive reading, and, if reading is a weak area,the student will have to acknowledge the role of effort andthe need for assistance to achieve success. "Rap" sessions,in which these students can discuss their frustrations andlearn how to cope with their strange mix of abilities and dis-abilities, are helpful. Mentoring experiences with adults whoare gifted and learning disabled will lend validity to the beliefthat such individuals can succeed.

Conclusion

In the final analysis, students who are both gifted and learn-ing disabled must learn how to be their own advocates.They must ultimately choose careers that will accentuatetheir strengths. In doing so they will meet others who think,feel, and create as they do.

One such student, after years of feeling different andstruggling to succeed, was finally able to make appropriatedecisions about what he truly needed in his life. He was anoutstanding amateur photographer who loved music. He

2

had also started several "businesses" during his teenageyear:. In his junior year a. college he became depressedand realized that he was totally dissatisfied with his course-work, peers, and instructors. He wondered whether heshould quit school. After all, he was barely earning C's in hiscourses. His advisor suggested that he might like to createhis own major, perhaps in the business of art. That was theturning point in this young man's life. For the first time sinceprimary grades, he began to earn A's in his courses. He re-lated that he finally felt worthwhile. "You know," he said, "fi-nally I'm with people who think like me and have my inter-ests and values. I am found!"

References

Baum, S. (1984). Meeting the needs of learning disabledgifted children. Roeper Review, 7, 16-19.

Baum, S. (1988). An enrichment program for gifted learningdisabled students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 32, 226-230.

Baum, S., & Owen, S. (1988). High ability/learning disabledstudents: How are they different? Gifted Child Quarter-ly, 32, 321-326.

Fox, L. H., Brody, L., & Tobin, D. (Eds.) (1983). Learningdisabled gifted children: Identification and program-ming.Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multipleintelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Maslow, A. (1962). Toward a psychology of being. Prince-ton, NJ: Van Nostrand.

Renzulli, J. (1978). What makes giftedness: Reexamining adefinition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 180-184.

Whitmore, J. (1980). Giftedness, conflict, and underachieve-ment. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Whitmore, J., & Maker, J. (1985). Intellectual sliftednessamong disabled persons. Rockville, MD: Aspen.

Resources

Webbing and Mind-Mapping

Heimlich, J. E., & Pittleman, S. D. (1986). Semantic map-ping: Classroom applications. Newark, DE: Internation-al Reading Association.

Large, C. (1987). The clustering approach to better essaywriting. Monroe, NY: Trillium Press.

Rico, G. L. (1983). Writing the natural way. Los Angeles. J.P. Tarcher.

Visual,. ation Techniques to Improve MemoryWrite to Trillium Press, P. 0. Box 209, Monroe, NY 10950

for information on the following materials:Bagley, M. T. Using imagery to develop memory.Bagley, M. T. Using imagery in creative problem solving.Bagleu M. T., & Hess, K. K. Two hundred ways of using im-

agery in the classroom.Hess, K. K. Enhancing writing through imagery.

Using Technology

Summa, D., & Kelly, S. (1989). What's new in software?Computer software for gifted education. Reading, Writ-ing, and Learning Disabilities, 5, 293-296.

Additional ReadingArmstrong, T. (1987). In their own way. Discovering and en-

couraging your child's personal learning style. Los An-geles: J. P. Tarcher. Cistributed by St. Martin's Press.A former Wacker and learning disabilities specialist de-scribes learning differences and provides suggestions.

Cannon, T., & Cordell, A. (1985, November). Gifted kidscan't always spell. Academic Therapy, 21, 143-152.Briefly discusses characteristics of the gifted learningdisabled child, possible patterns on tests, and strate-gies for instruction.

Daniels, P. (1983). Teaching the gifted/learning disabledchild. Rockville, MD: Aspen. Designed for educatorsand often technical.

Fox, L., Brody, L., & Tobin, U. (Eds.). (1983). Learning crabled gifted children: Identification and programmit..Austin, TX: Pro Ed. The most comprehensive studyavailable, containing a variety of experts' opinions.

Getting learning disabled students ready for college (n.d.).Washington, DC: American Council on Education,HEATH Resource Center. A useful fact sheet andchecklist.

How to choose a college: Guide for the student with a disa-bility (n.d.). Washington, DC: American Council on Edu-cation, HEATH Resource Center.

Prihoda, J., Bieber, T., Kay, C., Kerkstra, P., & Ratctif, J.(Eds.). (1988). Community colleges and students withdisabilities. Washington, DC: American Council on Edu-cation, HEATH Resource Center. Lists services andprograms for disabled students at more than 650 U. S.community, technical, and junior colleges.

Rosner, S. (1985, May/June). Special twice: Guidelines fordeveloping programs for gifted children with specificlearning disabilities. G/C/T, 38, 55-58. A very basicoverview.

Scheiber, B., & Talpvl, J. (1987). Unlocking potential. Be-thesda, MD: Adler and Adler. Offers advice on every-thing from diagnosis and vocational assessments tospecific college programs designed to accommodatestudents with !earning disabilities and provide them withstudy skills.

Silver, L (1984). The misunderstood child: A guide forpar-ents of learning disabled children. New York: McGraw-Hill. An easy-to-read basic and informative book with afocus on children with learning disabilities, yet relevantto children who are gifted and learning disabled.

Vail, P. 0..04 Smart kids with school problems. NewYork: E. P. Dutton. Emphasizes the traits of gifted stu-dents and the learning styles that set students who aregifted and learning disabled apart.

Whitnv J. (1982 January). Recognizing and developinghidden giftedness. The Elementary School Journal, 82,274-283. Explores myths about GT children that hinderthe identification of children who are gifted and learningdisabled.

Whitmore, J., & Maker, C. J. (1985). Intellectual giftednessamong disabled persons. Rockville, MD: Aspen. Onechapter is devoted to children who are specifically gift-ed and learning disabled, with excellent case studies.

Wolf, J., & Gni, J. (1981). Learning disabled and gifted:Success or failure? Journal for the Education of theGifted, 4, 204. Provides well-stated definitions of thequalities of students who are gifted and learning dis-abled, with ideas about identification and programming.

Note. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. Pub-lished by Heldref, 4000 Albemarle St. NW, Washington, DC 20016, from Preventing School Failure,34 (1) 11-14. Derived from Susan Baum. (In press). Being gifted and ;yarning disabled...From defi-nition to practical intervention. St. Louis: Creative Learning Press. Susan Baum is an assistant pro-fessor at the College of New Rochelle in New York.

The Additional Readings section is from S. Ber2er (198), College Planning for Gifted Students.Reston, VA: The ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicappej and Gifted Children/The Council for Excep-tional Children.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contact no. RI69062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

DIGEST #E480

ERICDigest

EC-90

MEETING THE NEEDS OF GIFTED AND TALENTEDMINORITY LANGUAGE STUDENTS

Students with special gifts and talents come from all culturaland linguistic backgrounds. Gifted students can be de-scribed as possessing an abundance of certain abilities thatare most highly valued within a particular society or culture.Many minority language children have special talents thatare valued within their own cultures; unfortunately, thesestudents are often not recognized as gifted and talented.

Most procedures for identifying gifted and talented stu-dents have been developed for use with middle class chil-dren who are native English speakers. Such procedureshave led to an underrepresentation of minority languagestudents in gifted and talented programs, which in turn prevents our schools from developing the alrengths and abili-ties of this special population.

digest explores the controversy surrounding theurderizpresentation of minority language students in giftedand talented programs and makes recommendations formore suitable assessment techniques and program models.

Why are minority language studentsunderrepresented In programs for gifted andtalented students?Educators who work closely with minority language stuaentsargue that using standardized IQ tests as a primary meas-ure of giftedness does not fairly accommodate the linguisticand cultural differences of these students. These educatorslook to identify the "abl learner" rather than the more nar-rowly defined gifted student who scores in the top 3% on IQtests. Able learners are defined by some educators as stu-dents in the top 10% of their class who have shown someextraordinary achievement in one or more areas such asscience, mathematics, or the performing arts (Ernest Ber-nal, personal communication, September 13, 1988).

Reliance on IQ tests alone has greatly diminished thepotential number of gifted students. Renzulli (1978) indicat-ed that "more creative persons come from below the 95thpercentile than above it, and if such cut-off scores are need-ed to determine entrance into special programs we may beguilty of actually discriminating against persons who havethe highest potential for high levels of accomplishment" (p.182).

Three percent is a conservative estimate of the per-centage of the population that is considered gifted. Howev-er, in Arizona, for example, only 0.14% of the students ingifted and talented programs come from language minoritybackgrounds (Maker, 1987). Using tl.e 3% criterion, onewould estimate that 2,900 limited-English-proficient (LEP)students in Arizona could be receiving some type of servic-es for giftedness. An assessment of needs, however, re-vealed that only 143 LEP children were participating in gift-

ed programs, despite the fact that minority language stu-dents represent 16.17% (96,674) of the school-age popula-tiva. Other studies indicate that the proportion of Blacks,Hispanics, and American Indians identified as gifted repre-sents only half that expected (Chan & Kitano, 1986).

Table 1 illustrates that, nation wide, Caucasians andAsians are overrepresented, while the percentage of Blacksand Hispanics is only half mat would be expected in giftedand talented programs. The concept of giftedness as it re-lates to culture and values can help explain why more giftedand talented Asian and Pacific-American students havebeen identified than any other group. Although these chil-dren comprise only 2.2% of the school-age population, theyconstitute 4.4% of the identified gifted students, twice theexpected number (ititen°, 1986). (This figure is slightly low-er than the statistic given in Table 1 [2.5%], but the tablehas more recent data.) The traditional Asian values of edu-cational attainment and obedience to authority supportachievement in U.S. schools, despite the fact that Asian andPacific-American cultures differ in many ways from the ma-jority culture.

Different learning styles may also contribute to the un-derrepresentation of gifted and talented minority languagestudents. Native Americans are often caught between theschools' value of independence and the home and commu-nity value of interdependence. In school, students generallysit in rows and face the teacher, whereas in Native Ameri-can culture, everyone would be seated in a circle and deci-sions would be made collectively.

Among many Hispanics, cultural ,ifferences may alsoproduce manifestations of giftedness that differ from the tra-ditional manifestations in the majority culture. In PuertoRico, for example, children learn to seek the advice of theirfamily rather than act independently (Perrone & Aleman,1983). Respect for elders is often valued more than preco-ciousness, which can be seen as disrespectful. Similarly,

Table 1. Percentage of Minority Students Enrolled InRegular Education Programs and Special Programs

MinorityGroup

CaucasiansBlacksHispanicsAsians

GeneralEnrollment

71.2%16.2%

9.1%2.5%

Enrollment inGifted Programs

81.4%C.4%

4.7%5.0%

Sources. Machado, (1987), Zappia, (1989)

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the Mexican-American child who respects elders, the law,and authority becomes vulnerable in a school system thatvalues individual competition, initiative, and self-direction.

What are some commonly used techniques for theIdentification of gifted and talented minoritylanguage students?Research on the identification of giftedness points to thelack of appropriate assessment procedures. Giftedness isnot a trait inherent to native English speakers; however,there is a lack of instruments that can detect giftedness inminority language students (Gallagher, 1979; Llanes, 1980;Raupp, 1988; Renzulli, Reis, & Smith, 1981). Most tests relyon either oral or written language skills. Minority languagestudents who are not considered gifted may, in fact, be verygifted, but unable to express themselves in English. There-fore, many researchers urge that great caution be exercisedin using English standardized tests for the identification oflinguistic and cultural minority students. These researchersalso recommend selecting tests that reduce cultural and lin-guistic bias.

The identification and assessment of gifted and talent-ed minority-language students is complex because it in-volves students who are both gifted and talented and from alanguage or cultural background different from that of mid-dle class, native-English-speaking children. Many research-ers and practitioners recommend multiple assessmentmeasures to give students several opportunities to demon-strate their skills and performance potential.

Eaot school can establish its own relevant criteria toensure that thb screening procesP is appropriate for a spe-cific target population. Moreover, an assessment team thatis sensitive needs can represent the population tobe served in the program. In addition, teachers can bebrought into the identification process, because they havethe opportunity to observe students in numerous academicand social situations.

An alternative to using English language standardizedtests is the assessment of LEP students in their native lan-guage. These tests measure a variety of skills. creativethinking skills such as fluency, flexibility, originality, andelaboration, intellectual development based on Piaget's the-ory of development (Piaget, 1954, Rapt & Inhelder, 1973),language proficiency, and nonverbal perceptual skills ofcognitive development.

Many school districts now include behavioral checklistsor inventories, nominations, or related techniques to ideinaygifted and talented minority language students. Che klnstsusually compare or rate :he student according to generaldescriptions or more specific examples of behavior deducedfrom characteristics of gifted persons. Many of these instru-ments are designed locally, are available from state depart-ments of education, or are available commercially.

Other commonly used methods such as interviews,self-reports, autobiographies, and case histories can alsobe used to identify gifted and talented minority languagestudents. Interviews are often scheduled as part of the iden-tification or selection process to determine a candidate'sgeneral fitness for a program and provide information for in-structional planning. The use of case stu::es to identify gift-edness has been documented by Renzulli and Smith (1977)and is recommended because it relies on multiple sourcesof information about a student's performance. Althoughthese procedures can be cumbersome, time consuming,and complex, they can provide the most valid basis for deci-sion making.

What types of programs are available for giftedand talented students, and are they suitable forminority language students who are selected toparticipate?There are as many different types of programs and instruc-tional models for gifted and talented LEP students as thereare different views of intelligence. The program modals dis-cussed in this digest demonstrate a wide range of sugges-tions for choosing a program for gifted and talented stu-dents and can stimulate ideas about the types of programthat can be implemented. However, each district must im-plement the program that will best meet the needs of its gift-ed and talented minority language students.

Jean M. Blanning, of the Connecticut Clearinghouse forGifted and Talented (1980), suggests that, in general, pro-grams for gifted and talented minority language studentsshould allow their students to

pursue topics in depth at a pace commensurate withtheir abilities and intensity of interest;explore, branch out on tangents unforeseen when firstbeginning a study, without curriculum parameters con-fining them to a particular direction;initiate activities, diverge from the structured format,within a framework of guidance and resources appropri-ate for such exploration;ask questions about areas or aspects of studies andfind answers which lead to more questions;experience emotional involvement with a project b(cause it is based on interests and use of higher levelsof ability;learn the skills, methodology, and discipline involved inintellectual pursuits and/or creative endeavors;think (interpretations, connections, extraoolations) andimagine (ideas, images, intuitive insights) to developfully into their own products; andexperience the use of intelle.. rue' abilities and sensesnecessary in all creative endeavors.

Enrichment Programs. The most common program modelfor gifted and talented students is probably an enrichmentprogram, in which students receivb nstruction in addition totheir regular classroom instruction. Enrichment programsprovide learning experiences designed to extend, supple-ment, or deepen understandings within specific content ar-eas (Dannenberg, 1984). Some enrichment F,iograms pro-vide academic services and cultural opportunities for giftedand talented students.

Gifted and talented LEP students at Louis S. BrandeisHigh School in New York City (Cochran & Cotayo, 1983) at-tend operas and museums and, in this way, become a partof American culture. Students have said that the programhas made them feel "special," because they visit placesthey ordinarily would not. Another example of activi...., in anenrichment program would be to have students studying theprehistoric era see films on dinosaurs, draw pictures ofthem, and go to a natural history museum to see a dinosaurexhibit.

The decision as to whether or not to implement an en-richment program may be greatly affected by the school dis-trict's concept of giftedness. If giftedness is considered aquality to be measured through 10 tests, then perhaps anenrichment program would be seen as a "frill," because itdoes not concentrate strictly on academics. On the otherhand, this program may be particularly appreciated by giftedand talented minority language students, since they oftendo not receive this sort of exposure to the arts in a standardinstructional program.

24

Resource Rooms. Another program model uses a resourceroom, which is usually staffed by a resource teacher. Stu-dents may visit the resource room to do special assign-ments or to check out various educational games or puz-zles. In a kindergarten/first grade gifted and talented pro-gram in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Beam, 1980), parentsare also able to check out items for their children. The re-source room provides an excellent opportunity for parentsand students to bridge the gap between home and school.However, in many inner-city schools, special programs maybe needed to obtain the desired levels of parental support.Also, the establishment of a resource room usually requiresphysical space for the room, sufficient operating funds, anda resource teacher who hats expertise in the area of giftedand talented students.

The Hartford, Connecticut, program "Encendiendo UnaLlama" ("Lighting a Flame") has been in operation since1979 and uses a resource room, an after-school program,and a regular classroom component to provide services forgifted and talented minority language students. This pro-gram emphasizes language development in English andSpanish, high-level thinking skills, independent work andstudy skills, and development of creative thinking. It is an in-tegrated program in which English-dominant children alsoparticipate. In each of the participating Hartford schools, thebilingual gifted and talented program is the only gifted pro-gram in the school, and all children are eligible to partici-pate, regardless of their language background.

Parent Involvement Programs. Many programs include astrong parent involvement component in which parents canhelp support their children's development at home while theschool can be used as an additional resource. Although it isimportant for all parents to be involved in their children's ed-ucation, it is particularly critical to develop a strong link be-tween the home and the school for gifted and talented mi-nority language children.

Many programs provide parents with checklists to helpassess their children. In addition, programs often provideboo:Jets of home activities through which parents can en-courage critical thinking and creativity.

Acceleration or Honors Programs. Many people associateacceleration or honors programs with giftz.d and talentedprograms. These programs may include skipping grades,early entrance, early graduation, credit by examination, non-graded classes, and advanced placement classes (Dannen-berg, 1984). Some gifted students who seem bored inschool may benefit from an accelerated program that pro-vides an academic challenge and keeps them involved inschool. However, it may be difficult to identify these stu-dents, who initially may not be seen as gifted.

Some educators who adhere to the narrow definition ofgiftedness as high 10 may not feel that an honors progra,nis appropriate for students who fit the broader definition ofthe able learner. This attitude is refuted in the film StandAnd Deliver, which is based on a true story about severalminority language students at an inner-city school in LosAngeles. These students were not considered gifted bymany of their teachers, yet they were the only students intheir school to pass the Advanced Placement exams givenby the Educational Testing Service for college credit in cal-culus. Their success can be attributed largely to their math-ematics teacher, Jaime Escalante, who had very high ex-pectations for them and refused to believe that they wereunable to think critically simply because they were from low-income, minority language backgrounds. Ho encouragedtheir participation in these special advanced classes (held at

night and on Saturdays in overcrowded, stifling classrooms)to prove to other students, the faculty, and themselves thatthey were intelligent. Moreover, these students gained new,strong, self-concepts, which inevitably improved their aca-demic skills and gave them the courage and discipline topursue a college education.

Mentor Programs. Another program model for gifted and tal-ented education is the mentor program. Mentors providerole models for the students, giving them an opportunity tointeract with adult professionals. Through the HigherAchievement Program in Washington, DC, elementary andjunior high school students from low-income neighborhoodsare tutored by volunteers 2 nights a week. To be eligible forthe program, students must show a high level of motivationand pass a qualifying examination. One night each week isdevoted to verbal skills such as reading comprehension, vo-cabulary, and writing; the second night is devoted primarilyto mathematics and related skills. Critical thinking skills arestressed in all subjects.

The mentor program has many psychological and so-cial benefits for the students and is a low-cost program if theschool district recruits area professionals as volunteers.School districts located near universities can encouragethem to establish a course in which official credit is given touniversity students who participate a3 mentors. If the men-tors are sensitive to the needs of particular cultural and lin-guistic groups, they can provide positive role models for thestudents. The mentor program concept can be a solution todifficult budget constraints and has been used by numerousschool districts around the country.

Recommendations for ChangeThe following recommendations may improve the assess-ment and educational programs of gifted and talented mi-nority language students.

Broaden the concept of giftedness. Broadening the conceptof giftedness to include able learners will allow for the identi-fication of a greater proportion of gifted minority languagestudents. A broader definition of giftedness may be the firstessential stop toward idenVying and educating gifted andtalented minority language students.

Expand research on giftedness and minority :anguage stu-dents. Although there is a large body of literature on giftedand talented students in general, there is much less litera-ture on gifted and talented minority language students. Thismay be because many researchers in the past did not con-sider minority language students as gifted, based on the tra-ditional measure of giftedness as a high 10 score. Furtherresearch is needed on all the able learners in our schools,including minority language students.

Employ more well-rounded assessment techniques. If thereis a lower-than-expected proportion of minority languagestudents identified as gifted, then the identification and as-sessment process should be examined to determine whythese students have not been identified. School districtsmay need to find creative solutions to the problem of how toidentify gifted and talented minority language students byusing nontraditional methods.

The identification of minority language students can in-clude multiple criteria (with information from many sources)relevant to the needs of the population. Using multiple in-struments can result in a more precise picture because itprovides information about stuuents from different perspec-tives. A combination of assessment instruments can helpensure that a student's ability to participate effectively in agifted and talented program is adequately measured.

Increase staff awareness of their potential for developing agifted and talented program. Regardless of the programmodel selected for implementation, administrators must firstexamine the resources they have within their school sys-tem. Upon entering the school district, teachers could beasked to complete a iluestionnaire about their abilities andinterests and whether or not they would be interested in par-ticipating in a gifted and talented program. For example, ateacher who has played piano for 10 years might be inter-ested in teaching a course in music appreciation. Adminis-trators need to be aware of the unique talents within theirown staff as they identify local personnel who may be ableto contribute their time, effort, and expertise to gifted andtalented programs.

Explore various program models. No single model can berecommended as the "best" instructional approach for giftedand talented minority language students, because eachpopulation is unique and each program has its own specificgoals and objectives. The type of program implementedmay depend on several issues such as the instructionalmodel, the talents of the students, the number of gifted stu-dents identified, the talents of the professional staff, theavailability of qualified personnel, the level of commitment ofthe school and school system, and budget constraints.

Increase awareness of different ways giftedness may bemaniTheed in different populations. Many students are gift-ed or talented. Teachers face the challenge of identifying,developing, and supporting their students' talents. Althoughthis may be a challenge, it is also a rewarding experience.Watching students grow to their fullest potential and know-ing that, as the teacher, you have played an integral part inyour students' growth are groat personal and professionaltriumphs.

ConclusionThis digest highlights some of the current debates in the ed-ucation of gifted and talented students focusing on the defi-nition of giftedness, the assessment of gifted students, andthe development and implementation of gifted programs.Providing appropriate gifted and talented programs for stu-dents from linguistically and culturally diverse backgroundsla a challenge that many school districts face. Since minoritylanguage students represent an increasing percentage ofthe total school population, meeting the educational needsof gifted minority language students is vital. All students, in-cluding minority language students, deserve the most chal-lenging instruction possible.

ReferencesBeam, G. C. (1980). A kindergarten/primary program for cul-

turally different potentially gifted students in an innercity school in Albuquerque, New Mexico (Final Report).Grant Number G007901801. Project Number562AH90290. Albuquerque:Albuquerque Special Pre-school.

Btanning, J. M. (1980). A multi-dimensional .nservice hand-book for professional personnel in gifted and talented.Hartford. Connecticut State Department of Education,Connecticut Clearinghouse for the Gifted and Ts.1ented.

Chan, K. S., & Kitano, M. K. (1986). Demographic charac-teristics of exceptional Asian students. In M. K. Kitano& P. C. Chinn (Eds.), Exceptional Asian children andyouth app. 1-11) Reston, VA: The Council for Excep-tional Children.

Cochran, C. P., & Cotayo, A. (1983). Louis D. Brandeis highschool, demonstration bilingual enrichment college pre-paratory program. New York: New York City PublicSchools.

Dannenberg, A. C. (1984). Meeting the needs of gifted 8 tal-ented bilingual students. An intro&uction to issues andpractices. Quincy. Massachusetts Department of Edu-cation, Office for Gifted and Talented.

Gallagher, J. J. (1979). Issues in education for the gifted. InA. H. Passow (Ed.), The gifted and the talented.- Theireducation and development. Chicago. University of Chi-cago Press.

Kitano, M. K. (1986). Gifted and talented Asian children. Ru-ral Special Education Quarterly, 8(1), 9-13.

Lianas, J. R. (1980, February-March). Bilingualism and thegifted intellect. Roeper Review, 2(3), 11-12.

Machado, M. (1987, February). Gifted Hispanics underiden-tified in classrooms. Hispanic Link Weekly Report, p.1.

Maker, C. J. (1987). Project DISCOVER; Discovering intel-lectual skills and capabilities while providing opportuni-ties for varied ethnic responses. Tucson: University ofArizona, Division of Special education and Rehabilita-tion.

Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child.New York: Basic Books.

Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1973). Memory and intelligence.New York: Basic Books.

Raupp, M. (1988). Talent search: The gifted Hispanic stu-dent. Quincy: Massachusetts Department of EducationOffice for Gifted and Talented.

Renzulli, J. S. (1978). What makes giftedness' Re-examining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60(3), ;80184,186.

Renzulli, J. S., Reis, S., & Smith, L. H. (1981). The revoh.figdoor identification model. Mansfield Center, CT. Creotive Learning Press.

Renzulli, J., & Smith, L. (1977). Two approaches to identifi-cation of gifted students. Exceptional Children 43,512518.

Zappia, I. (1989). Identification of gifted Hispanic students:A multidimensional view. In C. J. Maker & S. W.Schiever tEds.), Defensible programs for gifted stu-dents from unf .erserved populations: Cultural and eth-nic minorities (pp. 10-26). Austin. Pro-Ed.

Note. Adapted from Linda M. Cohen. (1988, Fall). Meeting the needs of gifted and talented minoritylanguage students. New Focus, 8. The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Publicationprepared under Contract No. 300860069 for the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Lan-guages Affairs (OBEMLA), U. S. Department of Education.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.11,This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, uncr contract no. 8188062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

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DIGEST #E481 EDO-EC-90-1

GUIDING THE GIFTED READER

Educators are voicing concerns regarding the place of litera-ture in the classroom, calling for the use of literature to sup-plement basal readers in the elementary curriculum andraising questions about the knowledge base of senior highstudents in literature and history (Ravitch & F;nn, 1987).Meanwhile, school systems are expanding their offerings forgifted students.

At the confluence of these trends stands the gifted stu-dent, whose particular reading requirements teachers, li-brarians, and both reading consultants and consultants ingifted and talented education attempt to meet. These pro-fessionals face the perplexing questions of how to offerchallenging reading to gifted students, how to guide theirreading, and how to know what books to recommend t.:them or their parents. Another relevant concern is how todevelop programs that use literature in ways that are themost helpful to gifted students and make the most effectiveuse of their abilities. In programs for gifted students it is im-portant to go beyond a basic response to the need for moreliterature in the curriculum.

One way to approach the question of guiding giftedreaders is to consider their intellectual and emotional devel-opment in light of reading and literature. What are the intel-lectual and emotional challenges they face specifically be-cause they are gifted? What reading programs can beoffered to help them meet these challenges successfully?

Characteristics of the Gifted Child as ReaderAs is so often the case in gifted education, we can expressthe reading characteristics of gifted children by using varia-tions o! t) word more. They read earlier; some are sponta-neous preschool readers, and nearly all learn to read inde-pendently soon after classroom instruction begins. Theyread better, requiring less drill (if any) to master each tech-nique of the reading process. They read longer; during thepeak reading years (grades four through eight) many ofthem spend many more hours each week reading than theirclassmates do, and some gifted youngsters continue to bevoracious readers into senior high and adulthood, whenmost people find lass time for leisure reading (Whitehead,1984). Typically they read a greater variety of literature;they aro more likely to branch out from realistic fiction tofantasy, historical fiction, and biography (Hawkins, 1983).

Reading and Intellectual Development

The presence of an ability implies a need for the opportunityto develop that ability. Thus Barbara Clark (1983) outlinedcognitive characteristics that differentiate gifted childrenfrom others, and then went on to list needs reiated to eachcharacteristic. Her list includes the following needs.

27

To be exposed to new and challenging iniormationabout the environment and the culture.

To be exposed to varied subjects and concerns.

To be allowed to pursue ideas as far as their intereststake them.

To encounter and use increasingly difficult vocabularyand concepts.

To be exposed to ideas at rates appropriate to the indi-vidual's pace of learning.

To pursue inquiries beyond allotted time spans.

Ali of these needs can be met easily and inexpensivelythrough a program based on books and reading. If the op-portunity for group book discussion is added, the programwill also meet other cognitive needs listed by Clark:

To have access to intellectual peers.

To share ideas verbally in depth.

To have a longer incubation time for ideas.

To pursue idea. and integrate new ideas without forcedclosure or products demanded.

To build skills in productive thinking.

To draw generalizations and test them.

Promoting intelle ;WM DevelopmentThrough BooksTeachers working with groups of gifted students can usebooks to promote intellectual development by (a) using liter-ature as a supplement to the readings in basal texts, (b)forming discussion groups based on books, and (c) follow-ing programs such as the Junior Great Books discussionformat.

As interest grows in the use of literature in the readingcurriculum, textbook publish.re are beginning to supply ap-propriate materials. Teachers can aiso develop their ownprograms by requiring students to read whole books in addi-tion to their reading in the basal series. For gifted students,this requirement can be positive, rewarding them for some-thing they already enjoy. Students can keep reading note-books, in which they write title, author, date read, and ashort comment on the book. To ensure both quality controland choice, it is best if the student can select the requiredreading from a list prepared by the teacher or librarian.

Book discussions can be led by teachers, librarians, orvolunteers and should focus on themes and ideas in the lit-erature read, with the emphasis on higher level thinkingskills rather than on plot summaries and fact questions.

One formalized method of discussing literature is thatpromoted by The Great Books Foundation. The JuniorGreat Books program offers a series of 12 readings for eachgrade from 2nd through 12th, as well as :raining courses forleaders.

For individual gifted students, books can ba part of theeducational program if an adult (parent, teacher, librarian, orother mentor) offers reading guidance, discussing what thestudent has read and making suggestions for related read-ingalways keeping in mind the student's interests, readingability, and reading background. The goal is to expose thestudent to a variety of books of high quality and stretch thestudent a little beyond his or her previous awareness. Giftedstudents do not automatically know what is good literature,they need information and guidance to find the best.

Adults offering reading guidance or leading book dis-cussion groups will need suggestions for books that are ap-propriate for gifted students. The most extensive lists availa-ble are found in Books for the Gifted Child (Baskin & Harris,1980), Books for the Gifted Child, Volume 2 (Hauser & Nel-son, 1988) and Guiding Gifted Readers (Halsted, 1988).

Literature and Emotional Development

In recent years educators and parents have become moreaware of the need to nurture the social and emotional devel-opment of gifted children in addition to meeting their intellec-tual needs. Gifted children and youth must face the samechallenges as they grow that everyone else faces, but thephenomenon of giftedness can make growing up more diffi-cult for them. They may experience isolation, feelings of difference and even inferiority, and the sense of being misun-derstood or not understood by their classmates and byadults. Because of their extreme sensitivity and intensity,they may be more seriously affected by teasing and criti-cism than most. They must continually choose between thealternatives of using their ability or fitting in with their group(Gross, 1989).

These affective concerns can also be addressedthrough the use of books. In many novels for child:en andyoung people, the issues just listed are major themes,whether or not the characters are identified as gifted. Adultswho read and discuss such books with gifted young peoplecan guide them in preparing for or coping with the extra di-mensions that being gifted adds to the process of growingup.

Promoting Emotional DevelopmentThrough BooksThose who use book discussions to meet emotional needsare using a form of developmental bibliotherapy. Develop-

mental bibliotherapy offers a way of assisting individualswho are facing a particular life stage or a specific situation-such as giftednessfor which they can ba better preparedthrough reading and discussion. Rather than merely recom-mending a book to a child, it includes three components: areader, a book, and a leader who will read the same bookand prepare for productive discussion of the issues thebook raises.

To be effective, the leader must be aware of the pro-cess of bibliotherapy. identification, in which the readeridentifies with a character in the book, catharsis, the read-er's experiencing of the emotions attributed to the character,and insight, the application of the character's experience tothe reader's own life. The leader then frames questions thatwill confirm and expand on these elements.

Like reading guidance, developmental bibliothorapycan be used with individuals or with groups. However, usingit well requires more background than reading guidance,and the leader must be alert for indications that the childshould be referred to a mental health professional. More in-formation on developmental bibliotherapy can be found inGuiding Gifted Readers (Halsted, 1988), and background in-formation on clinical bibliotherapy, the forerunner of devel-opmental bibliotherapy, can be found in Bibliotherapy: TheInteractive Process (Hynes & Hynes-Berry, 1986).

ReferencesBaskin, B. H., & Hams, K H. (1980). Books for the gifted child. New

York: Bowker.

Clark, B. (1584 Growing up gifted. Developing the potential of chil-dren at home and at school (2d ed.). Columbus. Merrill.

Gross, M. U. M. (1989). The pursuit of excellence or the search forintimacy? The forced choice dilemma of gifted youth. RoeperReview, 114) 189-194.

Halsted, J. W. (1988). Guiding gifted readers from preschoolthrough high school. Columbus. Ohio Psychology Publishing.

Hauser, P., & Nelson, G. A. (1988). Books for the gifted child (Vol.2). New York: Bowker.

Hawkins, S. (1983). Reading interests of gifted children. ReadingHorizons, 24.

Hynes, A. M. & Hynes-Berry, M. (1986). Bibliotherapy: The interac-tive process: A handbook Boulder: Westview.

Ravitch, D. & Finn, C. E., Jr. (1987). What do our seventeen-year-olds know? A report on the first national assessment of historyand literature. New York: Harper & Row.

Whitehead, R. J. (1984). A guide to selecting books for children.Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.

ResourceGreat Books Foundation, 40 East Huron Street, Chicago, a_ 60611

Prepared by Judith Wynn Halsted, educational consultant at the Center for the Gifted, 934 E.Eighth Street, Traverse City, MI 49684, and the author of Guiding Gifted Readers from PreschoolThrough High School: A Handbool. for Parents, Teachers, Counselors, and Librarians. Columbus.Ohio Psychology Publishing Co. (1988).

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

IThis publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

2.2

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

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DIGEST #E482 EC-90

DISCOVERING MATHEMATICAL TALENT

Sara. who is 5 years old, listens as her 32-year-old fathercomments that today is her grandmother's 64th birthday."Grandma's age is just twice my age,* he observes.

Although outwardly Sara does not seem to react to thisinformation, her mind is whirling. A few moments pass, andthen the young girl excitedly replies, You know Dad, youwill only be 54 when your age is twice miner

Sara has been intrigued by numbers and numerical re-lationships since she was very small. At first this could beseen in the way she liked -to count things and organizegroups of objects. She showed a fascination for calendars,telephone numbers, dates, ages, measurements, and al-most anything else dealing with numbers. Sara learned andremembered this information quickly and easily, but whatwas even more amazing was the way she played with andmanipulated the information she was learning. She wouldcarefully examine each idea and eagerly search to discovernew, interesting, and unusual relationships and patterns. Al-though Sara has had little formal instruction in mathematics,at the age of 5 she has acquired an incredible amount ofmathematical knowledge and is amazingly sophisticated inusing this knowledge to discover new ideas and solve prob-lems.

Sara is an example of a young child who is highly tal-ented in the area of mathematics. Like most individuals withthis unusual talent, Sara exhibits characteristics and behavfors that are clues to her ability. Some mathematically tal-ented people radiate many or obvious clues, others offeronly a few, or subtle ones. Recognizing these dues is oftenan important first step in discovering an individual's highability in mathematics. It is difficult to believe, but many peo-ple with a high degree of mathematical talent have their tal-ent underestimated or even unrecognized. Their clues havegone unnoticed cr ignored, and the true nature of their abili-ty remains unexplored. If Sara's talent in mathematics is tobe discovered and appropriately nurtured, it is importantthat her parents and teachers recognize the clues.

What should parents and teachers know to helpthem better recognize mathematical talent?

Mathematical talent refers to an unusually high ability to understand mathematical ideas and to reason mathematical:, ,

rather than just a high ability to do arithmetic computationsor get top grades in mathematics. When considering mathe-matical talent, many people place too much emphasis on

computational skill or high ability in replicating taught mathe-matical procedures. Unless mathematical talent is correctlyperceived, however, important clues can be overlooked andless important clues can be given too much significance.

Some characteristics and behaviors that may yield im-portant clues in discovering hip mathematical talent are thefollowing:

1. An unusually keen awareness of and intense curiosity. -

about numeric information.

2. An unusual quickness in learning, understanding, andapplying mathematical ideas.

3. A high ability to think and work abstractly and the abil-ity to see mathematical patterns and relationships.

4. An unusual ability to think and work with mathematicalproblems in flexible, creative ways rather than in astereotypic fashion.

5. An unusual ability to transfer learning to new, un-taught mathematical situations.

Terms such as mathematically talented, mathematically gift-ed, and highly able in mathematics are generally used to re-fer to students whose mathematics ability places them inthe top 2% or 3% of the population. It is important to keep inmind the unusually high degree of talent that is beingsought when looking for mathematically talented individuals.

Not all students who achieve the highest test scores or re-ceive the highest grades in mathematics class are neces-sarily highly talented in mathematics. Many of the mathe-matics programs in our schools are heavily devoted to thedevelopmeot of computational skills and provide little oppor-tunity for students to demonstrate the complex types of rea-soning skills that are characteristic of truly talented stu-dents. The tests used and the grades given in suchprograms usually reflect that structure. Computational accu-racy and conformity to taught procedures may be overem-phasized, and the reasoning abilities associated with highability in mathematics may be underemphasized. In thistype of environment, test scores and grades of less ablestudents who are good in computation, attentive in class,willing to help, and conscientious about completing all as-signments carefully in the prescribed manner will often beas high as the test scores and grades of students who aregenuinely talented in mathematics. While high achievementin school certainly can be a clue to high ability in mathemat-

29

ics, additional information is needed. If care is not taken,students who are simply high achievers :r. mathematics canbe mistakenly identified as mathematically talented. it is justas important to avoid such incorrect identification as it is toidentify students who are truly mathematically talented.

Some mathematically talented students do not demonstrateoutstanding academic achievement, display enthusiasm to-ward school mathematics programs, or get top grades inmathematics class. It is important to know that there are stu-dents iike this, for their ability in mathematics is easily overlooked, even though they may exhibit other clues suggest-ing high ability in mathematics. There are many possiblereasons why these students do not do well, but often it is at!east in part because of a mismatch between the studentand the mathematics program. Many of them refuse, or areunable, to conform to the expectations of programs thatthey see as uninteresting and inappropriate. For their part,educators may not recognize the true ability of these stu-dents or see a need for adjusting the existing mathematicsprogram.

How can standardized test results help inrecognizing mathematical talent?

Intelligence Tests. IQ test results often yield valuable infor-mation and may provide clues to the existence of mathe-matical talent. Used alone, however, these tests are not suf-ficient to identify high ability in mathematics. Mathematicaltalent is a specific aptitude, while an IQ score is a summaryof many different aptitudes and abilities. An individual's IQ ismade up of several different components, only some ofwhich relate to mathematical ability. Suppose two studentshave the same IQ scores. One of them could have a highscore in mathematical components and a low score in ver-bal components, while the other is just the opposite. Thefirst student would be likely have to much greater mathe-matics ability than the second, even though they have thesame overall IQ. Children with high IQ's- -no matter howhigh the scorecannot be assumed to be mathematicallytalented. It could be a clue, but more information is needed.

Creativity Tests. There are differing opinions on how the re-sults of creativity tests can be used to help identify high abil-ity in mathematics. Although mathematically talented stu-dents display creativity when dealing with mathematicalideas, this is not always apparent in creativity test results.However, high creativity assessments, along with indica-tions of intense interest in mathematics, do seem to be asignificant clue of mathematical talent.

Mathematics Achievement Tests. Mathematics achievementtests also can provide valuable clues in identifying high abili-ty in mathematics, but the results of these tests have to beinterpreted carefully. Mathematics achievement tests are of-ten computation-oriented and give little information abouthow a student actually reasons mathematically. Also, thetests seldom have enough difficult problems to appropriatelyassess the upper limits of a talented student's ability orshow that this ability is qualitatively differed from that of oth-er very good, but not truly mathematically talented, students. If these limitations are kept in mind, the results ofmathematics achievement tests can be useful. Students

scoring above the 95th or 97th percentiles on nationalnorms may have high ability in mathematics, but more infor-mation is needed to separate the high achievers from thetruly gifted. It should not be assumed that there are nomathematically talented students among those sconng be-low the 95th percentile; those students will have to be rec-ognized from other clues.

Mathematics Aptitude Tests. Standardized mathematics ap-titude test results should be used in basically the same waythat the results of mathematics achievement tests are used.Aptitude tests have some of the same limitations asachievement tests c;,-cept that, because they are designedto place less emphasis on computational skills and moreemphasis on mathematical reasoning skills, the results fromthese tests are often more useful in identifying mathemati-cally talented students.

Out-of-Grade-Level Mathematics Aptitude Tests. Many ofthe limitations associated with mathematics aptitude testscan be reduced by administering out-of-grade-10M versionsof the tests. This process should be used only with studentswho already have demonstrated strong mathematics abili-ties on regular-grade-level instruments or those who showdefinite signs of high mathematics ability. An out-of-grade-level mathematics aptitude test is a test that is usually de-signed for and used with students about one and one-thirdtimes the age of the child being tested. For example, a 9-year -old third grader would be tested using an abilities testnormally written for 12-year-old sixth graders. This gives amuch better assessment of mathematical reasoning skillsbecause the student must find ways to solve problems,many of which he or she has not been taught to do. Thesetests have many difficult problems that will challenge eventhe most capable students, thus making it possible to dis-criminate the truly talented from others who are just verygood in mathematics.

The out-of-grade-level testing procedure has beenused successfully in several mathematics talent searchesand school mathematics programs with junior and seniorhigh school students over the past 15 years. More recently,there have been programs that have successfully used theprocedure in the elementary grades.

What systematic process can be used to identifymathematically talented students?

Correctly identifying mathematically talented students is nota simple task, and there is more than one way to go aboutit. Some common features of successful identification pro-cesses are combined in the following model. This model isintended to be implemented virth a degree of flexibility in or-der to jive mathematically talented students every opportu-nity to have their talent discovered. This may be especiallyimportant when looking for mathematical talent in minorityor disadvantaged populations.

Phase One: ScreeningThe objective in phase one is to establish a group of stu-dents suspected of having high ability in mathematics.These students will be evaluated further in the next phase.In phase one, effort attempt should be made not to miss po-tentially talented students.

3)

Figure 1. Identification Checklist

StudentName

AbilityTest

AchievementTest Gifted Creative

Teacher/ParentNominations

Out-of-Grade-LevelTest

Jones, John 97 yes/yesSmith, Sally 95 yes

I

Step One. An identification checklist (Figure 1) should beset up to record the names of students thought to have highability in mathematics along with the clues that suggest theirtalent. Students scoring above the 95th percentile on amathematics aptitude test are entered first. Next, thosescoring above the 95th percentile on mathematics achieve-ment tests who are not already on the list are added. If astudent's name is already on the list, the test score is simplyadded to that student's record. In a like manner, studentswho are mentally gifted; students who are creative and havehigh interest in mathematics; and students nominated byparents, teachers, self, or peers can be added.

Step Two. The checklist information for each student shouldbe reviewed. If the information collected for a particular stu-dent suggests that out-of-grade-level testing is not advisa-ble, that student's name should be removed, becausephase two testing may damage the egos of students who donot ,-sally excel in mathematics. However, caution should beexercised not to eliminate talented students in this process.Parent involvement in these decisions is recommended.

Phase Two: Out-of-Grade-Level MathematicsAbilities Assessment

The objective in phase two is to separate the mathematical-ly talented students from those who are merely good stu-dents in mathematics and to begin assessing the extent ofthe ability of the mathematically talented students:

Step One. Students who are scheduled to take the out-of-grade-level test, along with their parents, should be in-formed about the nature of this test and the reason it is be-ing given. The out-of-grade-level test would then be admin-istered with student and parent consent. Figure 2 provides asample schedule for such testing.

Step Two. The results of each student's out-of-grade-leveltest should be evaluated in conjunction with the results ofphase one screening. Generally, il.e student's out-of-grade-level score will be an indication of degree of mathematical

Figure 2. Testing Schedule

Current Grade(Fall)

Out-of-Grade-LevelTest

1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th

3rd grade4th grade5th grade7th grade8th grade9th grade

11th grade12th grade

FallFallSpringFallFallSpringFallFall

talent. Scores above the 74th percentile represent a degreeof mathematical talent similar to that of students identified inregional talent searches such as the one conducted byJohns Hopkins University. This level of talent places the stu-dent in the upper 1% of the population in mathematics abili-ty. Scores above the 64th percentile denote a level of talentthat most likely places the student in Mr upper 3% of thepopulation. Students in these two groups would be identifiedas mathematically talented.

What instructional approaches benefitmathematically talented students?

Students identified as mathematically talented vary greatlyin degree of talent and motivation. No single approach isbest for all of these students. The design of each student'sinstructional program in mathematics should be based onan analysis of individual abilities and needs. For example,sylenis with extremely high ability and motivation mayprofit more from a program that promotes rapid and relative-ly independent movement through instructional content. Stu-dents with less ability or lower motivation may do better in aprogram that is not paced so quickly and is more deliberatein developing the mathematical concepts being taught.There are some common features, however, that seem tobe important ingredients in the mathematics programs ofmathematically talented students.

The program should bring mathematically talented studentstogether to work with .3e another in the area of mathemat-ics. Students will benefit greatly, both academically andemotionally, from this type of experience. They will learnfrom each other, reinforce each ouler, and help each otherover difficulties.

The program should stress mathematical reasoning and de-velop independent exploratory behavior. This type of pro-gram is exemplified by discovery learning, looking for under -tying principles, engaging in special projects inmathematics, problem solving, dis,,vering formulas, look-ing for patterns, and organizing data to find relationships.

The mathematics pnmam should deemphasize repetitiouscomputational drill work and cyclical review. This type ofwork in mathematics should be minimal for all mathematical-ly talented students. As ability in mathematics increases,the benefits to be gained from this type of activity decrease.

The scope of the mathematics curriculum should be exten-sive so that it will provide an adequate foundation for stu-dents who may become mathematicians in the future. Inmany programs the mathematics curriculum will have to begreatly expanded to meet this need.

The mathematics program should be flexibf paced. Flexiblypaced means that students are placed at an appropriate in-

structional level on the basis of an assessment of theirknowledge and skill. Each student is then allowed toprogress at a pace limited only by his or her ability and moti-vation. Flexible pacing can be achieved in the followingways:

Continuous progress. Students receive appropriate in-struction daily and move ahead as they master contentand skill.

Compacted course. Students complete two or morecourses in an abbreviated time.

Advanced-level course. Students are presented withcourse content normally taught at a higher grade.

Grade skipping. Students move ahead 1 or more yearsbeyond the next level of promotion.

Early entrance. Students enter elementary school, mid-dle school, high school, or college earlier than tha usualage.

Concurrent or dual enrollment. Students at one schoollevel take classes at another school level. For example,an elementary school student may take classes at themiddle school.

Credit by examination. Students receive credit for acourse upon satisfactory completion of an examinationor upon certification of mastery.

Conclusion

The fate of Sara and other mathematically talented studentswill be determined largely by the ability of their parents andeducators to discover and nurture their special ability. Thenotion that these students will achieve their potential any-way is constantly refuted. For too many students like Sara,lack of appropriate mathematical nourishment seems to bethe rule rather than the exception. At risk are the benefitsthat these children might gain from early advancement andthe attitudes that these children will have toward mathemat-ics, school, learning in general, and themselves. By discov-ering the mathematical talent of these students and usingthat knowledge to provide appropriate academic nurture, wehave the greatest chance to help these individuals reachtheir gifted potential.

Resources

Bartkovich, K. G., & George, W. C. (1980). Teaching thegifted and talented in the mathematics classroom.Teaching the Gifted and Talented in the Contc,., AreasSeries. Washington, DC: National Education Associa-tion.

Chang, L. L (1985). Who are the mathematically gifted ele-mentary school children? Roeper Review, 8(2), 76-79.

Cohn, S. J. (1983). Training guide for educational adminis-trators (pp. 31-78). Tempe: Arizona State University.

Daniel, N., & Cox, J. (1988). Flexible pacing for able learn-ers (pp.1-5; 60-65). Reston, VA: The Council for Ex-ceptional Children.

Fox, L. (1981). Identification of the academically gifted.American Psychologist, 36, 1103-1111.

Gallagher, J. J. (1975). Teaching the gifted child (pp. 95-118). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Greenes, C. (1981). Identifying the gifted student in mathe-matics. Arithrrea: Teacher, 28(6), 14-17.

Heid, M. K. (1983). Characteristics and special needs of thegifted student in mathematics. The Mathematics Teach-er, 76,221-226.

Johnson, M. L (1983). Identifying and teaching mathemati-cally gifted elementary school children. ArithmeticTeacher, 30(5), 25-26; 55-56.

Keating, D. P. (1975). The study of mathematically preco-cious youth. Journal of Special Education, 9(1), 45-62.

Krutetski, V. A. (1976). The psychology of mathematicalabilities in school children. Chicago: The University ofChicago Press.

Marland, S. P. (1972). Education of the gifted and talented.Vol. 1. Report to the Congress of the United States bythe U. S. Commissioner of Education. Washington, DC.United States Government Printing Office.

Stanley, J. C. (1977). The gifted and crcative: A fifty yearperspective. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress.

Stanley, J. C., Keating, D. P., & Fox, L H. (Eds.). (1974).Mathematical talent: Discovery, description, and devel-opment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Wavrik, J. J. (1980). Mathematics education for the giftedelementary school student. Gifted Child Quarterly, 24,169-173.

Prepared by Richard C. Miller, Supervisor of Gifted Programs, Appalachia intermediate Unit 8, De-partment for Exceptional Children, Hollidaysburg, PA.

ERIC Digasts are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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PERSONAL COMPUTERS HELP GIFTEDSTUDENTS WORK SMART

Since the early 1970s, schools across the nation have beenadding instruction in computing to programs for students ofall ages and abilities. Gifted and talented students in manyschools now have access to computers in their classrooms,and an increasingly large percentage of these studentshave home computers. As the goals for technology educa-tion and the promises of educational change have grown,the hardware and software used in both schools and homeshave improved steadily. Educators, business and industry,the government, and the general public believe our mostable students must be computer literate for our nation to becompetitive in the next generation. Only recently, with thegulf between promises and achievements widening, havevoices of concern been raised (Holden, 1989).

The disparity between theory and practice is attributedto many causes, ranging from a lack of educational focus toa shortage of funding. But even those reporting problemshave found evidence that students are working "smarter,"whether they are learning and using more information, un-derstanding key concepts and relationships better, or devel-oping higher level thinking skills. Gifted students are benefit-ing from increased use of computers because their specialneeds are being met through informed use of technology.

The Needs of Cifted and Talented Students

The identification of gifted and/or talented individuals andthe determination of their specific needs is complicated bythe widely different opinions of what giftedness is and how itis manifested. Basic research is as varied as Howard Gard-ner's (1983) theory of multiple intelligences and JosephRenzulli's (1977) dependence on conGruence between abili-ty, commitment, and creativity. Most agree, however, thatthe talents of gifted youngsters are dynamic, rather thanstatic or fixed, and that the youngsters and their talentsmust be nurtured.

How schools nurture and the effects of various practic-es are the focus of much research. June Cox (Cox, Daniel,& Boston, 1985), with the Sid W. Richardson Foundation,conducted 2 national study of current programming for ablelearners. Donald Treffinger (1986) has written prolifically ongifted programs. Others have explored the relationship ofspecific processes such as problem finding to nurturing spe-cific talents such as creativity (Getzels & Csikszentmihalyi,1976),

Combined with practice and experience, the researchsuggests that the following tenets are essential to good pro-gramming for gifted and talented students:

3

Instruction recognizes students' unique learning styles.Stk.dt.i.ts are supported as they grow in self-confidenceand self-awareness of their strengths and weaknesses.Students progress at a rate most appropriate for them.Structured opportunities are provided for individual andsmall-group investigations of real problems.

o Students are encouraged to develop and practice high-er level thinking skills. -

Opportunities are provided for students to establishgoals and determine objectives.

o Students learn with and from each other.A wide range and variety of materials and resourcesare available.Student interests are used as a basis for learning.

Computers Are idea Engines

The computer has evolved well beyond the ancestral calcu-lator that did amazing computations. It has become an ideaenginea tool for discovery, exploration, and collaboration.Computers are designed to process information, and the re-sults they furnish are as limitless as the human beings usingthem and the problems and applications for which they areemployed. Computers can manage data whether the infor-mation they store is organized as numbers, names, words,dates, or any combination of facts. Computers can producegraphics in charts, pictures, animation, color, and three di-mensions if the necessary peripherals and programming de-vices are available. They can be used to manipulate text,correct spelling, critique grammar, and speak several lan-guages. When connected with telephone lines or other ca-bling, they can share information. Instructed properly, com-puters can make "intelligent" decisions. They do all of thisaccurately, with speed and increasing flexibility.

Computer Applications

At the simplest level, as intelligent tutors offering computeraided instruction (CAI), computers provide only modest sup-port of program goals for able learners. Instruction is indivw-ually paced, different learning styles may be accommodat-ed, and some self-confidence may be gained. However, thisuse of computers fares poorest in the research. Teachersare still better at traditional stimulus/response instruction.

At a higher level, students are provided opportunities todo research and apply complex thinking skills by workingwith real problems and computer simulations. Learning be-comes fun and morn challenging. Some of the best softwareon the market falls into this category, and the results of timespent with computers in this mode are not easily dismissed.

Students are taught programming languages that aid themin beginning to turn a computer into a real tool. The LOGOlanguages and the concepts introduced in Mindstorms (Pa-pert, 1980) and the more advanced Turtle Geometry (Abel-son & diSessa, 1984) provide platforms for students to in-vent their own syntax, integrate knowledge, and shareideas. All students in gifted and talented programs shouldbe introduced to such computer applications and program-ming.

Unfortunately, many students never move beyond thislevel. The newfound mastery of the power of the computeris seductive. Every problem presentee can be solved. Thegraphics are spectacular. Nonusers are awed, and even theteachers are often surpassed; 'hackers" emerge. However,little is to be gained from merely a ..aster CPU, better resolu-tion, gigabytes of storage, or technology. The real power ofthe computer derives from the quality of the questions stu-dents ask and attempt to answer.

Asking Better QuestionsIn November, 1987, Control Data Corporation challengedstudents across the country to put their best questions for-ward as part of a contest to promote a new supercomputer.They wanted to know what students were interested in andhow they would use a computer to discover, explore, andcollaborate. Teachers were asked to spend the next 6months building and guiding learning experiences that rein-forced and clarified the students' topics. Teams wereformedeach student member having an independent pro-jectto pool strategies, share learning, and expand alterna-tives. Time was spent in the library reading professionaljournals and investigating tangents. At the end of the schoolyear the students with the best-developed questions (still nosolutions) were invited to spend the summer in Minnesotaworking with a powerful computer and mentors from ControlData staff. After nearly 8 months of investigation, the stu-dents reported what they had learned to a panel of scien-tists who read each paper and spent several hours listeningto the students and sharing their own knowledge and expe-rience.

The impact of that program on each of the 1,475schools that participated nationwide was remarkable. Computers had been used to frame better questions, define im-portant problems, and stretch students farther than they ortheir teachers had thought possible. These gifted and talent-ed students combined their individual strengths and needswith a conglomerate of people, resources, and technologiesthat changed their learning experience. It is important tonote that the use of computers, although significant, was notthe focus of the program. The students were not studyingcomputer science or applications.

Gifted and Talented Students Work SmartWhen computers are used to support program goals andmeet individual student needs, they can help gifted studentswork smart.

When choices are provided and experimentation al-lowed, individual learning styles and preferences canbe accommodated and enhanced through the flexibilityof the computer to interact with pictures, words, num-bers, or any other medium the student is most comfort-able with. The flexibility of the technology is the keyconcept. Different students find different word proces-sors, graphics packages, databases, and spreadsheetseasier to use.Structured experiences designed by well-trained teach-*ers can help students use computers to developstrengths and overcome or neutralize weaknesses.Word processors do improve writing and expression ofideas. Databases can be as rigid or open as the stu-dent needs. Solving problems and answering questionsare satisfying outcomes. Students grow in confidenceas they build their repertoire of skills.Computers can be used to match students' paces.They are patient and will hold on to an idea for a longtime. They do more complex tasks when students areready to use them in more complex ways. They provideinformation when students are ready for it.When students assume responsibility for the process,they work smarter. Computers serve people. Peopledefine problems, set goals and objectives, and deter-mine roles. The better students understand the learningprocese, the better they will use technology.People learn from people. People are on the other endof the information and ideas accessed through a com-puter. Students have contact with these people via soft-ware, bulletin boards, or face to face in discussions andgroup projects. Students can meet a lot of smart peoplethrough computers.

References

Abelson, H., & diSessa, A. (1984). Turtle geometry. Cam-bridge, MA: MIT Press.

Cox, J., Daniel, N., & Boston, B. (1985). Educating ablelearners. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind. The theory of multipleintelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Getzels, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1976). The creative vi-sion: A longitudinal study of problem finding in art. NewYork: Wiley.

Holden, C. (1989, May 26). Computers make slow progressin class. Science, pp. 906-909.

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms. Children, computers, andpowerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.

Renzulli, J. S. (1977). The enrichment triad model: A guidefor developing defensible programs for the gifted andtalented. Wethersfield, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Treffinger, D. (1986). Blending gifted education with the to-tal school program. East Aurora, NY: D.O.K.

Prepared by Geoffrey Jones, Principal, Thomas Jetterson High School for Science and Technolo-gy, Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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FOSTERING ACADEMIC CREATIVITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS

What is Meant by Academic Creativity?

Academic creativity is a way of thinking about, learning, andproducing information in school subjects such as science,mathematics, and history. Few experts agree on a precisedefinition, but when we say the word, everyone senses asimilar feeling. When we are creative, we are aware of itsspecial excitement.

Creative thinking and learning involve such abilities asevaluation (especially the ability to sense problems, incon-sistencies, and missing elements); divergent production(e.g., fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration); and re-definition. Creative learning is a natural, healthy human pro-cess that occurs when people become curious and excited.In contrast, learning by authority requires students to usethinking skills such as recognition, memory, and logical rea-soningthe abilities most frequently assessed by traditionaltests of intelligence and scholastic aptitude. Children preferto learn in creative ways rather than just memorizing infor-mation provided by a teacher or parents. They also learnbetter and sometimes faster.

Three questions illustrate the difference between learn-ing information provided by an adult or textbook and crea-tive learning:

1. In what year did Columbus discover Arnurica? (Theanswer, 1492, requires recognizing and memorizinginformation.)

2. How are Columbus and an astronaut similar and dif-ferent? (The answer requires more than memorizationand understanding; it requires students to think aboutwhat they know.)

3. Supoose Columbus had landed in California. Howwould our lives and history have been different? (Theanswer requires many creative thinking skills includ-ing imagining, experimenting, discovering, elaborat-ing, testing solutions, and communicating discover-ies.)

Creative Behavior of Young Children

Young children are naturally curious. They wonder aboutpeople and the world. By the time they enter preschool, theyalready have a variety of learning skills acquired throughquestioning, inqdring, searching, manipulating, experimenting, and playing. They are content to watch from a distanceat first; however, this does not satisfy their curiosity. Chil-dren need opportunities for a closer look; they need totouch; they need time for the creative encounter.

We place many restrictions on children's desire to ex-

35

plore the .vorld. We discourage them by saying 'Curiositykilled the cat." If we were honest, we would admit that curi-osity makes a good cat and that cats are extremely skilledin testing the limits and determining what is safe and what isdangerous. Apparently children, as well as cats, have an ir-resistible tendency to explore objects, and this very tenden-cy seems to be the basis for the curiosity and inventivenessof adults. Even in testing situations, children who do themost manipulating of objects produce the most ideas andthe largest number of original ideas.

Creative Behavior of School-Age Children

Until children reach school age, it is generally assumed thatthey are highly creative, with vivid imaginations, and thatthey learn by exploring, risking, manipulating, testing, andmodifying ideas. Although teachers and administratorssometimes believe that it is more economical to learn by au-thority, research suggests that many things (although notall) can be learned more effectively and economically increative ways rather than by authority (Torrance, 1977).

What Can Teachers Do?

Wise teachers can offer a curriculum with plenty of opportu-nities for creative behaviors. They can make assignmentsthat call for original work, independent learning, self-initiatedprojects, and experimentation. Using curriculum materialsthat provide progressive warm-up experiences, proceduresthat permit one thing to lead to another, and activities thatmake creative thinking both legitimate and rewarding makesit easier for teachers to provide opportunities for creativelearning.

The following are some things caring adults can do tofoster and nurture creativity:

We can teach children to appreciate and be pleasedwith their own creative efforts.We can be respectful of the unusual questions childrenask.We can be respectful of children's unusual ideas andsolutions, for children will see mr relationships thattheir parents and teachers miss.We can show children that their ideas have value by lis-tening to their ideas and considering them. We can en-courage children to test their ideas by using them andcommunicating them to others. We must give themcredit for their ideas.We can provide opportunities and give credit for self-initiated learning. Overly detailed supervision, too muchreliance on prescribed curricula, failure to appraise

learning resulting from a child's own initiative, and at-tempts to cover too much material with no opportunityfor reflection interfere seriously with such efforts.We can provide chances for children to learn, think,and discover without threats of immediate evaluation.Constant evaluation, especially during practice and ini-tial learning, makes children afraid to use creative waysto learn. We must accept their honest errors as part ofthe creative process.We can establish creative relationships with childrenencouraging creativity in the classroom while providingadequate guidance for the students.

What Can Parents Do?

It is natural for young children to learn creatively by dancing,singing, storytelling, playing make-believe. and so forth.One of the first challenges to creativity may be formalschooling. By this time parents, as well as teachers, appre-ciate conforming behaviors such as being courteous andobedient, following rules, and being like others. While theseare desirable traits to some extent, they may also destroy achild's creative potential.

The folbwing are some positive ways parents can fos-ter and nurture the growth of creativity:

Encourage curiosity, exploration, experimentation, fan-tasy, questioning, testing, and the development of crea-tive talents.Provide opportunities for creative expression, creativeproblem-solving, and constructive response to changeand stress.Prepare children for new experiences, and help devel-op creative ways of coping with them.Find ways of changing destructive behavior into con-structive, productive behavior rather than relying on pu-nitive methods of control.Find creative ways of resolving conflicts between indi-vidual family members' needs and the needs of the oth-er family members.Make sure that every member of the family receives in-dividual attention and )spect and is given opportunitiesto make significant, creative contributions to the wetfartrof the family as a whole.Use what the school provides imaginatively, and sup-plement the school's efforts.Give the family purpose, commitment, and courage.(Torrance, 1969, p. 59)

How Adults "Kill" Creativity:Insisting that children do things the "right way." Teach-ing a child to think that there is just one right way to dothings kills the urge to try new ways.

Pressuring children to be realistic, to stop imagining.When we label a child's flights of fantasy as "silly," webring the child down to earth with a thud, causing theinventive urge to curl up and die.Making comparisons with other children. This is a sub-tle pressure on a child to conform; yet the essence ofcreativity is freedom to conform or not to conform.Discouraging children's curiosity. One of the surest indi-cators of creativity is curiosity; yet we often brush ques-tions aside because we aru too busy for "silly" ques-tions. Children's questions deserve respect.

References

Torrance, E. P. (1969). Creativity. Sioux Falls, ND. AdaptPress.

Torrance, E. P. (1977). Creativity in the classroom. Wash-ington, DC: National Education Association.

Torrance, E. P., & Goff, K. (1989). A quiet revolution. Jour-nal of Creative Behavior, 23(2), 136-145.

Resources for Parents and Teachers

There are numerous textbooks, workshops, instructionalmaterials, videotapes, seminars, and other resources. foruse in creative teaching. There are publishers, magazines,and journals that focus on creativity and creative thinking.Some of them include the following:

Publishers

Creative Learning Press, P.O. Box 320, Mansfield Center,CT 96250

D.O.K. Publishers, P.O. Box 605, East Aurora, NY 14052

Foxtail Press, P.O. Box 2596, La Habra, CA 90632-2996

Good Apple, P. 0. Box 299, Carthage, IL 6'21-0299

Opportunities for Learning, 2041 North Street, Chats-worth, CA 91311

Scholastic Testing Service, Inc., 480 Meyer Road, P. 0.Box 1056, Bensenville, IL 60106-8056

Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 5 Union Square West,Mew York, NY 1003

Trillium Press. P. 0. Box 209, Monroe, NY 10950

Zephyr Press, P. 0. Box 13448, Tucson, AZ 85732-3448

JournalsT:tib Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 8080 Springvalley

Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45236

The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1050 Union Road, Buffa-lo, NY 14224 (Source: Torrance & Goff, 1989)

Prepared by E. Paul Torrance, Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Universit? ofGeorgia, and Kathy Goff, Research Assistant, University of Georgia, and author of innovative in-structional material.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproducedand disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no, RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP IN GIFTED YOUTH

Leadership Development and Gifted Students

All cultures need role models and leaders. Most of us agreethat professions such as medicine, technology, education,business and industry, politics, and the arts need peoplewho can use intelligenze, creativity, and critical judgment.The role of parents and educators is critical in assisting withthe development of leadership attitudes and skills in giftedyouth.

Leadership has been designated a talent area in feder-al and state definitions of gifted students who require differ-entiated programs, yet it remains the least discussed of thecurricular areas for these students in the literature, and it isnot well defined.

Characteristics of Leadership in Gifted YouthFew gifted programs identify students with high leadershippotential or incorporate leadership education into their cur-ricula. However, many characteristics of gifted youth enablethem to profit from leadership development. Those charac-teristics include the following:

The desire to be challenged.The ability to solve problems creatively.The ability to reason critically.The ability to see new relationships.Facility of verbal expression.Flexibility in thought and action.The ability to tolerate ambiguity.The ability to motivate others.

Parents and the Development of Leadership

Preparing young people for leadership responsibility beginsin the home with an enriched environment that offers oppor-tunities for children to acquire broad interests, self-esteem,and the insights and skills that characterize leaders. Parentscan provide their children with support and encouragementas they participate in a wide variety of home and communityactivities. Parents should encourage their children to be in-volved in the selection, planning, execution, and evaluationof family activities ranging from a day at the zoo to a vaca-tion overseas. Youngsters should also be encouraged toplan, initiate, and complete a variety of self-evaluated indi-vidual projects, but these skills are not learned automatical-ly. They must be patiently taught and modeled by parents inthe home.

Discussion and debata about current events and othertopics foster independent thinking and nurture leadershippotential. Parents who listen openly and thoughtfully withoutexpecting children to embrace their social, political, and ec-onomic views are demonstrating leadership characteristics.

Mutual respect, objectivity, empathy, and understanding arehighly valued by gifted young people, particularly those whoneed a safe place to test their ideas.

Opportunities for decision making at an early age willhelp to foster the critical reasoning skills necessary to be aneffective leader. Inappropriate decisions by children andyouth, although difficult for parents to accept, may enhancefuture decision-making skills when self-evaluated.

Infusing Leadership Concepts and Skillsinto the Curriculum

Major emphasis should be placed on leadership develop-ment in all academic areas, including the fine and perform-ing arts. Thematic curriculum units and reading lists shouldinclude biographies and autobiographies of outstandingleaders. Students should be encouraged to analyze andevaluate the motivation, contributions, and influences ofeach leader and assess the leadership styles employed.Major events and family and other influences important inthe life of each leader should be emphasized.

Sciences. Physical and biological sciences, mathematics,and social sciences provide unique opportunities for pro-jects in which initiating, planning, critical thinking, creativeproblem solving, and decision making can be developed.They are rich with opportunities to learn about leaders whohave influenced such areas as government and politics, sci-ence and technology, humanities and the arts, business andindustry, philosophy and religion, and health science andmedicine. Students can learn how their interests, passions,and abilities can develop into careers. They can comparethe contributions of others with their own value systems. Forexample, many leaders have been concerned about povertyand the human condition.

Humanities. Language arts, speech, English, and othercourses that emphasize oral and written communicationprovide opportunities for potential leaders to learn how topresent ideas clearly and persuasively. Preparing and pre-senting speeches, listening to and critiquing presentations,writing news reports and editorials for school and other localpublications, preparing for and engaging in debates, leadingconference and discussion sessions, and participating inschool and other election campaigns are only a few of themany options available. Group activities provide opportuni-ties for young people to learn how to help others feel impor-tant and valued, accept their contributions, keep discus-sions relevant, and occasionally follow rather than lead.

Arts. Students can learn leadership skills and gain inspira-tion from talented people of the past and present who haveenriched all of us through their contributions in the fine andperforming arts. Their creative works, the trends they initiat-

3?

ed, and the enduring results of their efforts are worthy ofstudy, as are their lives and the circumstances under whichtheir work came to fruition.

Other School Options for LeadershipDevelopment

Several strategies strengthen and broaden educational ex-periences for gifted youth. Instructional units on leadershipdevelopment should be provided at each grade level in a re-source room or pullout administrative arrangement. Somesecondary schools offer structured credit courses on leader-ship. Having students prepare and periodically update per-sonal plans for leadership development, including provi-sions for obtaining the experiences set forth in their plans, isanother promising activity. The value of this experience isenhanced when students share individual plans in groupsessions, brief the group on their purpose, revise plans ifthe critique brings forth acceptable suggestions, report topeers on progress made after following the plans for a peri-od of time, and evaluate the plans using self-designed cri-teria.

Mentorships and internship programs provide oppor-tunities for youth to work with adult community leaders whoare willing to help identify, develop, and nurture futureleaders.

Leadership Through Extracurricular ActivitiesSince leadership is learned over time through involvementwith others, extracurricular activities provide fertile groundfor nurturing future leaders. Group participation offersunique opportunities for young people to belong, supportothers, and learn a variety of leadership styles. Studentslearn how to encourage others, create group spirit, and re-solve conflict. They begin to understand diverse attitudes,skills, and talents and how to interact effectively with a di-versity of people while working toward a common goal.

Leadership in extracurricular activities has been foundto be more highly correlated with adult leadership than withacademic achievement. A 10-year study conducted with515 high school studeat leaders revealed that almost two-thirds of them participated in out-of-school organizationsand athletics and more than half participated in fine arts ac-tivities.

Although there are many organized extracurricularactivities for youth, those who want to develop their leader-ship potential can do so through less formal methods. Indi-viduals or groups can plan special projects or a leadershipplan by setting goals, objectives, and timelines toward amission of improving some area of the school or community.Skills such as seeking all available information, defining agroup task, and devising a workable plan may be developedthrough any community project. No natter how small orlarge the goal, the process involved hi devising and imple-menting the plan develops leadership potential.

Leadership is much more than being elected or ap-pointed to a position, and it is acquired most effectivelythrough practice. Educators, parents, and other concernedadults who are interested in the development of leadershipin gifted youth can make a difference in the lives of thesestudents by providing them with opportunities to realize theirleadership potential.

Resources

Feldhusen, J. F., & Kennedy, D. M. (1988). Preparing giftedyouth for leadership roles in a rapidly changing society.Roeper Review, 10(4), 226-230.

Foster, W. H., & Silverman, L. (1988). Leadership curricu-lum for the gifted. In J. VanTassel-Baska, J. Feldhusen,K. Seeley, G. Wheatley, L. Silverman, & W. Foster(Eds.), Comprehensive curriculum for gifted learners(pp. 356-380). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Gallagher, J. J. (1982). A leadership unit. New York. TrilliumPress.

House, C. (1980). Leadership series. Coeur d'Alene, ID: Lis-tos Publications.

Karnes, F. A., & Chauvin, J. C. (1985). Leadership skills de-velopment program. East Aurora, NY: United D. 0. K.

Karnes, F. A., & Chauvin, J. C. (1986). The leadershipskills: Fostering the forgotten dimension of giftedness.G/C/T, 9(3), 22-23.

Karnes, F. A., & D'Ilio, V. R. (1989). Personality characteris-tics of student leaders. Psychological Reports, 64,1125-1126.

Karnes, F. A., & Meriweather, S. (1989). Developing and im-plementing a plan for leadership. An integral compo-nent for success as a leader. Roeper Review, 11(4),214-217.

Parker, J. P. (1983). The Leadership Training Model: Inte-grated curriculum for the gifted. G/C/T, 29, 8-13.

Plowman, P. D. (1981). Training extraordinary leaders.Roeper Review, 3(3), 13-16.

Richardson, W., & Feldhusen, J. (1986). Leadership educa-tion: Developing skills for youth. New York: TrilliumPress.

Roets, L. S. (1981). Leadership: A skills training programages 8-18. New Sharon, IA: Leadership Publishers.

Sisk, D. (1986). Social studies for the future: The use of vid-eo for developing leadership. Gifted Child Quarterly,30(4), 182-185.

Sisk, D A., & Rosselli, H. (1987). Leadership. A specialtype of giftedness. New York: Trillium Pres.s.

Sisk, D. A., & Shallcross, D. ,..' (1986). Leadarship: Makingthings happen. Buffalo, NY: Bearly Limited.

Prepared by Frances A. Karnes, Professor, Department of Special Education, and Director, TheCenter for Gifted Studies, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, and Suzanne M. Bean,Assistant Professor, Mississippi University for Women, Columbus.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproducedand disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education.Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The (+pinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive o Reston, VA 22091-1589

o FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E486 EDOEC-90-5

MENTOR RELATIONSHIPS AND GIFTED LEARNERS

If we want them to achieve, we must link them withachievers.... One plus onePass it on.

H. Weinberg, The Public Television Outreach Alliance

One of the most valuable experiences a gifted student canhave is exposure to a mentor who is willing to share person-al values, a particular interest, time, talents, and skills.When the experience is properly structured and the mentoris a good match for the student, the relationship can provideboth mentor and student with encouragement, inspiration,new insights, and other personal rewards.

The idea of mentoring is as old as mankind. AncientGreece introduced the concept, and it was institutionalizedduring the Middle Ages. The term mentor does not imply aninternship, an apprenticeship, or a casual hit-or -miss rela-tionship in which the student simply spends time in the pres-ence of an adult and information is transmitted (Boston,1979). Internships and apprenticeships are valuable be-cause they allow students to learn new skills and investigatepotential career interests. A mentorship, on the other hand,is a dynamic shared relationship in which values, attitudes,passions, and traditions are passed from one person to an-other and internalized. Its purpose is to transform lives (Boston, 1976).

Research and case ....dies focusing on mentors andmentorships often address the effects of the mentor interms of career advancement, particularly for women (Kerr,1983). The research emphasis on professional advance-ment and success takes priority over clarifying the basiccharacteristics of the relationship and its importance to gifted students (Kaufmann, Harrel, Milam, Woolverton, & Miller,1986). Kaufmann's (1981) study of Presidential Scholarsfrom 1964 to 1968 included questions pertaining to the nature, role, and influence of their most significant mentors.Having a role model, support, and encouragement were themost frequently stated benefits. Respondents also statedthat they strungly benefited from mentors who set an example, offered intellectual stimulation, communicated excite-ment and joy in the learning process, and understood themand their needs.

Kaufmann's research also underscored the critical importance of mentors for gifted girls. The study, conducted15 years after the.se students graduated from high school,indicated that when the earning powers of the women wereequal to those of the men, the women had had one or morementors. In other words, the presence of a mentor mayequalize earning power.

Mentor relationships with dedicated scholars, artists,scientists, or businesspeople are highly suitable for giftedadolescents, particularly those who have mastered the es-sentials of the high school curriculum. Many of these stu-dents have multiple potentials (they like everything and aregood at everything) and may encounter college and career

planning problems if they cannot establish priorities or setlong-term goals (Berger, 1989; Frederickson & Rothney,1972; Kerr, 1985). Such students may have more optionsand alternatives than they can realistically consider. Parentsoften notice that mentors have a maturing effect. Studentssuddenly develop a vision of what they can become, find asense of direction, and focus their efforts. Some exemplaryprograms were described by Cox, Daniel, and Boston(1985) in Educating Able Learners.

Students from disadvantaged populations may alsobenefit strongly from mentor relationships (McIntosh &Greenlaw, 1990). Mentor programs throughout the nation(e.g., Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, Austin, TX, and Denver,CO) match bright disadvantaged youngsters of all ages withprofessionals of all types. Student self-confidence and aspi-rations are raised to new heights as the relationship growsand develops. Young adolescents gain a sense of both thelifestyle associated with the mentor's profession and the ed-ucational course that leads to it. These relationships extendfar beyond the boundaries of local schools, where they of-ten start, as mentors become extended family membersand, later, colleagues. Said one mentor, in a Public Broad-casting Service documentary film (James & Camp, 1s89),"This is not just a business relationship. I specialize in [stu-dent's name)." The mentor, a renowned journalist whoworks with one student at a time and offers workshops inmentoring, went on to say, We unlock the future. Our rela-tionship is valuable at various stages of life and in differentways." The student responded, "I m glad he's so critical [ofmy work]. A mentor sees things in you, things you may nothave seen yourself."

A true mentor relationship does not formally end. In thisinstance, both parties were energized by the process andsaid that they have continued to learn from one another,growing personally and professionally. They thr..ught of oneanother as colleagues, although, the student, currently aJournalist in a large city, still relies on her mentor when sheneeds advice on a news story. They communicate by faxmachine. Each hae made an indelible imprint upon the lifeof the other.

The following guidelines, adapted from Gifted Children(Kaufi,i4rin, 1988), may be useful to parents and

educators who wish to expicre mentor relationships for gift-ed youngsters.

Guidelines for Educators and Parents

Identify what (not whom) a youngster needs. The stu-dent may want to learn a particular skill or subject orwant someone to offer help in trying out a whole newlifestyle.Decide with the youngster whether he or she reallywants a mentor. Some might just want a pal, advisor, or

30

exposure to a career field, rather than a mentor rela,tionship that entails close, prolonged contact and per-sonal growth.Identify a few mentor candidates. Ii access to local re-sources is limited, long-distance mentors are an option.Who's Who directories and the Encyclopedia of Associ-ations are rich sources of potential mentors.Interview the mentors. Find out whether they haveenough time and interest to be real role models, wheth-er their style of teaching would be compatible with theyoungster's learning style, and whether they are excit-ed about their work and want to share their skills. Beexplicit about the student's abilities and needs andabout the potential benefits the mentor might derivefrom working with the young person.Prepare the youngster for the mentorship. Make surethe youngster understands the purpose of the relation-ship, its benefits and limitations, and the rights and re-sponsibilities that go along with it. Make sure you un-derstand these things as well.Monitor the mentor relationship. If, after giving the men-torship a fair chance, you feel that the youngster is notidentifying with the mentor, that self-esteem and self-confidence are not being fostered, that common goalsare not developing, or that expectations on either sideare unrealistic, it might be wise to renegotiate the expe-rience with the youngster and the mentor. In extremecases seek a new mentor.

Questions to Ask Students

Does the student want a mentor? Or does the studentsimply want enrichment in the form of exposure to aparticular subject or career field?What type of mentor does the student need?Is the student prepared to spend a significant amountof time with the mentor?Does the student understand the purpose, benefits,and limitations of the mentor relationship?

To identify mentor candidates, use your own circle of friendsand their contacts, other parents of gifted students, localschools, local universities, businesses and agencies, pro-fessional associations, local arts groups, and organizationssuch as the American Association of Retired Persons. StateGovernors' Schools and magnet high schools for gifted stu-dents are also potential sources of information on mentorsand mentorship programs.

Questions to Ask Mentors

Does the mentor understand and like working with gift-ed v a and adolescents?Is trt1/4. ssIntor's teaching style compatible with the stu-dent's learning style?Is the mentor willing to bo a real role model, sharing theexcitement and joy of .rning?Is the mentor optimistic, with a "sense of tomorrow "?

Cox and Daniel (1983) and Cox, Dan 91, and Boston (1985)have provided useful gL.delines for establishing ft-son:Jr pro-grams.

For more information, contact Gray and Associates, in careof the International Centre for Mentoring, 4042 West 27thAvenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6S 1R7. if you want tobecome a mentor, call your local volunteer coordinatingagencies or clearinghouses such as United Way.

One plus one Pass it on.

ReferencesBerger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students. Reston, VA.

The Council for Exceptional Children.Boston, B. (1976). The sorcerer's apprentice: A case study in the

role of the mentor. Reston, VA: ERIC Clearinghouse on Handi-capped and Gifted Children/The Council for Exceptional Chil-dren.

Boston, B. (1979). The mentor and the education of the gifted andtalented. In J. H. Orloff (Ed.), Beyond awareness: Providing forthe gifted child, (pp. 36-41). Proceedings of the Fourth AnnualNorthern Virginia Conference on Gifted/Talented Education,Northern Virginia r.:oumil for Gifted/Talented Education, FallsChurch, VA.

:ox, J., & Daniel, N. (1983). The role of the mentor. G/C/T, 29, 54-61.

Cox, J., Daniel, 14., & Boston, B. (1985. '1 Educating able learners.Austin, TX: University of Texas Press

Frederickson, R. H., & Rothney, J. W. M. '1972). Recognizing andassisting multipotential youth. Columbus, OH: Merril,

James, D. J. (Producer), & Camp, J. (Director). (1989, October 18).Mentors, a match for success (film). Washington, DC.: WETA,Channel 26, Greater Washington Educational Telecommunica-tions Association.

Kaufmann, F. (1981). The 1964-1968 Presidential Scholars: A fol-low-up study. Exceptional Children, 48, 164-169.

Kaufmann, F. (1988). Mentors provide personal coaching. GiftedChild Monthly 9 (1), 1-3.

Kaufmann, F., Harrel, G., Milam, C. P., Woolverton, N., & Miller, J.(1986). The nature, rote, and influence of mentors in the livesof gifted adults. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64,576-578.

Kerr, B. (1983, September). Raising the career aspirations of giftedgirls. The VouJtional Guidance Quarterly, 32, 37-43.

Kerr, B. (1985). Smart girls, gifted womon. Columbus, OH: OhioPsychology.

McIntosh, M. E., & Greenlaw, M. J. (1990). Fostenng the postsec-ondary aspirations of gifted urban. minonty students. In S. Ber-ger (Ed.), ERIC Flyer Files. Roston, VA. ERIC Cleannghouseon Handicapped and Gifted Children.

Weinberg, H., (Producer) & Weinberg, H. (Director). (1989, October18). One plus one (film). The Public Television Outreach Alli-ance, Corporation for Public Broadcasting; QED Communica-tions.

Additional ReadingGoertzel, M., Goertzel, V., & Goertzel, T. (1978). 300 eminent per-

sonalities. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Torrance, E. P. (1984). Mentor relationships: How they aid creative

achievement, endure change and die. New York: Beady Lim-ited.

Prepared by Sandra L. Berger, author cf College Planning for Gifted Students (1989) and editor ofERIC Flyer Files on Gifted Learners (1990).

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

40

spect to interests, skill levels in particular areas, social de-velopment, and physical abilities.

Understanding the unique developmental patterns oftenpresent in gifted young children can help both parents andteachers adjust their expectations of academic performanceto a more reasonable level.

Choosing a Program or SchoolOne of the few psychological truths educators and psychol-ogists agree on is that the most learning occurs when anoptimal match between the learner's current understandingand the challenge of new learning material has been care-fully engineered. Choosing a program or school for a giftedchild who masters ideas and concepts quickly but behaveslike atypical 4- or 5-year-old child is indeed a challenge.

Many intellectually gifted children master the cognitivecontent of most preschool and kindergarten programs quiteearly. They come to school ready and eager to learn con-cepts not usually taught until an older age. However, aca-demic tasks designed for older children often require thelearner to carry out teacher-directed activities while sittingstill and concentrating on written worksheets. Young chil-dren, no matter how bright they are, require active involve-ment wall learning materials and often do not have the writ-ing skills required for above-grade-level work.

Since many gifted children will hide their abilities in or-der to fit in more closely with classmates in a regular pro-gram, teachers may not be able to observe advanced intel-lectual or academic abilities directly. If a kindergartnerenters school with fluent reading ability, the parent shouldshare this information at the beginning of the year instead ofwaiting until the end of the year to complain that the teacherdid not find out that the child could read. When parents andteachers pool their observations of a child's skills, they be-gin to work together to develop appropriate educational op-tions for nurturing those abilities. Parents whose childrenhave some unusual characteristics that will affect theirlearning needs have an obligation to share that informationwith educators, just as educators have an obligation to lis-ten cangully to parent concerns.

When the entry level of learners is generally high butextremely diverse, an appropriate program must be highlyindividualized. Children should be encouraged to progressat their own learning rate, which will result in most cases insubject matter acceleration. The program should be broadlybased, with planned opportunities for development of social,physical, and cognitive skills in the informa; atmosphere ofan early childhood classroom.

One primary task of teachers is to make appropriatelyadvanced content accessible to young children, taking intoaccount individual social and physical skills. Lessons can be

broken into short units, activities presented as games, andmany concepts taught through inquiry-oriented dialogue andexperimentation with manipulatable materials. Language ex-perience activities in reading and the use of manipulatablemathematics materials, as describeo in products such asMathematics Their Way (Baratta-Lorton, 1976), are goodexamples of appropriate curriculum approaches.

An appropriate learning environment should also offer agifted young child the opportunity to discover true peers atan early age. Parents of gifted children frequently find that,while their child can get along with other children in theneighborhood, an intense friendship is likely to develop witha more developmentally equal peer met in a special class orinterest-based activity. Such parents may be dismayed todiscover that this best friend does not live next door butacross town, and they may wonder whether or not to give into their child's pleas for inconvenient visits. Probably one ofthe most supportive activities a parent can engage in is tohelp a child find a true friend and make the effort required topermit the friendship to flower.

In looking for an appropriate program for their giftedpreschooler, then, parents must be aware of tha learningneeds of young children and not be misled by so-called ex-perts who advocate rigid academic approaches with an em-phasis on rote memorization and repetition. Rather, wiseparents will look for open-endedness, flexible grouping, andopportunities for advanced activities in a program that al-lows their child to learn in the company of intellectual peers.

ResourcesAllen, R. V , & Allen. C. (1970). Language experiences in reading

(Vols.1 & 2). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Press.Baratta-Lorton, M. (1976). Mathematics their way: An activity center

mathematics program for early childhood education. MenloPark, CA: Addison-Wesley.

Roedell, W. C. (1989). Early development of gifted children. In J.VanTassel-Baska, & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns ofinfluence on gifted learners (pp.13-28). New York. TeachersCollege Press.

Roedell, W. C., Jackson, N. E., & Robinson, H. B. (1980). Giftedyoung children. New York: Teachers College Press.

Spivack, G., & Shure, M. B. (1974). Social adjustment of young chsl-dren. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Additional ReadingSmutriy, J F , Veenker, K, & Veenker, S. (1989). Your gifted child.

How to recognize and develop the special talents in your childfrom birth to age seven. A practical sourcebook containing awealth of information for parents and educators of young giftedchildren. Leads parents through infancy and early childhood,discuss:rig topics such as language development, creativity,and how to choose schools. Provides a developmental check-list. New York: Facts On File.

Prepared by Wendy C. Roedell, Director, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, Edu-cational Service District 121, Seattle, Washington, and senior author of Gifted Young Children.

Note. Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Roedell, W. (1989). Early development of gift-ed children. In J. VanTassel-Baska & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns of Influence on giftedlearners, The home, the self, and the school (pp. 13-28). (New York: Teachers College Press. ©1989 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.)

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

42

spect to interests, skill levels in particular areas, social de-velopment, and physical abilities.

Understanding the unique developmental patterns oftenpresent in gifted young children can help both parents andteachers adjust their expectations of academic performanceto a more reasonable level.

Choosing a Program or SchoolOne of the few psychological truths educators and psychol-ogists agree on is that the most learning occurs when anoptimal match between the learner's current understandingand the challenge of new learning material has been care-fully engineered. Choosing a program or school for a giftedchild who masters ideas and concepts quickly but behaveslike atypical 4- or 5-year-old child is indeed a challenge.

Many intellectually gifted children master the cognitivecontent of most preschool and kindergarten programs quiteearly. They come to school ready and eager to learn con-cepts not usually taught until an older age. However, aca-demic tasks designed for older children often require thelearner to carry out teacher-directed activities while sittingstill and concentrating on written worksheets. Young chil-dren, no matter how bright they are, require active involve-ment wall learning materials and often do not have the writ-ing skills required for above-grade-level work.

Since many gifted children will hide their abilities in or-der to fit in more closely with classmates in a regular pro-gram, teachers may not be able to observe advanced intel-lectual or academic abilities directly. If a kindergartnerenters school with fluent reading ability, the parent shouldshare this information at the beginning of the year instead ofwaiting until the end of the year to complain that the teacherdid not find out that the child could read. When parents andteachers pool their observations of a child's skills, they be-gin to work together to develop appropriate educational op-tions for nurturing those abilities. Parents whose childrenhave some unusual characteristics that will affect theirlearning needs have an obligation to share that informationwith educators, just as educators have an obligation to lis-ten cangully to parent concerns.

When the entry level of learners is generally high butextremely diverse, an appropriate program must be highlyindividualized. Children should be encouraged to progressat their own learning rate, which will result in most cases insubject matter acceleration. The program should be broadlybased, with planned opportunities for development of social,physical, and cognitive skills in the informa; atmosphere ofan early childhood classroom.

One primary task of teachers is to make appropriatelyadvanced content accessible to young children, taking intoaccount individual social and physical skills. Lessons can be

broken into short units, activities presented as games, andmany concepts taught through inquiry-oriented dialogue andexperimentation with manipulatable materials. Language ex-perience activities in reading and the use of manipulatablemathematics materials, as describeo in products such asMathematics Their Way (Baratta-Lorton, 1976), are goodexamples of appropriate curriculum approaches.

An appropriate learning environment should also offer agifted young child the opportunity to discover true peers atan early age. Parents of gifted children frequently find that,while their child can get along with other children in theneighborhood, an intense friendship is likely to develop witha more developmentally equal peer met in a special class orinterest-based activity. Such parents may be dismayed todiscover that this best friend does not live next door butacross town, and they may wonder whether or not to give into their child's pleas for inconvenient visits. Probably one ofthe most supportive activities a parent can engage in is tohelp a child find a true friend and make the effort required topermit the friendship to flower.

In looking for an appropriate program for their giftedpreschooler, then, parents must be aware of tha learningneeds of young children and not be misled by so-called ex-perts who advocate rigid academic approaches with an em-phasis on rote memorization and repetition. Rather, wiseparents will look for open-endedness, flexible grouping, andopportunities for advanced activities in a program that al-lows their child to learn in the company of intellectual peers.

ResourcesAllen, R. V , & Allen. C. (1970). Language experiences in reading

(Vols.1 & 2). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Press.Baratta-Lorton, M. (1976). Mathematics their way: An activity center

mathematics program for early childhood education. MenloPark, CA: Addison-Wesley.

Roedell, W. C. (1989). Early development of gifted children. In J.VanTassel-Baska, & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns ofinfluence on gifted learners (pp.13-28). New York. TeachersCollege Press.

Roedell, W. C., Jackson, N. E., & Robinson, H. B. (1980). Giftedyoung children. New York: Teachers College Press.

Spivack, G., & Shure, M. B. (1974). Social adjustment of young chsl-dren. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Additional ReadingSmutriy, J F , Veenker, K, & Veenker, S. (1989). Your gifted child.

How to recognize and develop the special talents in your childfrom birth to age seven. A practical sourcebook containing awealth of information for parents and educators of young giftedchildren. Leads parents through infancy and early childhood,discuss:rig topics such as language development, creativity,and how to choose schools. Provides a developmental check-list. New York: Facts On File.

Prepared by Wendy C. Roedell, Director, Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program, Edu-cational Service District 121, Seattle, Washington, and senior author of Gifted Young Children.

Note. Reprinted by permission of the publisher from Roedell, W. (1989). Early development of gift-ed children. In J. VanTassel-Baska & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns of Influence on giftedlearners, The home, the self, and the school (pp. 13-28). (New York: Teachers College Press. ©1989 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.)

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

42

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E488 EC-90

HELPING GIFTED STUDENTS WITH STRESS MANAGEMENT

What is stress?

Stress is the body's general response to any intense physi-cal, emotional, or mental demand placed on it by oneself orothers. While racing to meet a deadline, dealing with a diffi-cult person, or earning a poor grade are all stressful, so arethe excitement of playing a lively game of tennis, falling inlove, and being selected to join a special program for giftedstudents.

How can a youngster experience stress whennothing bad is happening?

Anything can be a stressor if it lasts long enough, happensoften enough, is strong enough, or is perceived as stress.Working diligently on a project, performing many simple b.itboring tasks, or earning an "A" grade when one expected an"4" may all be stressful.

Is a gifted student mom likely to feel stress thanothers?

Many gifted youngsters have a heightened sensitivity totheir surroundings, to events, to ideas, and tc expectations.Some experience their own high expectations for achieve-ment as a relentless pressure to excel. Constant striving tolive up to self-expectations--or those of othersto be first,best, or both can be very stressful. With every new course,new teacher, or new school questions arise about achieve-ment and performance, since every new situation carrieswith it the frightening risk of being mediocre. Striving be-comes even more stressful when unrealistic or unclear ex-pectations are imposed by adults or peers. The pressure toexcel, accompanied by other concerns such as feeling dif-ferent, self-doubt (the "imposter" syndrome), and the needto prove their giftedness can drain the enorgy of gifted stu-dents and result in additional stress.

Stress occurs even when everything is going well.Youngsters get tired from their constarn efforts and may se-may fear that next time thoy will not be as successful.

What are some other stresses on a giftedstudent?

Many gifted students accept responsibility for a variety ofactivities such as a demanding courseload; leadership in:chool activit:as, clubs, or sports; and part-time jobs. Even ifit were humanly possible, doing everything well would bephysically and emotionally stressful.

Vacations may be stressful if students are comfortableonly when achieving and succeeding. Taking time off maymake them feel nervous and lacking control.

Gifted students need intellectual challenge. Boring,monotonous busy-work is very stressful for individuals whoprefer thinking and reasoning activities. Boredom may resultin anger, resentment, or, in some cases, setting personalgoals for achievement and success that significantly exceedthose of parents or school.

Some gifted students value independence and leader-ship, yet the separation they feel from their peers results inloneliness and fewer opportunities to relieve stress. Findinga peer group can be difficult, particularly for adolescents.Some experience a conflict between belonging to a groupand using their extraordinary abilities.

Gifted students are complex thinkers, persuasively ableto argue both sides of any question. This ability, however,may complicate decisions. Students may lack informationabout and experience with resources, processes, outcomes,or priorities that help tip an argument toward a clear solu-tion. Furthermore, not every problem has one obviously cor-rect answer. Compromise and accommodation are realitiesin ti,e adult world, but they are not easily perceived from ayoung person's viewpoint. Thus, decision making may be avery stressful process.

How can stress hurt a gifted student'sself-esteem?

During the early years, school may be easy, with minimumeffort required for success. If students are not challenged,they conclude that "giftedness" means instant learning,comprehension, and mastery, and that outstanding achieve-ment follows naturally. As years pass, however, schoolworkbecomes more difficult. Some students discover that theymust work harder to earn top grades and that they have notdeveloped productive study habits. Many suspect they areno longer gifted, and their sense of self-worth is under-mined.

Stress can hamper the very abilities that make thesestudents gifted. Stress clouds thinking, reduces concentra-tion, and impairs decision making. It leads to forgetfulnessand a loss of ability to focus keenly on a task, and it makesstudents overly sensitive to criticism. Under these condi-tions, they perform less wall and are more upset by theirfailures.

4 "0

Gifted students have so much potential. How canthat be stressful?

Abundant gifts and the potential for success in many differ-ent subjects and careers may increase opportunities andlead to complex choices. Limiting options is a confusing andupsetting process because it means saying "no" to some at-tractive alternatives. A person cannot prepare to become anarchitect and a financial planner, or an advertising executiveand a scientist. At some point, the education needed for onecareer splits from that needed for the other. To set careergoals, students must know themselves well as individuals.They must understand their own personalities, values, andgoals and use self-awareness as a guide for making deci-sions. These activities are all stressful.

How can gifted students cope with stress?

Some ways of coping with stress are healthy; others arenot. Some healthy ways of handling stress include the fol-lowing:

Change the source of the stress. Do something else for awhile. Put down those study notes and jog for an hour.

Confront the source of the stress. If it is a person, persuadehim or her to remove the stress. Ask the teacher for an ex-tension on a project. Sit down with the person driving Ducrazy and talk about ways you might better work together.

Talk about the source of stress. Rid yourself of frustration.Find a good listener and complain. Talk through possiblesolutions.

Shift your perspective. Tell yourself that each new situationor problem is a new challenge, and that there is somethingto be learned from every experience. Try to see the humor-ous side of the situation.

Learn skills and attitudes that make tasks easier and moresuccessful. Practice effective organization and time-management skills. For example, large projects are easierand less overwhelming when broken down into manageablesteps. Learn re type and revise assignments on a word pro-cessor. Learn about yourself and your priorities, and use theinformation to make decisions. Learn how to say no grace-fully when someone offers you another attractive (or un-pleasant) task about whici you have a choice. Tell yourselfthat this unpleasantness will be over soon and that thewhole process will bring you closer to reaching your goal.Mark the days that are left on the calendar, and enjoy cross-ing out each one as you near the finish.

Take time out for enjoyable activities. Everyone needs asupport system. Find friends, teach -'. or relatives withwhom you have fun. Spend time with these people whenyou can be yourself and set aside the pressures of school,work, or difficult relationships. As a reward for your efforts,give yourself work breaks. Listen to your favorite music,shoot baskets, or participate in some other brief activity thatis mentally restful or fun.

Ignore the source of the stress. Practice a little healthy pro-crastination and put a pleasant activity ahead of the stress-ful one. This, is, of course, only a short - terry, solution.

Get regular physical exorcise and practice sound nutrition.Physical activity not only provides time out, but also chang-es your body chemistry as you burn off muscle tension builtup from accommodating stress. Exercise also increases re-sistance to illness. Nutritious food and regular meals kelpregulate your body chemistry and keep you functioning atyour sharpest. Eating healthy and attractively prepared foodcan be an enjoyable activity on its own.

The following are some unhealthy ways students cope withstress:

Escaping through alcohol, drugs, frequent illness, sleep,overeating, or starving themselves. These strategies sug-gest a permanent withdrawal or avoidance rattier than atime out.

Selecting strategies to avoid failure. Gifted students closelylink their identities to excellence and achievement. Failure,or even the perception of failure, seriously threatens theirself-esteem. By not trying, or by selecting impossible goals,students can escape having their giftedness questioned.Only their lack of effort will be questioned.

4:ming too low. This reduces stress by eliminating intensepiossure or possible feelings of failure. Dogged procrastina-tion in starting projects, selecting less competitive collegesor less rigorous purses, or dropping out of school ratherthan bringing home poor grades allows students to avoidfeelings of failure in the short run. sadly, this sets the stagefor long-term disappointmert caused by a destructive cop-ing style.

Overschodtang daily life with schoolwork and extracuffku-tar activities, selecting impossibly dernaiding courseloads,or fussing endlessly over assignments in vain attempts tomake them perfect With this strategy, it is possible to suc-ceed only through superhuman effort; thus the student cansave face by setting coals tco high for anyone to achieve.

How can I tell whether or not a gifted student isexperiencing burnout?

Not all gifted youngsters are stressed by the same events.Individual responses to stress also differ: Younger studentsdo not tend to respond to stress in the same way that teen-agers do. Since each student is unique, parents and teach-ers will have to watch carefully to know whether a child isstressed to the point of constructive excitement or to thepoint of damaging overload.

The following checklist includes many, but not all, symp-toms of burnout:

Student is no longer happy or pleasantly excitedabout school activities, but, rather, is negative orcynical toward work, teachers, classmates, par-ents, and the whole school- and achievement-centered experience.

Student approaches most school assignments withresignation or resentment.

Student exhibits boredom.

Student suffers from sleeplessness, problems infalling asleep, or periodic waking.

Student overreacts to normal concerns or events.

Student expailcnces fatigue, extreme tiredness,low energy level.

Student exhibits unhappiness with self and accom-plishm ents.

Student has nervous habits such as eye blinking,head shaking, or stuttering.

Student has physical ailments such as weekly ordaily stomachaches or headaches.

Student is frequently ill.

Student exhibits dependency through increasedclinging or needing and demanding constant sup-port and reassurance.

Student engages in attention-getting behaviorssuch as aggressive or acting-out behaviors.

Student has a sense of being trapped or a feelingor being out of control.

Student is unable to make decisions.

Stt.dent has lost perspective and sense of humor.

Student experiences increased feelings of physi-cal, emotional, and menta. exhaustion in work andactivities that used to give pleasure.

How can parents, teachers, and counselorsreduce stress on gifted students?

Help each gifted student understand and cope with his orher intellectual, social, and emotional needs during eachstage of development. In some ways, the needs of giftedstudents mirror those of more typical children. Giftedness,however, adds a special dimension to self-understandingand self-acceptance. If gifted youngsters are to develop intoself-fulfilled adults, the following differential needs must beaddressed. (a) the need to understand the ways in whichthey are different from others and the ways in which theyare the same, (b) the need to accept their abilities, talents,and limitations, (c) the need to etuveloo social skills, (d) theneed to feel understood and accepted by others; and (e) theneed to develop an understanding of the distinction be-tween "pursuit of excellence" and "pursuit of perfection.'Van Tassel-Baska (1989) and De lisle (1988) have offereduseful suggestions on how to meet these needs.

Help each gifted student develop a realistic and accurateseff-concept. Giftedness does not mean instant mastery orwinning awards. Parents and teachers need to set realisticexpectations for efforts and achievements and help the stu-dent choose appropriate goals. it is important to recognizeand appreciate efforts and improvement.

On the other hand, giftedness permits people to learnand use information in =usual ways. Given parental sup-port and encouragement, personal motivation, and opportu-nities to learn and apply their knowledge, gifted students

may enjoy the process of creating new ideas, especially ifthey believe that it is all right to think differently than age-mates.

Help each gifted student be a whole person. Gifted young-sters are children first and gifted sscond. While their learn-ing styles may be special, they are individuals with emo-tions, likes and dislikes, and unique personalities. They willnot wake up one day and be "not gifted." They should notfeel responsible for solving world problems, nor does theworld owe them tribute. it is up to each student to make lifemeaningful. Understanding these realistic limits to the boun-ty giftedness can reduce stress on confused students.

Gifted students have strong emotions that give person-al meaning to each experience. Emotions should be recog-nized, understood, and used as a valid basis for appropriatebehaviors.

Show patience. Let students select and strive toward theirown goals. Do not compare them or their achievements toothers.

Some gifted students are intensely curious and mayhave less tolerance for ambiguity and unpredictability thantheir age-mates. Help them develop patience with them-selves.

Show acceptance and encouragement. Encourage studentsto work purposefully, thoughtfully, and thoroughly and dothe best they can. it is not necessary to excel in every situa-tion. Help them develop priorities to decide which tasks re-quire the best efforts and which require simply "goodenough."

Accept and reward efforts and the process of workingon tasks. Sincere effort is valuable in itself and deserves re-inforcement. The means may be more deserving of meritthan the ends. Efforts are within the gifted $,Jdents' control;the outcomes (high grades, prizes, honors, etc.) are not.Show love and acceptance, regardless of the outcome.These youngsters need to be cherished as individuals, notsimply for their accomplishments. They must know that theycan go home and be lovedand continue to love them-selveseven when they do not finish first or best.

Encourage flexibility and appropriate behavior. Curiosity isfrequently mentioned as a characteristic of gifted learners.Many individuals agree that gifted students seem to ques-tion rules automatically, asking "How come ?" Concernedadults can reduce stress on gifted students by help;ng themdistinguish between hard-and-fast rules that should be fol-lowed and those that can safely be questioned or alteredand helping them understand why rules sometimes changefrom time to time.

Many people recognize that new ideas come from re-shaping and discarding old notions of right and wrong andwant students to be inquiring, creative, and resourcefulthinkers. But society, schools, teacners, and academic sub-jects have rules. In our society, flagrant rule breakers maybe penalized and shut out of opportunities for further growthand enrichment. Our students will become better thinkers bylearning that rules are man-made guides to behavior, notperfect or divine, but they are to be learned, understood,and followed appropriately in certain situations. For in-stance, not every student will like every teacher, but show-

45

ing respect is appropriate behavior even if the student pri-vately thinks otherwise. Wise adults can model problem-solving methods that result in workable solutions and helpgifted students learn when and how to use their novel per-ceptions, creativity, and independent thoughts appropriatelyand effectively.

Understanding and following rules does not mean con-forming to every situation. There are some occasions whengifted students should not be expected to accommodateothers. For example, a severe mismatch between a young-ster's ability level and a school program may be very stress-ful. Altering the student's curriculum may solve the problem.

Some parents unintentionally send mixed messages re-garding behavior. When children are rude or uncooperativeand offend teachers, other adults, or peers, their parents be-have as though giftedness somehow excuses such behav-ior and the offending actions highlight their child's special-ness. Some even seem pleased. These parents do theirchildren a great disservice by denying :. .n the opportunityto learn empathy, teamwork, and tolerance for individual dif-ferences.

Let students live their own lives. Caring adults support, en-courage, and celebrate students' efforts and successes, butthey stand back a bit from these efforts and achievements.They let students select and master activities for personalenjoyment. Unfortunately, some students wonder whethertheir efforts and gains are for personal satisfaction or toplewe overly involved parents, teachers, or others. Whenthese students wish to give up an activity that no longerbrings pleasure or interest, they fear they will disappoint oth-ers, and they are likely to feel trapped.

Be available for guidance and advice. Some gifted studentsappear to be more mature than their chronological age indi-cates. They have advanced verbal skills and can talk agood line. Nevertheless, they are still children and need rea-listic, clearly stated guidelines about limits, values, andproper behavior. These young people may not have enoughinformation or experience to make wise and effective deci-sions. They may not understand decision-making process-es, and they need wise adults to listen and guide as theytalk through the problem, the alternatives, and the pro's andcon's and try out choices. Knowing that they can be inde-pendent and still talk through their thoughts with others with-out losing face reduces stress for these students.

Gifted students need to hear adults openly state someof their perspectives to understand expectations and ac-ceptable limits. While these students are very perceptive,they cannot read minds.

Gifted students may know more facts about their inter-est area than do their parents and other adults. However,they have not lived longer, they need loving concern andguidance.

ReferencesDelisle, J. R. (1988). Stress and the gifted child. Under-

standing Our Gifted, 1(1), 1, 12, 15-16.

VanTassel-Baska, J. (1989). Counseling the gifted. In J.Feldhusen, J. VanTassel-Baska, & K. Seeley, Excel-lence in educating the gifted (pp. 299-314). Denver,CO: Love Publishing.

ResourcesEllenhorn, J. H. (1988). Rules, roles, and responsibilities.

Understanding Our Gifted, 1(2), 1,12, 13.

Higham, S., & Buescher, T. M. (1987). What young giftedadolescents understand about "feeling different." In T.M. Buescher (Ed.), Understanding gifted and talentedadolescents: A resource guide for counselors, educa-tors, and parents (pp. 26-30). Evanston, IL: Center forTalent Development, Northwestern University.

Kaplan, L. S. (1983). Mistakes gifted young people too oftenmake. Roeper Review, 6(2), 73-77.

Pelsma, D. M. (1988). Children coping with stress: A work-shop for parents. The School Counselor, 36 (2), 153-157.

Pines, A. M., & Aronson, E., with Kafry, D. (1981). Burnout.From tedium to personal growth. New York. The FreePress.

Selye, H. (1978). The stress of life (rev. ed). New York:McGraw-Hill.

VanTassel-Baska, J. (Ed.) (1990). A practical guide to coun-seling the gifted in a school setting (2nd ed.). Reston,VA: The Council for Exceptional Children/ERIC Clear-inghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children.

Webb, J. T., Meckstroth, E.A., & Tolan, S. S. (1982). Guid-'ng the gifted child. Colc.mbus. Ohio Psychology Pub-lishing.

Prepared by Leslie S. Kaplan, Director of Guidance, York County Public Schools, Virginia, and au-thor of Coping With Peer Pressure and Coping With Stepfamilies.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. Ri88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessanly reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

4f

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HELPING ADOLESCENTS ADJUST TO GIFTEDNESS

Young gifted people between the ages of 11 and 15 fre-quently report a range of problems as a result of their abun-dant gifts: perfectionism, competitiveness, unrealistic ap-praisal of their gifts, rejection from peers, confusion due tomixed messages about their talents, and parental and socialpressures to achieve, as well as problems with unchalleng-ing school programs or increased expectations. Some en-counter difficulties in finding and choosing friends, a courseof study. and, eventually, a career. The developmental is-sues that all adolescents encounter exist also for gifted stu-dents, yet they are further complicated by the special needsand characteristics of oeing gifted. Once counselors andparents are aware of these obstacles, they seem better ableto understand and support gifted adolescents. Caring adultscan assist these young people tc.. "own" and develop theirtalents by understanding and responding to adjustmentchallenges and coping strategies.

Challenges to AdjustmentSeveral dynamics of giftedness continually interfere with adjustment gains during adolescence. Buescher (1986) hasfound that, during the early years of adolescence, giftedyoung people encounter several potent obstacles, singly orin combination.

Ownership. Talented adolescents simultaneously "own" andyet question the validity and reality of the abilities they pos-sess. Some researchers (Olszewski, Kulieke, & Willis,19E7) have identified patterns of disbelief, doubt, and ladeof self-esteem among older students and adults. the so-called impostor syndrome" described by Maiii talented in-dividuals. While talents have been recognized in many cas-es at an early age, doubts about the accuracy of identifica-tion and the objectivity of parents or favorite teachers linger(De & Galbraith, 1987, Galbraith, 1983). The power ofpeer pressure toward conformity, coupled with any adoles-cent's wavering sense of being predictable or intact, canlead to the denial of even the most outstanding ability. Theconflict that ensues, whether mild or acute, needs to be re-solved by gaining a more mature "ownership" and responsebility for the identified talent.

A second basic pressure often experienced by giftedstudents is that, since they have been given gifts in abun-dance, they feel they must give of themselves in abun-dance. Often it is subtly implied that their abilities belong toparents, teachers, and society.

Dissonance. By their own admission, talented adolescentsoften feel like perfectionists. They have learned to set theirstandards high, to expect to do more and be more than theirabilities might allow. Childhood desires to do demandingtasks perfectly become compounded during adolescence. Itis not uncommon for talented adolescents to experiencereal dissonance between what is actually done and how

4!

well they expected it to be accomplished. Often the disso-nance perceived by young people is far greater than mostparents or teachers realize.

Taking Risks. While risk taking has been used to character-ize younger gifted and talented children, it ironically de-creases with age, so that the bright adolescent is much lesslikely to take chances than others. Why the shift in risk-taking behaviors? Gifted adolescents appear to be moreaware of the repercussions of certain activities, whetherthese are positive or negative. They have learned to meas-ure the decided advantages and disadvantages of numer-ous opportunities and to weigh alternatives. Yet theirfeigned agility at this too often leads them to reject eventhose acceptable activities that carry some risk (e.g., ad-vanced placement courses, stiff competitions, public pres-entations), for which high success is less predictable andlower standards of performance less acceptable in theireyes. One other possible cause for less risk taking could bethe need to maintain controlto remair in spheres of influ-ence where challenging relationships, demanding course-work and teachers, or intense competition cannot enterwithout absolute personal control.

Competing Expectations. Adolescents are vulnerable to crit-icism, suggestions, and emotional-appeals from others. Par-ents, friends, siblings, and teachers are all eager to addtheir own expectations and observations to ever. the brightest students' intentions and goals. Often, others' expecta-tions for talenteci young people compete with their owndreams and plans. Delisle (1985), in particular, has pointedout that the "pull" of an adolescent's own expectations mustswim against the strong current posed by the ''push" of oth-ers' desires and demands. The dilemma is complicated bythe numerou.., options within the reach of a highly talentedstudent. The greater the talent, the greater the expectationsand outside interference.

Gifted adolescents consistently report dramatic epi-sodes of being pushed to the point of doubt and despair byinsensitive teachers, peers, and even parents. Teachers insecondary schools, in particular, have tried to disprove thetalents of individual students, saying, in effect, "Prove to meyou are as gifted as you think you are." Coping with the vagaries adolescence while also proving oneself again andagain in the classroo.rr, or peer group significantly diains en-ergy allocated for the nurmai tasks of adjustment and leadsto frequent frustration and isolation.

Impatience. Like most other adolescents, gifted studentscan be impatient in many ways. eager to find solutions fordifficult questions, anxious to develop satisfying friendships,and prone to selecting difficult but immediate alternatives forcomplex decisions. The predisposition for impulsive decision making, coupled with exceptional talent, can makeyoung adolescents particularly intolerant of ambiguous, un

resolved situations. Their impatience with a lack of clear-cutanswers, options, or decisions drives them to seek answersw'-Ire none readily exist, relying on an informing, thoughimmature, sense of wisdom. The anger and disappointmentwhen ha.>ty resolutions fail can be difficult to surmount, par-ticularly when less capable peers gloat about these failures.

Premature Identity. It appears that the weight of competingexpectations, low tolerance for ambiguity, and the pressureof multiple potentials each feed very early attempts toachieve an adultlike identity, a stage normally achieved af-ter the age of 21. This can create a serious problem for tal-ented adolescents. They seem to reach out prematurely forcareer choices that will short-cut the normal process of iden-tity crisis and resolution.

Coping StrategiesHow can talented adolescents cope with the myriad obsta-cles to developing their talents? A study of young adoles-cents who participated in a talent search program Buescher& Higham (1985) suggested various strategies. Table 1 de-picts the strategies suggested by the adolescents, arrangedaccording to their assessment of acc-ptablity for use.

The strategies were influenced by such factors as age,sex, and participation in programs for gifted students. Forexample, over the course of 4 years (ages 11 to 15), "usingone's talent to help others" moved from second place to

Table 1. Coping Strategies Suggested by Adolescents

WeightedStrategy Ranking

Accept and use abilities to help peers dobetter in classes,. 10

Make friends /vith other students withexceptional talents. 9

Select programs and classes designed forgifted/talented students. 8

Build more relationships with adults. 7Achieve in areas at school outside academics. 6Develop/excel in talent areas outside school setting. 5Be more active in community groups where

age is no object. 4Avoid programs designed for gifted/talented students. 3Adjust language and behavior to disguise

true abilities from your peers. 2Act like a "brain" so peers leave you alone. 1

Pretend not to know as much as you do. 0

Note: 10 = most acceptable to students; 0 = least acceptable.

first, by way of third. °Achieving in school in areas outsideacademics" appeared to rise in popularity until the age of 14but then droped to third place. Students participating in spe-cial programs for the gifted were less likely, as they grewolder, to mask their true abilities. Other studies have indicat-ed that gifted females appear to be somewhat vulnerable tothe pull of cultural expectations that drive them toward seek-ing peer acceptance rather than leadership and the full de-velopment of their abilities (Olszewski-Kubilius & Kulieke,1989).

ReferencesBuescher, T. M. (1985). A framework for understanding the social

and emotional development of gifted and talented adoles-cents. Roeper Review, 8(1), 10-15.

Buescher, T. M. (1986, March). Adolescents' responses to theirown recognized talent: Issues affecting counseling and adjust-ment. Paper presented at the 63rd annual meeting of theAmerican Orthopsychiatric Association, Chicago.

Buescher, T., & Higham, S. (1985). Young adolescent survey: Cop-ing skills among the gifted/talented. Unpublished instrument.Evanston, IL. Center for Talent Development, NorthwesternUniversity.

Delisle, J. (1985). Counseling gifted persons. A lifelong concern.Roeper Review, 8 (1), 4-5.

Delisle, J., & Galbraith, J. (.987). The gifted kids survival guide, II.Minneapolis: Free Spirit.

Galbraith, J. (1983). The gifted kids survival guide, ages 11-18.Minneapolis: Free Spirit.

Olszewski, P., Kulieke, M., & Willis, G. (1987). Changes in the self-concept of gifted students who participate in ngorous academ-ic programs. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 10(4),287-304.

OlszewskiKubilius, P., & Kulieke, M. (1989). Personality dimen-sions of gifted adolesc,lts. In J. VanTassel-Baska & P. Ols-zewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns of influence on gifted learners:The home, the self, and the school (pp. 125-145). New York:Teachers College Press.

ResourcesBuescher, T., Olszewski, P., & Higham, S. (1987, April). Influences

on strategies gifted adolescents use to cope with their ownrecognized talent Paper presented at the 1987 biennial meet-ing of the Society for Research in Child Development, Balti-more.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1984). Being adolescent: Con-flict and growth in the teenage years. New York. Basic Books.

Erikson, E. (1968). Identity, youth, and crisis. New York. Norton.Higham, S., & Buescher, T. (1987). What young gifted adolescents

understand about feeling different. In T. Buescher (Ed.), Un-derstanding gifted and talented adolescents (pp. 26-30).Evanston, IL. Center for Talent Development, NorthwesternUniversity.

Prepared by Thomas " Buescher, child and adolescent therapist in Camden, ME, editor of Understanding Gift-ed and Talented Adolescents, and Research Scholar, Center for Talent Development, Northwestern University,Sharon Higham, formerly Associate Director of Programs, Center for Talented Youth (CT?), Johns Hopkins Uni-versity, and currently a Fulbright Scholar researching programs for gifted students in Poland.

The material in this digest was adapted by permissior, of the publisher from Buescher, T. (1989). A develop-mental study of adjustment among gifted adolescents. In J. VanTassel-Baska & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.),Patterns of influence on gifted learners: The home, the self, and the school (pp. 102-124). New York. TeachersCollege Press. 1989 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. 8188062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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COLLEGE PLANNING FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED YOUTH

There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in theUnited States. Choosing among them is a complex task.Recruiting procedures and a wide variety of publicationssuch as college viewbooks offer idyllic scenes of campuslife, but do little to clarify student decision making. The increasing number and variety of books on how to get accept-ed by the college of your choice adds to the anxiety and axpectations. Unless the match between institutions andstudents is truly a good one, both are likely to be disap-pointed.

Gifted and talented (GT) students often have problemsbeyond those of most other students who consider collegeand career choices. A systematic, collaborative approach isneeded whereby students learn that college planning is partof life career development; it need not be a finite event thatbegins and ends mysteriously or arbitrarily.

Learning About Oneself: A 6-Year Process

A coherent, programmatic approach to college planning pro-vides opportunities for students to obtain information fromcounselors, other adults, and peers who understand theirneeds and who will listen to them, interpret and clarify theirexperiences, and discuss their concerns about changingself-concepts. Programs should include students who areidentified as gifted (generally through 10 scores) but whomay not be achieving academically. Students can learnabout themselves, their community, and career options in awide variety of ways. College Planning for Gifted Students(Berger, 1989) provides detailed information.

Seventh and Eighth Grades. Guidance activities emphasizeself-awareness, time management, work/study skills, andan introduction to career awareness. Students develop 4-to 6-year academic plan and decision-making skills. Partici-pation in regional talent searches is encouraged, and stu-dents ale provided with information on the Scholastic Apti-tude Test (SAT) and/or the American College Test (ACT),the screening instruments employed by talent searches.Planning for advaric-ztd courses often begins as early as theeighth grade, especially in the case of sequential coursessuch as mathematics, languages, and sciences. Many stu-dents will not be reac'iy or able to begin a sequence. In suchcases, summer programs, sponsored by regional talentsearches or by-mail courses provided by some regional tal-ent search programs may be a viable option.

Ninth and Tenth Grades. Guidance activities continue tohelp students clarify intellectual and social /emotional expert

49

ences, establish a sense of identity and direction, and setshort- and long-term goals. Students are encouraged toidentify and pursue interests. By 10th grade, they becomeaware of how their academic subjects, values, interests,and goals relate to careers. They also begin to learn thatsome interests and talents develop into artistic or scientificconvictions while others develop into leisure activities.

Eleventh and Twelfth Grades. Guidance activities includearranging for mentor relationships and internships. Throughgroup workshops, students learn how colleges make selec-tions, who is involved in the admissions process, how stu-dents are evaluated, and what they can offer that a collegerequires end desires. They learn about the application pro-cess and how to present themselves so that the institutionwill recognize them as a good match.

Parents can support an effective guidance program byparticipating in school career centers and providing studentswith opportunities for enrichment.

Learning About Colleges

Learning about colleges is a two-step process. Step 1 in-volves collecting general information by reacting, talking withpeople (asking questions), and visiting colleges. By the ende 11th grade, the student should be able to develop a list of10 to 20 colleges based on personal criteria. Step 2 in-volves analyzing and evaluating information. Study ntsshould be attuned to their needs and be creative resea, ch-ars. By the middle of 12th grade, the student should be ableto narrow his or her list to five or six colleges, taking intoconsideration (a) personal values, interests, and needs; (b)the variety and range of available college opportunities; (c)realistic constraints such as cost and distance; and (d) themethod used by the colleges to select a freshman class (se-lectivity factor). The final list should include a safety school(one that will definitely accept the student), a long shot (ad-missions criteria are slightly beyond the student's creden-tials), and three or four colleges having admissions criteriathat match the student's credentials.

Some gifted students are drawn to the most selectivecolleges and universities, schools that receive more than 10applications for every freshman vacancy. A student who as-pires to a highly selective college can expect a highly com-petitive application review. Students should understand thatthe way they address the application process may be thecritical factor determining acceptance or rejection.

The application requires the following two kinds of infor-m ation:

1. Objective information including biographical data, in-formation on academic performance, standardizedtest scores such as SATs or ACTs, Achievement Testscores, advanced placement (AP) examinationgrades, and additional numerical information.

2. Subjective information including extracurricular activi-ties, recommendations, essay and/or personal state-ment, and a personal interview.

What Colleges Look ForAcademic performance: Grade point average and classrank.

Academic rigor. Evidence of superior ability in the formof honors, GT, or AP courses. (Some colleges ignorehonors or GT classes because they are of unknownquality.)

Depth of study in areas such as foreign languagesand mathematics.

Quality: Four or five academic subjects each year(English, mathematics, science, history, language).

Balance: Evidence that the student took a broad cur-riculum (mathematics and science, history, and Eng-lish courses).

Trends: Evidence as to whether the student'sgrades are gradually improving each year. Recentperformance is the most important indicator of thestudent's current level of ability and motivation.

o Consistency. The parts of the application should !It to-gether to provide a common theme and make the stu-dent "come alive" on paper. Recommendations shouldsupport and be consistent with both the academicrecord and what the student says about himself or her-self. A quirk in the transcript ke.g., a low grade in an ac-ademic course during 11th or 12th grade) should be ac-companied by an explanation. High SAT scorescombined with a relatively low GPA provide an incon-sistent picture of an applicant (e.g., high ability/low mo-tive tion). The student should address these situationsin an essay or personal statement.

o Standardized tests: PSATs, SATs, ACTs, and Achieve-ment Tests are the only objective way a college cancompare students from all parts of the country. Somelarge universities screen a vast number of applicants bycombining each student's SAT or ACT score with GPAand class rank. Students who are not good test takersshould avoid such colleges or make sure that theirscores are not so low that they can be eliminated fromconsideration. Selective schools may emphasizeachievement test scores. If students wait until senior

year, only three tests may be taken.

Extracurricular activities and other supporting material:When highly selective colleges decide between two stu-dents who are academically equal, the creative presen-tation of extracurricular activities, the quality of recom-mendations, the essay or personal statement, theinterview, and other supporting material make a differ-ence.

o Community service: Admissions officers ',mow that analtruistic student, one who contributes to community lifewithout regard for compensation, is likely to contributeto college life, be academically successful, and form along-term attachment to the college or university.

Recommendations: Counselor and teacher recommen-dations should present a positive picture of the appli-cant, distinguish between the applicant and others whoare equally qualified, and be consistent with the rest ofthe student's application.

The application essay: The essay can reassure the ad-missions committee that the student is capable of col-lege-level work. Many gifted students have a difficulttime with open-ended questions. Some create beautifulprose that, on the surface, is convincing. A closer lookmay reveal that none of the ideas are documented,grounded in fact, or based on any genuine information.

A counselor's role as student advocate and resourcedoes not end when letters of acceptance arrive. Some stu-dents have difficulty breaking away. These students spendyears in academic and social activities that nurture closefriendships, and they sense that their lives are about tochange. Although this is true for adolescents in general, gift-ed students may especially need guidance activities thatease the transition from high school to college.

College and career planning may be particularly diffi-cult for some gifted students. However, it can be a growthpromoting experience for all participants when the ultimategoalstudent decisions based on realistic criteria that resultin a satisfying lifeis kept at the forefront of all decision-making activity.

ReferenceBerger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students. Reston, VA:

The Council for Exceptional Children.

ResourcesBuescher, T. (1987). Counseling gifted adolescents: A curriculum

model for students, parents, and professionals. Gifted ChildQuarterly, 31(2), 90-93.

VanTassel-Baska, J. (Ed.). (1990). A practical guide to counselingthe gifted in a school setting (2nd ed.). Reston, VA: The Coun-cil for Exceptional Children.

Prepared by Sandra L. Berger. The material in this digest was derived from College Planning forGifted Students (1989) by S. Berger, published by The Council for Exception& Children and theERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may ba freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Edvcational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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DISCOVERING INTERESTS AND TALENTSTHROUGH SUMMER EXPERIENCES

What are the possibilities?

Work side by side with a microbiologist 8 hours a day. Col-laborate with playwrights and directors to produce a newplay. Learn to fly a small plane. Be immersed in the world ofmusic. Be a writer 12 hours a day, creating short stories,poems, essays, or a weekly newspaper. Study the ecosys-tems of coral reefs on daily dives in the Caribbean. Build awooden sea kayak a-d paddle it along the Maine coast for 3weeks. Learn to speak Arabic, Chinese, or Portuguese.

What needs do summer programs meet?

The majority of summer experiences are designed to pro-vide a pressure-free, noncompetitive environment in whichyoung people can explore their areas of particular interest indepth. They have an opportunity to work with adult rolemodels who are enthusiastic about their field and give indi-vidual support to each participant. Gifted students find it val-idating to be among peers who share their own excitementand skill level. They form bonds based on common interestswith youth from around the country and the world. Manyprograms, especially outdoor adventures, help young peo-ple develop teamwork skills. For children whose abilities ex-ceed those of their age mates, ungraded programs basedon interest and skill rather than age provide a supportiveand stimulating environment.

Summer is a perfect time to experimenta time foryoung people to test out their interest level in a topic. By im-mersing themselves full time for a month or two in painting,architecture, marine biology, or laboratory research, theygain a realistic introduction to the content, demands, andlifestyle of a career area they may be considering. Such anexperience can be helpful in deciding whether they want topursue a topic as a hobby or a main focus. Summer is alsoa time to try out an entirely new area that may not be availa-ble during the school year.

If students choose a program on a college campus,they also have a chance to adjust to college courses,scheduling out-of-class time, and dormitory life before thepressures of the freshman year begin. These programs alsoprovide an excellent opportunity for students to test out theirassumptions about campus sizes and locations: They canexperience day-to-day life on a small rural campus or in alarge urban location before committing themselves to ful-time enrollment.

Who should make the selection?

Young people who are involved in every step of choosing asummer program have a more satisfying experience than

youngs ars who are placed in a program of their parents' orcounselk r's choice. Staff members and other participantscan name the youngsters who show a lack of commitmentto the program because it was someone else's idea.

The selection process itself can also provide a sense ofaccomplishment and closure for gifted students. In addition,researching and evaluating the possibilities and filling outthe applications aome of which may require personal state-ments of interest, are excellent first steps toward the collegeselection and application process. Questions young peopleask themselves in looking for summer programs are similarto questions they will ask in finding an appropriate collegefocus and atmosphere (Berger, 1989).

What does the selection process involve?

it is important to find a program that meets the total needsof a childsocial and emotional as well as intellectual. Se-lecting a program is a two-step process. First young peoplenosd to think about what they wantabout what is impor-tant to them as individuals. This involves thinking about thesubject area or areas, the type of activities they enjoy, andthe atmosphere in which they are most comfortable andmost successful.

The second step involves learning as much as possibleabout a variety of programs. Young people can use the di-rectories listed at the end of this digest and/or independenteducational counselors to get a starting list of programs. It isuseful to request ,brochures from five cr more programs inthe same field. Reading and comparing a significant numberof brochures on the same topic reveals differences in theprograms' emphases and philosophies as well as the activi-ties they offer and the daily schedules.

Once a young person understands what is generallyavailable in a field, it is time to find out specific informationabout individual programs. Two valuable sources are previ-ous participants and the program director and staff. In talk-ing with several previous participants, a child gains a realis-tic view of what involvement in the program will be like.

Directors of reputable programs welcome questions byprospective participants. They want the youngsters in theirprograms to have successful, happy experiences. Theyknow that one of the best ways to ensure success is foryoungsters to understand ahead of time just what is in-volved so they can pick a program that matches their goals.

What variables are Important?

Within each subject area, different organizations set up theirprograms in different ways. For example, some camps andschools have rigid schedules that include a series of activity

periods. Other organizations provide a flexible format inwhich participants may remain in an activity for an extendedamount of time. Some academic programs require 2 hoursof study every evening while others believe that schedulingone's time is part of the learning process. Neither programis right or wrong; each is suited to the learning patterns andlifestyles of different participants. The following are some ofthe many other factors that vary from program to program(Ware, 1990):

Length: Programs vary from 1 to 10 weeks. Length affectsthe skill level that can be reached and the overall cost.

Age Range: Determine the age range of participants andthe way they are grouped to know whether a child will bewith peers or will be one of the oldest or youngest mem-ber:: In campus programs will the child study with under-graduates or peers?

Requirements: In some types of programs, especially in ac-ademics and music, the requirements for application canprovide a clue to what one can expect. For example, a mu-sic program that requires a tape or audition may involvemore difficult orchestral music than a program that takesanyone who has had 1 year of lessons.

Size: The overall number of participants, as well as the sizeof activity or study groups, affects tho atmosphere of a pro-gram and the kinds of activities that are possible.

Individual Attention: Closely related to size is the ratio ofleaders or teachers to participants. The lower the ratio, themore individual attention one can expect.

Leadership: There is not one ideal background for a leaderor teacher. They include professionals, experienced volun-teers, and teachers at all levels: college faculty, public andindependent school teachers, and undergraduate teachingassistants. The common qualities that make them appropri-ate are experience in their field, experience and pleasure inworking with young people, and the flexibility and desire tobe in a summer program setting.

Depth of Experience: Ask the staff and previous participantsfor specific examples of the activities and the skill level theydeveloped to judge whether the program is an appropriatematch for the goals of the applicant.

Credit or Noncredit Courser. A program's approach to creditis an integral part of its philosophy. Programs that do notgrant credit want to encourage students to pursue a topic atlength without being concerned about grades. Credit-granting programs view grades as a normal part of an aca--kfinic experience.

Facilities and Equipment The quality of the facilities and theamount of equipment impact the level of involvement. Onecomputer for every two participants allows more work timethan one computer for five participants. This also applies tolaboratory, art, drama, music, and sports equipment.

Schedule: Does the participant want to have every minutescheduled, or does he or she prefer a more relaxed pace

that includes unscheduled free time?

Recreation: To what extent are athletics or other recreation-al activities such as arts or drama offered or required?Some organizations require an hour or two of individual orteam sports daily. Others view activities as optional.

Social Activities: Most programs plan informal group activi-ties for participants to get to know one another. A few pro-grams leave this up to the students.

Safety. In all programs safety is of paramount importance.Ask about the training and qualitications of the instructors,the certifications or inspections the program has passed,and the provisions that are made for safety.

Programs Abroad: Travel abroad involves its own set ofquestions such as whether or not to include a homestay,study, or extensive travel and whether to travel with a groupof Americans or be immersed as an individual in day-to-daylife in a different country.

What financial assistance is available?

A surprisingly large number of summer programs offer fi-nancial aid. Many do what they can to make participationpossible for a young person with potential who could notparticipate otherwise. Because some independent schools,camps, and adventure programs are committed to includingparticipants from a wide range of backgrounds, they havescholarship funds available. College programs may offerscholarships based on need, merit, or a combination of thetwo. They often have special assistance to attract qualifiedminority students and women to programs in mathematics,science, and engineering. Some campuses select highlyqualified students and waive tuition for cotirsework, charg-ing only for room and board. The National Science Founda-tion makes available many grants that colleges use to waiveall costs for a small number of students or to reduce fees fora larger group of participants.

Always ask programs not only what assistance is avail-able but what the deadline and special requirements are forapplication. It is common to have the deadline for financialaid be a month earlier than the general admissions date.

Young people are encouraged to approach communityorganizations or businesses for scholarships to programs iorelated fields. For example, the League of Women Votersmay support a workshop in leadership and government, or alocal conservation organization may give assistance fortravel to students doing volunteer work in a national park.There is also value in young people'* investing their ownmoney earned at part-time jobs 07 individual work projects.

References

Berger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students. Res-ton, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children.

Ware, C. (1990). Summer options for teenagers. New York.Simon & Schuster.

Prepared by Cindy Ware, author of Summer Options for Teenagers and Director of EXPLOR-options.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

54

Igi:liqj Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 22091-1589

e FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E492 EC-90

CAREER PLANNING FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED YOUTH

Although parents and teachers may be concernedabout academic planning for gifted and talentedyoung people, they often assume that career planningwill take care of itself. Students may have many choic-es available because of multiple gifts or a particulartalent, and a career choice in that area seems inevita-ble. There is no need for career planning: The studentis simply expected to make an occupational decisionaround the sophomore year of college and then followthrough on the steps necessary to attain that goal.

Unfortunately, evidence is mounting that youthfulbrilliance in one or more areas does not always trans-late into adult satisfaction and accomplishment inworking life. Studies with such diverse groups as Na-tional Merit Scholars (Watley, 1969), PresidentialScholars (Kaufmann, 1981), and graduates of giftededucation programs (Kerr, 1985) have shown that thepath from education to career is not always smooth,and it may be complicated by social-emotional prob-lems and needs of gifted students that differ fromthose of more typical students.

Recognition of these problems has producedcounseling models that address student needs (e.g.,Berger, 1989; Buescher, 1987; Silverman, 1989; Van-Tassel-Baska, 1990). Some factors that can contrib-ute to problems with career planning are presentedhere, along with ways of preventing and interveningwith career developrr problems.

MultipotentIality

Multipoteltiality is the ability to select and developany number of career options because of a wide va-riety of interests, aptitudes, and abilities (Frederickson& Rothney, 1972). The broad range of opportunitiesavailable tends to increase the complexity of decisionmaking and goal setting, and it may actually delay ca-reer selection. Multipotentiality is most commonly aconcern of students with moderately high IQs (120-140), those who are academically talented, and t losewho have two or more outstanding but very differentabilities such as violin virtuosity and mathematics pre-cocity. Signs that multipotentiality is a concern includethe following:

Elementary school: Despite excellent performance inmany or all school subjects, students may have diffi-culty making decisions, particularly when they areasked to make a choice on topics or projects fromamong many options. Multiple hobbies with only briefperiods of enthusiasm and difficulty in finishing up andfollowing through on tasks (even those which are en-joyable) are additional signs for concern.

Junior high: Despite continued excellence in many orall school subjects, difficulty with decision making andfollow-through continue. Students may participate inmultiple social and recreational activities with no clearpreferences, and they may overschedule, leaving fewfree periods and little time to just think.

Senior high: Decision-making problems generalize toacademic and career decisions, resulting in overlypacked class schedules and h:ghly diverse participa-tion in school activities. Students often accept leader-ship of a wide variety of groups in school, religious ac-tivities, and community organizations. Adults maynotice occasional signs of stress and exhaustion (ab-sences, frequent or chronic illness, periods of d...1pres-sion or anxiety, etc.), or they may S63 evidence of de-lay or vacillation about coil* planning and decisionmaking. Students are able tu maintain high grades inmost or all courses taken. An important clue to contin-uing multipotentiality is the student's vocational inter-est test profiles. These tests often show interests andsimilarities to an unusually large number of occupa-tions.

College: Multipotential students often have multipleacademic majors. Three or more changes of collegemajor are not unusual for an individual who cannot setlong-term goals. They continue intense participation inextracurricular activities and have outstanding aca-demic performance but are concerned about selectinga career. They may make hasty, arbitrary, or "going-along-with-the-crowd" career choices. They may en-counter the dilemma of opportunities lost in giving upsome interests in favor of others.

Adulthood: Some of the implications of multipotentiali -lv can be seen in bright adults who, despite excellentperformance in most jobs, hold multiple positions inshort time periods and experience a general feeling of

lack of fit in most jobs. Some experience feelings ofalienation, purposelessness, depression, and apathydespite high performance and excellent evaluations.Some experience periods of unemployment and un-deremployment, or they fall behind same-age peers incareer progress and sometimes social development(marriage, family, community involvement).

Possible intervention strategies for mr!Itipotentiali-ty at different educational levels include the following:

Elementary SchoolProvide realistic exposure to the world of workthrough parent sharing and exposure to parents'working places.

Encourage =car fantasies through dress-up andplays.

Encourage focusing activities such as class pro-jects or achievement of Scout merit badges,which require goal setting and follow-through.

Use biographies of eminent people as primary ca-reer education material.

As teachers or parents, carefully evaluate skills,talents, and interests in order to help children un-Jsrstand possitle areas of greatest interest.

'-ligh

Discuss the meaning and value of work.

Discuss family and community values pertainingto work.

Provide for light volunteer work in several areas ofinterest.

Provide "shadowing" experiences in which stu-dents spend the day with an adult working in anarea of greatest interest.

Discourage overinvolvement in social and recrea-tional activities for the sake of involvement, priori-tize and decide on a few extracurricular involve-ments.

Senior High

Seek appropriate vocational testing from a guid-ance professional or psychologist.

Encourage visits to college and university classesin a few areas of interest.

Provide for more extensive volunteer work.

Explore possibilities of paid internships with pro-fessionals.

Insist on a solid curriculum of coursework in orderto insure against inadequate preparation for a lat-er career choice.

Provide value-based guidance, which emphasizeschoosing a career that fulfills deeply held values.

e Discourage conformist, stereotyped career choic-es.

Expose students to atypical career models.

College Students and Young AdultsSeek career counseling including assessment ofinterests, needs, and values.

Enroll in a career planning class.

Encourage careful course selection.

Avoid conformist and stereotyped major choices.Seek a mentor.

Engage in long-term goal setting and planning.

Early Emergence

Early emergers (Marshall, 1981) are children whohave extremely focused career interests. A passionfor an idea and an early commitment to a career areaare common childhood characteristics of eminent indi-viduals in a wide variety of professions (Bloom, 1985;Kerr, 1985); thus, early emergence should not bethought of as a problem of career development, butrather as an opportunity that may be acted upon, ne-glected, or, unfortunately, sometimes destroyed. Act-ing upn early emergence means noticing an unusu-ally strong talent or enthusiasm, providing training inskills necessary to exercise that talent, providing re-sources, and keeping an open mind about the futureof the talent or interest. Neglecting early emergencemeans overlooking the talent or i'`' -rest or failing toprovide education and resources Oes raying the earlyemerger's passion may not be Era t., art belittling thetalent or interest ("Who cares about someone whodoodles and draws all the time instead of listening?""What makes you think you can become an anthropol-ogist?) may easily extinguish the flame. Insisting onwell- roundedness or disallowing needed training (e.g.,refusing to allow a mathematically precocious child toaccelerate in math) may diminish the passion. Overlyenthusiastic encouragement and pressure may alsoremove the intrinsic pleasure the child feels in the in-terest or talent area.

As with multipotentiality, there are signs of earlyemergence:

Elementary schonl: Avid interest in one school subjector activity with only general liking for other subjectsand activities and extraordinary talent in one area andaverage or above average performance in others areunderlying signs of early emergence. (These studentsmay be mistakenly labeled as underachievers). Stu-dents may also try to write more papers than requiredchoose too many subjects in the area of interest, anc,mention early career fantasies about success andfame in a particular area of interest.

Junior high: Students continue highly focused inter-ests and may express a strong desire for advancedtraining in an area of talent and interest. Developmentof adolescent social interests may be delayed be-cause of a commitment to work in a talent area or be-cause of rejection by others, yet performance in thetalent area grows, while performance in other areasdiminishes.

Senior high: Students may develop a strong identity inthe talent area ("computer whiz," "artist," or "fix-it per-son," for example). They may express a desire forhelp with planning a career in an area of interest. Adesire to test skill in competition with or in concertwith peers in the chosen talent area and continuedhigh performance in the talent area to a degree thatcauses neglect of other school subjects or social ac-tivities are additional signs of a focused interest andpassion.

College students and young adults: These young peo-ple make an early, but not hasty or arbitrary, choice ofcareer or major. They often show a desire for comple-tion of a training period in order to "get on with work,"seek out mentors, continue intense focus, and oftenneglect social and extracurricular activities.

Adulthood: Adults may continue their intense focus,desire eminence or excellence in the talent area, andpossibly forego or delay other aspects of adult devel-opment such as marriage, nurturing of a younger gen-eration, social and community involvement, and per-sonal development.

Possible intervention strategies for early emer-gers at different educational levels include the fol-lowing:

Elementary School

Provide for early identification of unusual talent orarea of precocity.

Consult with experts on the nature and nurture ofparticular gifts or talents.

Consult with the school on ways of nurturing thetalent or gift.

Encourage fantasies through reading of bibliogra-phies and playing of work roles.

Provide opportunities to learn about eminerit peo-ple in the talent area (attend a concert; visit an in-ventor's workshop; attend a math professor'sclass).

Relate necessary basic skills to the area of in-terest.

Provide opportunities to socialize with childrenwith similar, intense interests through such activi-ties as music camps, computer camps, and JuniorGreat Books.

Strike a careful b, lance between encouragementand laissez-faire; provide support for the interestalong with freedom to change direction. Do notbecome so invested in the child's talent or interestthat you fail to notice that the child has changedinterests. (Early emergers most often change to aclosely related interest; thaw is, they switch musi-cal instruments or transfer an interest in mathe-matics to an interest in theoretical physics).

Junior High

Provide support and encouragement during theintensive training that often begins at this point.

Allow for plenty of time alone.

Seek opportunities for job "shadowing" (followinga professional throughout the working day) inarea of interest.

Seek opportunities for light volunteer work in areaof interest.

Avoid pressuring the student into social activities.

Senior HighContinue support, encouragement, and timealone.

Seek opportunities for internships and work expe-riences in the areas of interest (internship on ar-chaeological dig; job as camp counselor at a finearts camp; coaching younger people in musical orathletic skill).

Seek career guidance from a guidance counselorwho is familiar with the talent area or from a pro-fessional in that field.

Make a detailed plan of training and educationleading toward the chosen career goal, includingfinancial arrangements.

° Explore higher education or postsecondary train-ing early and thoroughly, with contacts and visits.

Help the student establish a relationship with amentor in the area of interest. Early emergers of-ten fare better in a less presl:gious institutionwhere they have access to an enthusiastic mentorthan in an Ivy League or high status institutionwhere they do not.

College Students and Young AdultsHelp provide support for extended education andtraining.

° Encourage the development of knowledge of ca-reer ladders in the area of interest (auditions, gal-lery shows, inventor's conventions, etc.).

Encourage a continuing relationship with a career-counseling or guidance professional for support indecision making and problem solving.

The career development problems discussedhere are nearly opposite one another: The multipoten-tial student seems unfocused, delaying, and indeci-sive, whereas the early emerger is focused, driven,and almost too decisive. Both types carry with themdangers and opportunities. Skillful career educationand guidance can help ensure that neither multipoten-tiality nor early emergence leads to difficulty in careerplanning and development.

Career Planning for Special Populations

Minority Gifted Students

Minority gifted students have special career planningneeds as well as needs related to multipotentiality orearly emergence. Minority students from Black, His-panic, and American Indian backgrounds are less like-ly to have been selected for gifted education pro-grams and less likely to perform well on standardizedachievement tests than their nonminority peers. In ad-dition, they may have lower career aspirations be-cause of lower societal expectations. Nevertheless,the patterns of leadership and out-of-class accom-plishments of gifted minority students are very similarto those of nonminority gifted students (Kerr, Colange-lo, Maxey, & Christensen, 1989). Minority gifted stu-dents are active leaders in other communities. There-fore, career counseling for these students may bemost effective when it focuses on raising career aspi-rations and emphasizes out-of-class accomplish-ments as indicators of possible career directions. Ca-reer planning must also go hand in hand with buildinga strong ethnic identity if later conflict between ethnicidentity and achievement in majority society is to beavoided. Colangelo and LaFrenz (1981) have provid-ed suggestions for how this can be accomplished.

Gifted Girls and Women

Persisting sex role stereotypes and the continued so-cialization of girls for secondary roles means that, de-spite great gains in certain fields such as medicineand law, gifted girls are less likely than gifted boys toachieve their full potential. Although gifted girls out-perform gifted boys in terms of grades, gifted boysachieve higher scores on college admissions exami-nations. Compared to gifted boys, gifted girls are un-

derprepared academically, having taken fewer mathe-matics and science courses and less challengingcourses in social studies. As a result, they have feweroptions for college majors and career goals (Kerr,1985). Bright women apparently let go of career aspi-rations gradually, first through underpreparation andlater through decisions that may put the needs of hus-bands and families before their own. Gifted womenfall behind gifted men in salary, status, and promo-tions throughout their working lives.

In order to ensure that gifted girls have the great-est possible chance to fulfill their potential, careerplanning should emphasize rigorous academic prep-aration, particularly in mathematics and science;maintaining high career aspirations; and identifyingboth internal and external barriers to the achievementof career goals. Many suggestions for career planningfor gifted girls are provided in Smart Girls, GiftedWomen (Kerr, 1985).

ReferencesBerger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students. Reston, VA.

The Council for Exceptional Children.

Bloom, B, S. (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York.Ballantine.

Buescher, T (1987) Counseling gifted adolescents. A curriculummodel for students, parents, and professionals. Gifted ChildQuarterly, 31(2), 90-93.

Colangelo, N., & LaFrenz, N. (1981). Counseling the culturally di-verse gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 25, 27-30.

Frederickson, R. H., & Rothney, J. W. M. (1972). Recognizing andassisting multipotential youth. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Kaufmann, F (1981) The 1964-1968 Presidential Scholars. A fol-low-up study. Exceptional Children, 48, 164-169.

Kerr, B. A. (1985). Sraart girls, gifted women. Columbus, OH: OhioPsychology Publishing.

Kerr, B. A., Colangelo, N., Maxey, J., & Chnstensen, P. (1989).Characteristics and goals of academically talented minonrystudents Paper presented at International Educational andVocational Guidance Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Marshall, B. C. (1981). Career decision-making pattems of giftedand talented adolescents. Journal of Career Education, 7,305-310.

Silverman, L (1989) Career counseling for the gifted. In J. L Van-Tassel-Baska & P. Olszewski-Kubilius (Eds.), Patterns of influ-ence on gifted learners. The home, the self, and the school(pp 201-213). Nuw York. Teachers College Press.

VanTassel-Baska, J (Ed). (1990). A practical guide to counselingthe gifted in a school setting (2d ed.). Reston, VA. The Councilfor Exceptional Children.

Watley, D. J. (1969). Career progress: A longitudinal study of giftedstudents. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 16, 100-108.

Prepared by Barbara Kerr, author of Smart Girls, Gifted Women; Associate Professor, CounselingEducation, and Associate Director, Connie Belin National Center for Gifted Education, The Univer-sity of Iowa.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

5c

[

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive Reston, VA 2209FAX (703) 264-94

-1589

ERICDigest

DIGEST #E493 EC-90

FOSTERING THE POSTSECONDARY ASPIRATIONS OFGIFTED URBAN MINORITY STUDENTS

On a beautiful spring day, as Maria was getting help with apaper she was writing, she said, "I'm going to hate workinginside for the rest of my life."

I laughed and said, it depends .33 what kind of job youhave whether or not you have to work inside?

She looked both puzzled and surprised and then re-sponded, ''But I'm going to be a secretary," thus implyingthat her workdays would be spent Indoors.

Stunned, I asked her why on earth she planned to be asecretary. She told me that her mother had always told herthat being a secretary was "the very best job."

Why was I stunned that this 15-year-old Mexican-American girl planned to be a secretary? Because she at-tends a magnet school for gifted adolescents, scores at the99th percentile on achievement tests, has an IQ that indi-cates superior intelligence, is highly creative, and has ex-traordinary writing ability.

is this situation unique? Or is a discrepancy betweenactual potential and self-perceived potential commonamong gifted urban minority youth? Tragically, it appears tobe the norm rather than the exception. Throughout theirchildhood, gifted students from middle- to upper-middle-class homes hear an achievement message, which includesplans for attending a good college or university. Many ofthese students have parents who attended college or whoat least believe that a college education is essential in orderto better oneself.

On the other hand, gifted students from lower-socioecccomic-status homes often have a different mes-sage communicated to them: Education is not essential to"making it in the world. Getting and keeping a "job" is thegoal, as opposed to choosing and being satisfied with the"career" to which middle-socioeconomic-status students as-pire. Going beyond the high school diploma is generallyseen as an unnecessary/ waste of time and money. Long-range goals are not a real part of urban minority families'schema; they tend to focus on the immediate future. The as-piration achieve by capitalizing on one's intelligence andcre: -arely fostered by these families. In fact, even ifit is _ ....Acted elsewhere, it may be suppressed by familypressure.

Gifted students "do not stop being gifted when they turneighteen" (Daniel, 1985, p. 235), and just as they haveneeded differentiated attention focused on their elementary,

middle, and high school education, so do they need differ-entiated attention focused on their postsecondary expen-ence. If changes are to be made in the attitudes of gifted ur-ban minority youth so that they seek the requisite collegeexperiences, changes must be made in the attitudes ofthose people who have the most influence over their educa-tion. Teachers, counselors, principals, parents, and the stu-dents themselves must become more attentive to the diffe-rential requirements of this population of gifted students.These suggestions for consciousness-raising presentedhere are based on experience gained while workir. ,v;thgifted urban minority students in a large metropolita. area.

Teachers

For many gifted urban minority students, their teachers arethe main, and sometimes only, source of encouragementand information regarding educational opportunities. Ateachers influence is immeasurable: A single teacher canbe the catalyst for ensuring that a bright youth expands anddevelops himself or herself by attending college. In order tobe this catalyst, however, the teacher must be aware andtake steps toward fostering the notion that the student canhave a better chance to succeed if a college education issought and obtained.

First of all, teachers of gifted urban minority youth needto realize that there is a disparity between their aspirationsfor these students and the aspirations of the students them-selves. Part of it can be attributed to a cultural difference,since the ranks of teachers are predominantly filled v:ithoeopie from middle-class backgrounds. Teachers should besensitive to differences, but not judgmental, and should notassume that the students' background is deficient.

Second, teachers must realize that, as they begin toencourage these able students to attend college, some de-fensive attitudes may surface in both students and parents.Marion pointed out that

A major need of black parents of low socioeconom-ic gifted and talented children is the maintenanceof a normal family-school relationship. This is oftenthe most difficult hurdle for parents and teachers toovercome, for giftedness and talentedness are notthe necessary looked for" virtues in many low-socioeconomic children. (1981, p. 33)

57

Defensiveness may manifest itself as students belliger-ently claim that they do not even want tc go to college("Who needs it anyway?") or as they nonchalantly acceptmaterial that is offered. Teachers must realize that these be-haviors are often indicative that a student is receiving nega-tive messages from home concerning college attendance.Continued gentle persuasion must be offered to such stu-dents and their parents.

Close and sensitive contact with parents is one waythat teachers can have the desired influence on bright urbanminority students' postsecondary aspirations. Telephonecontacts, letters about upcoming college introductoryevents, information about scholarships, and personal con-ferences are all recommended for establishing and main-taining a rapport that will be conducive to parents' accep-tance of a young person's going to college.

Just as frequent contact with parents is necessary to in-culcate the idea of college for their children, so too is it nec-essary for the students to hear the message. It will takemore than a few casual references dropped into conversa-tions to instill this idea. Teachers must make a deliberate ef-fort to establish with these students the idea that theyshould attend college and are capable of doing so.

In addition to talking directly to students about college,teachers can invite others to do so. For example, minorityadults who have succeeded in business, education, thearts, or the professions could be invited as guest speakers.These adults can share with the students how they chosethe college or university they did, how they financed theircollege education, how erg it took them, what adjustmentsthey had to make in college, and what benefits they havederived from the college experience.

Teachers can also keep a bulletin board on which theyand members of the class can post newspaper and maga-zine articles regarding scholarships, grants, and other op-portunities for minority students. Gifted education journalsand newsletters (both state and national) carry such an-nouncements. and the teacher or selected students couldbe responsible for monitoring these journals at the local uni-versity or public library.

A final awareness that teachers must have regardingtheir gifted urban minority students is the anxiety that manyof these students feel regarding their post high-school life.Some are the first in their family to finish high school. Thisaccomplishment alone presents them with choices for whichno family member has set a precedent and affords them op-portunities for which they have no family role model. Othershave already determined that they want further educationand are fearful of the battle they anticipate when their par-ents become aware of these plans. A portion of these stu-dents are apprehensive regarding their ability to measureup, Intellectually and financially, to the task of college panicipation. Teachers should make an effort to allay some ofthese fears and provide strategies that will enable studentsto accept and deal rationally with them.

Counselors

Because of the void that exists between high school coun-seling and college advising (Crites, 1979) and because ofthe additional obstacles and pressures that impinge on gift

ed urban minority students who attend college, the schoolcounselor's role in preparing gifted urban minority youth forappropriate postsecondary school education cannot be un-derestimated. According to Dunham and Russo, counselors

are needed to help direct the career education pro-gram for the gifted disadvantaged students. Theyare also needed for individual counseling to pointout educational and career possibilities for eachstudent. The counselor must be aware of theneeds and obstacles that create problems forthese students. (1983, p. 26)

More than other gifted students, gifted urban minorityyouth must have strong guidance in this area. In the recentCarnegie Report on teaching as a profession, :no statementwas made that ''good counseling is indispensable for poorand minority youngsters, who often have few others to turnto for advice" (1986, p. 14). Counselors must take an earlyand active role in implanting the idea of college, lining upcollege recruiters, and obtaining financial aid for these stu-dents.

Impressing gifted urban minority students with the im-portance of attending college may involve the counselor indesigning a career awareness program that iterates the ed-ucational preparations necessary for various career fields.Such a program should be an ongoing effort that integratesall that the counselor can determine about student interests,career availability, and community mores.

School counselors traditionally work with college re-cruiters, but the job becomes more involved when the re-cruits are gifted students from urban minority backgrounds.Counselors can work to raise the consciousness of recruit-ers regarding the differing demands of attracting bright ur-ban youth. College recruiters need to realize that, to a great-er extent than with other students, the parents must also beconvinced not just to send their chilif to XYZ college, butto send their child to any college.

In working with parents, the question "How much is thisgoing to cost ?" naturally arises. For low-socioeconomic-status parents, the cost of college tuition, room and board,books, and travel is a burden they cannot bear. Financialaid must be sought for these studentsfrom the collegesand un:.ersities they will attend, from foundations, from theU.S. government, from service clubs and organizations, andfrom private individuals. Laying the groundwork for this sortof commitment is the most difficult part of the task. Once or-ganizations and individuals have donated money and haveseen the enormous positive results of their investment, theywill continue to give. But the initial contacts require time andeffort.

Even if a student receives a full scholarship, one aspectof college expense that is not covered by financial aid is thecost of "keeping up with the Joneses," that is, the cost of fit-ting in. The culture she. will be severe enough that the mi-nority urban gifted student's trauma need not be accentuat-ed by feeling completely out of place due to inappropriateclothing and the lack of ability to go out and grab a pizza.Counselors soliciting money for this sort of student supportmust make a strong case to potential contributors. Theymay find that successful minority adults who attended ex-pensive, respected colleges or universities under a severe

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financial hardship are inclined to be supportive of such aworthwhile cause.

Another program that counselors could implement isone that teaches the social graces. While sore wouldargue that brains, not table manners, will propel ......se stu-dents to where they want to be, our contention is that lack oftable manners or the inability to respond appropriately in so-cial situations can hinder bright students from attaining theirpotential. As Moore has stated, for gifted disadvantaged stu-dents "career ech..zation programs need to stress profes-sional lifestyles, values, ethics, and goals" (1979, p. 20).

Early in gifted students' middle school and high schoolcareers, counselors should begin to help them become cog-nizant of the criteria colleges and universities use in select-ing among their applicants. This information can be ob-tained from college catalogs, by writing to admissionsdirectors, or from recruiters. Charts of the criteria used byvarious schools could be posted in the counselors' offices,or general recommendations regarding courses taken,grades, test scores, and participation in extracurricular activ-ities could be stressed with individual students. This mustbe done as early as possible so that students can take thenecessary steps to ensure their acceptance by the collegeof their choice.

Administrators

Principals, assistant principals, and deans of instruction fillmany roles, and those in schools that serve urban minoritystudents function in additional capacities. The gifted mem-bers of this urban population need the administrators astheir advocates.

The administrator can serve as advocate for minortyurban gifted students in a number of ways. One way is as acontact person between the school and service organiza-tions. The administrator of the school is one of the fewmembers of the faculty who can attend daytime service clubluncheons. Since these organizations are often looking forworthy causes to support, the administrator can inform themof the financial and personal needs of gifted students andcan assure them of the potential of these students. Mem-bers of these organizations may choose to offer personalsupport by serving as mentors for one or more students.

Administrators must also recognize the enormous im-pact that they can have on these minority gifted students.Middle school and high school administrators who recog-nize the uniqueness and potential residing in particular stu-dents can mete a special effort to offer personal supportand encouragement. A student's life can be significantly af-fected by an administrator who takes the time to recognizeachievements, provide solace for failures, and offer chal-lenges for the future.

Administrators who have made their careers in oneschool district and cne school often maintain contact withformer students who have distinguished themselves in theirpostsecondary lives. Many of these former students wouldbe willing to return to the school to visit informally with stu-dents or make presentations to classes or groups of stu-dents. Students will often hear what a person from similarcircumstances has to say better than they will hear what ateacher or other community member says.

An administrator who is supportive of students whohave extraordinary potential will realize that there are in-stances when certain teachers need extra time to work withgifted students. They may need time to plan in-depth les-sons, take students on field trips, investigate a source for fu-ture reference, or consult with people who might contributeto the students' knowledge. Administrators have the latitudeto make the necessary arrangements so that teachers canmeet gifted students' learning needs.

Administrators can help rally teachers, counselors, andcommunity members to a common effort to ensure not onlythat these bright students are not hindered in their effort toachieve excellence, but that they are facilitated in that effort.A principal can remove obstacles and prevent confronta-tions by smoothing the way and offering support.

Parents

Parents of gifted urban minority students are in a tough situ-ation, which may result in push-me/pull-me messages beingcommunicated to their children. On the one hand, parentsare proud that their children do well in school and receivegood grades and various honorsand, in fect, do betterthan they ever did in school. On the other hand, parentssometimes do not understand the extent of their giftedchild's intelligence and may even be suspicious of it, possi-bly fearing that since their child is smart, he or she may tryto be the boss of the house. A confusion of roles often re-sults, particularly in Mexican-American homes where thechildren speak English and the parents do not, thus requir-ing that the children interact and interpret the world for theirparents.

h is important for parents and children to be aware ofthe proper roles that each should play. Parents do need tobe in charge of the home, while at the same time realizingthat their children have needs and wants requiring their sup-port and attention.

Parental support is also vital for gifted urban minoritystudents while they are attending college. Based on the re-cent rash of data concerning "retention" of bright students incollege, Laycock stated that

One should expect the brightest to do the best,and therefore to finish what they begin. But SATscores and class rank, the traditional admissionscriteria, are not fully predictive. More powerful maybe family influences related to expectations, sup-portiveness, and sense of direction [emphasis add-ed]. (1984, p. 91)

Parents need to realize how powerful their influence isand how necessary their encouragement is. Gifted urbanminority students need to know that their parents are proudof them and that they accept what their sons and daughtersare doing.

Parents who have not attended college cannot empa-thize, but they can try to listen when their children have con-cerns about college and their participation in the college ex-perience. Also, although parents may not realize thespecific value of participating in aiore of the college experi-ence than just attending classes, they should allow theirchildren to take advantage of as many opportunities as areavailable to them.

Students

Gifted students in general are notorious for underestimatingtheir ability. Gifted urban minority students are even lesslikely to assess their giftedness correctly. It will take a con-certed effort over a period of years to convey to theseyoung people the extent of their extraordinary ability and po-tential. They will need to be told, shown, exhorted, and bad-gered, time and time again, until they begin to comprehendthat they have more to offer and more to gain, and thereforemore to lose, than many of their age mates.

A concerted effort will also be necessary to instill thenotion that college, and often graduate school, will be nec-essary for these highly ablo students to obtain the skills andeducation requisite for pursuing a chosen career. The diffi-culty of inculcating this idea into the schema of many ofthese gifted urban minority students cannot be underesti-mated. In many instances, it is a battle against generationsof the belief of inherent inferiority.

These alterations are very likely to cause a change in agifted minority student's position in the family. It is possiblythat the student's status will increase in the eyes of somefamily members, while in the eyes of others, the student willbe seen as selling out or running out on family and culture(Gowan, 1960). This sort of mixed message, which includesrejection and guilt, will undoubtedly be a cause for distressin these able students, who tend to be highly sensitive (Co-langelo & Exum, 1979). Counselors in high school can helpwarn students ahead of time about the possible ramifica-tions of college attendance, or it may be necessary forcounselors at colleges and universities to seek out studentscoming from impoverished backgrounds to determinewhether or not they need help coping with the changes thatare occurring in their family constellations. In addition, col-lege and university counselors may need to implement sup-port groups for gifted college freshmen to help them adjustsuccessfully to college life (Friedlander & Watkins, 1984).

Once gifted urban minority students have recognizedthe worth in pursuing postsecondary education, they willneed to take an active role in ferreting out scholarships andgrants. They cannot depend on counselors to do this, eventhough in many cases, doing so is considered part of thejob.

ConclusionGifted urban minority youth are fighting a number of uphillbattles. However, the battles they fight and win have manymore far-reaching ramifications than simply developing indi-vidual students' minds. Every time one of these studentssucceeds, his or her horizons are broadened, the vistas ofhis or her family are expanded, the reach of his or her com-munity is extended, and the nation benefits. We have beenconsidered "a nation at risk"; we can no longer afford to al-low some of our most talented students to remain in an un-tenable life situation.

ReferencesCarnegie Report (1986). Education Week, 5,11 -18.

Colargelo, N., & Exum, H. (1979). Educating the culturallydiverse gifted: Implications for teachers, counselors,and parents. G/CIT, 6,22-23,54-55.

Daniel, N. (1985). School and college: The need for articula-tion. Roeper Review, 7,235-237.

Dunham, G., & Russo, T. (1983). Career education for thedisadvantaged gifted: Some thoughts for educators.Roeper Review, 5, 26-28.

Friedlander, S. R., & Watkins, C. E. (1984). 'acilitating thedevelopment of gifted college students: A supportgroup approach. Journal of College Student Personnel,25, 559-560.

Gowan, J. (1960). The organization of guidance for the gift-ed. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 39, 275-279.

Grites, T. J. (1979). Between high school counsolor and col-lege advisorA void. Personnel and Guidance Journal,58, 200-204.

Laycock, F. (1984). Bright students and their adjustment tocollege. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 8, 83-93.

Marion, R. L. (1981). Working with parents of the disadvan-taged or culturally different gifted. Roeper Review, 4,32-34.

Moore, B. A. (1979). A model career education program forgifted disadvantaged students. Roeper Review, 2, 20

Prepared by Margaret E. McIntosh, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Educa-tion, University of Nevada-Reno, and M. Jean Greenlaw, Regents Professor, University of NorthTexas, College of Education. Reprinted with permission from Roeper Review 9(2), (1986), 104-107.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely foproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007. ,

The opinions expressed in this report do not neces:arily reflect positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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SUPPORTING GIFTED EDUCATION THROUGH ADVOCACY

Effective nurturing of giftedness in children and ado-lescents requires a cooperative partnership betweenhome and school, one that is characterized by mutualrespect and an ongoing sharing of ideas and observa-tions about the children involved. To accomplish thispartnership, parents and educators must know some-thing about giftedness, understand the children'smdds, and understand some basic principles of advo-cacy.

Parents and educators should understand how tobe effective advocates because recognition that allgifted children require programs specifically tailored totheir unique learning requirements requires responsi-ble action. If a child's needs are not being met by aprogram, an appropriate starting point is a friendlyconversation with the child'a teacher. Your GiftedChild (1989) provides practical suggestions on individ-ual advocacy. If the problem involves many children,such as might be the case when there is a need forprogram development or expansion, a unified groupvoicing shared concerns is far more effective than thecomplaints of one or two people. Advocacy groupsalso provide mutual support and share problem-solving strategies.

Effective group advocacy requires individuals tobe knowledgeable, organize, define goals and objec-tives, understand the organization and structure of thelocal school system, use existing local and state sys-tems, be committed, and be persistent and patient.Joining or establishing a parent group is a good placeto start. Investigate groups such as your local ParentTeacher Association to find out whether or not thereare others who share your concerns. Contact yourState Department of Education Coordinator for GiftedPrograms and ask how to get in touch with your stateadvocacy group.

Some cautionary advice is also in order for indi-viduals concerned with becoming effective advocates.P-'ricia Bruce Mitchell provides a sensible approachto group advocacy in the following excerpt from AnAdvocate's Guide to Building Support for Gifted andTalented Education.

Understanding the Process and Avoiding thePitfalls*

The term advocate originates from the Latin word forlegal counselor. It means one who pleads in favor of,supports by argument, defends or vindicates. Thus,we consciously (and sometimes unconsciously) be-come advocates of the things we truly believe in andwant to see develop and improve.

To best explain the concept of advocacy, we willbegin with some of the wrong approaches, then moveto a suggested process for using your drive and abili-ties to achieve success as an advocate.

Pitfall #1: Using ail Advei sarial Rather Than aPersuasive Approach

There is a natural tendency for us to model our be-havior after the advocates for the rights of minoritiesand students with handicaps. They were successfui,so we feel that if we do the same thing we will alsoreap big rewards for the children we represent. Unfor-tunately this line of reasoning will not work. Those oth-er advocates were adept in various pressure tactics,but these tactics will not work as well for advocates ofgifted students for three reasons:

1 The cause is different. The basic rights of chil-dren with handicaps and children from minoritybackgrounds were violated when they were sys-tematically segregated from others. This inequitycreated a basis for guilt among those responsi-ble for the segregation. Guilt makes us more re-sponsive to pressure tactics. Unfortunately, fewpeople feel guilty about doing something extrafor children who have outstanding abilities, and itcannot be contended that gifted and talentedchildren are being denied access to an educa-tion, Even though they may be bored and un-happy, they are still in school.

2. Times have changed. Everyone has learned tobe more assertive as pressure tactics have be-

' Adapted from 'Understanding the Process and Avoiding the Pit-falls,' by P. B. Mitchell, by permission of the author.

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come a part of everyday interactions. Thus,pressure no longer provides the high visibility fora cause that it once did.

3. We are wiser. We have learned a lot from the1960s and 1970s. Legal proceedings can takeyears to complete. Even when the cause hasbeen won, or a mandate incorporated into law, itwill be a long time before state and local sys-tems can implement the letter, much less thespirit, of the ruling. We are finally realizing thatchange is not an event; it is an evolutionary pro-cess.

In summary, "winning through intimidation" maywork beautifully with hotel clerks who lose confirmedreservations, but it frequently backfires when trying toapply it to decision makers. The better approachwould be to model yourself after a good salesperson.It may not be as inspiring as the "march into Lae"adversarial approach, but it is more likely to be effec-tive.

Pitfall #2: Assuming That People inAdministrative and Political Positions Are Not TooBright or Not Very Knowledgeableor Both.

It is amazing to see advocates in action who are dis-playing obvious contempt for the legislators, boardmembers, or administrators with whom they are deal-ing. Perhaps this occurs because of a disrespect forpoliticians or because the advocates feel that their su-perior knowledge of the subject at hand puts them ina superior position. Such attitudes and actions are de-structive to any cause. They are particularly deadly ifthe advocate is speaking on behalf of gifted students.Even the words gifted, talented, or exceptionally ableevoke fear of elitism.

Pitfall # 3: Being Impatient

It is tough to be patient when you see children whoseabilities need attention and development right now.But patience in advocacy or gifted and talented students is more than a virtue, it is a requirement. Goodprogram development takes time.

Pitfall #4: Being Human

Perhaps the toughft, challenge you will face as anadvocate for students who are gifted and talented willnot be to testify before a legislative committee but tomanage to get a group of fellow advocates to work to-gether. Cooperative advocacy is essential, but advo-cates are human beings who may not feel that theyhave been given adequate input into or control overan advocacy effort such as seeking school board ap-proval for a program. Such feelings may lead to un-dermining group efforts. It will take a chorus of cc n-milted persons to get the support needed for top

quality programs for evey gifted and talented child.Getting that chorus together will require a lot of effortand selflessness so that no one voice rises above theothers.

Channeling Your Energies In the RightDirection Through Systematic Advocacy

Now that you have thought about what not to do, letus look at a process that can make your efforts moresystematic and more successful. The process con-sists of the four basic phases summarized here. Formore detailed information and a thorough discussionof each phase, consult An Advocate's Guide to Build-ing Support for Gifted and Talented Education (Mh-ell, 1981).

1. Needs Assessment. Find out what is currentlygoing on for gifted and talented students in yourdistrict, and then determine what should happen.The discrepancy between the two defines whatyour needs are. The next step is to make a "po-litical" assessment: Find out who is supportive,who is not supportive, who is undecided aboutimproving programs for gifted and talented chil-dren, and what they will accept. A thorough as-sessment takes a la of time, but it will pay muchgreater dividends than any other time invest-ment.

2. Planning. Map out what you want to happen,how you will present your request, and how youwill get the votes needed for approval. The planshould provide enough detail so that everyoneunderstands what is to be done, who is respon-sible, and how and when it will be accomplished.

3. Contact. Present your request to the decisionmakers whose approval is essential. There aremany ways that you can make informal and for-mal contact with decision makers and communi-cate your concerns for gifted and talented chil-dren. Lay the groundwork by finding ways tomake contact in informal settings. Use informalcontacts such as social functions or studentawards ceremonies as a way to build supportthroughout the year, but particularly in themonths preceding a formal request. Making apresentation or writing a letter to the board of ed-ucation, the legislature, or one of their commit-tees are examples of formal contact. Extensivepreparation and rehearsal are essential.

4. Follow-up and Evaluation. Conduct a "postmor-tem" on your effects to determine what to do andwhat not to do next time. This phase usuallymerges into the needs assessment of the nextadvocacy effort, so the process is a continuouscycle.

It takes a lot of stamina to give your best energyand ideas to all four phases. The temptation is to fo-cus on the contact, with some quick planning just be-fore but little or no needs assessment or follow-up.Resist the temptation. It is essential to carry out thenecessary activities in all four phases.

Establishing and Maintaining a SuccessfulParent Advocacy Group

If you want your school district to start or expand aprogram for gifted students, organization is the key toeffective advocacy. The following guidelines, distilledfrom resources listed at the end of th;s article, may behelpful:

1. Focus on a mission and a sense of purpose.Your organization must be clear about its long-term goals and objectives and be able to de-scribe them clearly to others. "Helping gifted chil-dren" sounds good, but is far too broad to holdyour group together when you face the inevita-ble constraints and problems.

2. Pick a place and call a meeting of not only inter-ested parents, but also business leaders, andschool professionals. At some future time, theymight be your strongest allies, since they areconcerned about the quality of local educationand the graduates they hire. Invite an outsideexpert to give a brief overview of gifted educa-tion, the need for differentiated education, andthe components of effective programs. Remem-ber, not all programs for gifted students are ef-fective. Decide on a name for the group, bearingin mind that the dispute over using the word gift-ed can take minutes, hours, or months to re-solve. Leave at least a half hour for questionsand comments. People need to feel involved!

3. Establish your steering committee. If, at the endof the first meeting, you have five committedpeople, you have achieved success. Decidewhat you want to accomplish and the frequencyof meetings. Most boards meet at least once amonth, and the members speak to one anotherfrequently between meetings.

4. Contact your state advocacy group. Ask whetherthey have a constitution and by-laws and wheth-er a ready-made network exists in your state. ifso, affiliation may be beneficial.

5 Adopt a constitution that spells out the goals ofthe organization and the mechanics of its opera-tion. Get sample copies of by-laws from othergroups, and design your own to fit local condi-tions. Keep them simple. Aims and purposesshould be listed in Articles of Organization.These can include, for example, "to provide in-

formation and to be generally helpful to parentsof gifted children; to educate the public and topromote understanding in the community of theeducational needs of gifted children, to act as acenter for the exchange of ideas with othergroups interested in education for the gifted; andto cooperate with such organizations in promot-ing educational opportunities for gifted children."Goals should be accompanied by measurableobjectives and should answer the question,"What do I want to happen?"

In addition to by-laws, you will need written poli-cies and procedures for conducting group busi-ness, descriptions of the purposes of all stand-ing committees, and job descriptions for allpositions. Agree on specific services your groupcan offer the community and how those servicesmight be provided. For example, you mightagree to inform parents en meeting the socialand emotional needs of gifted children by identi-fying a speaksr and holding a public meeting. Besure to consider any negative consequences.One group placed a meeting notice in the localnewspaper and later discovered that they hadcreated a grr iswell both for and against theirgoals and objectives.

6. identify and respect the group that holds thepower. School board members and state legisla-tors are busy people who may be neutral or sup-portive of the idea of special programs for giftedchildren but simply not know enough about thesubject. Initial contacts should be used to pro-vide information on student needs in your dis-trict. Your message should be direct and con-cise, and it should answer specific questionsthat the decision-maker wants answered. Informyourself about your district's budget cycle. Dis-tant goals require at !east 2 years of advanceplanning.

7 Allow professionals to develop the program. Befmrefr,i to remain in your role as advocate. Yourjob is to help establish and maintain a system sothat they can work more effectively in their rolesas administrators, curriculum specialists, andteachers. One well-established parent group,with the support of curriculum specialists, usedits resources to design and conduct a county-wide secondary school needs assessment. Theinformation was given to school officials alongwith a written request that the district assign aparent/student/professional task force to developa program. The task force studied the parent re-port, investigated possible ways to meet theneeds of gifted adolescents, and eventually sub-mitted a report to the school board. This cooper-

6

ative venture resulted in a pilot program severalyears later. By the time the pilot program wasput in place, everyoneparents, students,teachers, administratorsfelt responsible for itsultimate success.

8. Conduct short- and long-term evaluation of theadvocacy process. Your organization car:strengthen and grow if it evaluates everything itdoes in terms of goals and objectives and thenacts on the results.

9. Provide reinforcement for group members. Suc-cessful advocacy groups for gifted children, likemost organizations, function primarily with volun-teer help. Praise and recognition for volunteersis essential.

10. Be an informed advocate. A healthy advocacyorganization grows and changes with the evolu-tion of what is learned about gifted children, theirspecial needs, and effective political processes.To maintain credibility and assist communitymembers, an organization should be informedabout national, state, and regional trends in gift-ed education, including operational definitions ofthe term gifted. The organization also must es-tablish informal or formal relationships with local,state, and national levels of government and oth-er organizations. Learn to work cooperativelywith consultants, legislators, state educationgroups, other advocacy groups both within thestate and beyond. Effective advocacy can beboiled down to positive use of accurate informa-tion by a large number of people.

11. Enjoy the people you meet, the friends youmake, and the satisfaction derived from your ef-forts on behalf of gifted children.

ResourcesAmerican Association for Gifted Children. (1980). Rea..htng out. Ad-

vocacy for the gifted and talented. New York. Teachers Col-lege Press.

Fairfax County Association for the Gifted. (1979), Articles of Organi-zation. Fairfax, VA: Author.

Gallagher, J, (1983). A model of advocacy for z fted education. In J.Gallagher, S. Kaplan, & I. Sato (Eds.), Promoting the educa-tion of the giftedltalented: Strategies for advocacy (pp. 1-9).Ventura, CA: The National/State Leadership Training Instituteon the Gifted and the Talented.

Ginsberg-Riggs, G. (1984). Parent power: Wanted for organization.Gifted (Mild Quarterly, 28 (3),111 -114.

Halperin, S. (1981). A guide for the powerless and those who don'tknow their own power. Washington, DC. Institute tor Educa-tional Leadership.

Kraver, T. (1981). Parent power: Starting and building a parent or-ganization. In P. B. Mitchell (Ed.), An advocate's guide to;;wilding aupport for gifted and talented education (pp. 24-30).Washington, DC. National Association of State Boards of Edu-cation.

Mitchell, P. B. (1981). Effective advocacy: Understanding the pro-cess and avoiding the pitfalls. In P. B. Mitchell (Ed.), An advo-caie's guide to building support for gifted and talented educa-tion (up. 5-23) Washington, DC. National Association of StateBoards of Education.

Sriutny, J., Veenker, K, & Veenker, S. (1989). Your gifted child.New York: Facts On File.

Resources on AdvocacyThe following groups provide valuable information and assistanceto parent-a ivocates who want to play a significant role in their chil-dren's education:

National Committee for Citizens in Education (NCCE), ACCESSClearinghouse, 10840 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 301, Colum-bia, MD 21044, 301/997-9300 or 800/NETWORK (638-9675). Anot-for-profit organization devoted to improving the quality of publicschools through increased public involvement, NCCE maintains acomputerized database and provides information and resources toparents and other citizens. NCCE also trains parents and educatorsto w 4. constructively together, provides handbooks and films,monitors federal legislation, provides technical assistance, and pub-lishes a monthly newspaper.

Institute for Responsive Education (IRE), 605 Commonwealth Ave-nue, Boston, MA 02215. IRE's publications list includes many help-ful books and pamphlets on community participation in education.

Children's Defense Fund (CDF), 122 C Street, NW, Washington,DC 20001. Write or call for a publications list. CDPs advocacy forthe children of America is very effective, its publications are excel-lent resources. Especially recommended is Its Time to Stand Upfor Your Children: A Parent's Guide to Child Advocacy.

Prepared by Sandra L Berger, past president of a parent advocacy association and author of Col-lege Planning for Gifted Students.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.; Jepartment of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies of OERI or the Department of Education.

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READINGS AND RESOURCES FOR RIVRENTSAND TEACHERS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

Books Containing General Information AboutGifted and Talented Students, 1985-1989Borland, J. H. (1989). Planning and implementing programsfor the gifted. A comprehensive examination of and guide toissues and practices related to developing programs for gift-ed students. New York: Teachers College Press.

Clark, B. (1988). Growing up gifted (3rd ed.) This compre-hensive reference is divided into three major sections: un-derstanding the gifted individual, the school and the giftedindividual, and resources. Includes sections on brain re-search, the emotional and social aspects of growing up gift-ed, and current educational models. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Coleman, L. J. (1985). Schooling the gifted. A general refer-ence divided into two parts: development and identification(giftedness, guidance considerations, and creativity), andeducational practices (administrative arrangements, curricu-lum, instructional strategies). Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wes ley.

Cox, J., Daniel, N., & Boston, B. 0. (1985). Educating ablelearners. The result of a 4-year comprehensive nationalstudy of programming; provides a broad database, looks atthe backgrounds of creative individuals, and examines pro-grams with a record of success. Austin. University of TexasPress.

Davis, G. A., & Rimm, S. B. (1989). Education of the giftedand talented (2nd ed.). Provides a broad overview of thefield, including an introduction to giftedness, characteristics,programs, identification, and program evaluation. Engie-wood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Feldhusen, J., VanTassel-Baska, J., & Seeley, K. (1989).Excellence in educating the gifted. Well-known authors pro-vide a comprehensive view of giftednest. Divided into fourparts: individual differences and special populations; pro-gram development and evaluation; curriculum and instruc-tion; and achievement of excellence. Denver: Love Pub-lishing.

Gallagher, J. J. (1985). Teaching the gifted child (3rd ed). Aclassic comprehensive text divided int::: five general parts:broad overview of gifted students and their needs; contentmodifications in specific academic areas; productive think-ing and creativity; administration and training; and specialproblem areas such as gifted underachievers and the cultu-rally different gifted. Boston. Allyn and Bacon.

Horowitz, F. D., & O'Brien, M. (Eds.). (1985). The gifted andtalented: Developmental perspectives. A collection of arti-cles written by psychologists and educators about psycho-social issues. Discusses topics such as the nature of gifted-ness and the role of society in preparing gifted children for aproductive life. Washington, DC. American PsychologicalAssociation

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Maker, C. J. (1986). Critical issues In gifted education. De-fensible programs for the gifted. Presonts the views of differ-ent authors on each of five broad topics: defining gifted-ness, devgloping ....wricula, enrichment versus acceleration,evaluating programs, and defending programs. Rockville,MD: Aspen.

Maker, C. J., & Schiever, S. W. (Eds.). (1989). Critical is-sues In gifted education: Defensible programs for culturaland ethnic minorities. Presents the views of different au-thors on each of four groups: Hispanics, American Indians,Asian Americans, and Blacks. Editors provide a synthesis ineach section. Austin, TA: Pro-Ed.

Parke, B. N. (1989). Gifted students in regular classrooms.Divided into four parts: establishing a framework (character-istics, identification, planning programs); selecting pro-grams; designing curriculum; and maintaining programs.Practical strategies and case studies. Boston: Allyn andBacon.

Parker, J. F. (1989). Instructional strategies for teaching thegifted. Classroom-tested ideas and activities, curriculummodels, detailed strategies, and chapters on the core curric-ulum subjects. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

VanTassel-Baska, J., Feidhusen, J., Seeley, K., Wheatley,G., Silverman, L., & Foster, W. (Eds.). (1988). Comprehen-sive curriculum for gifted learners. Divided into five sections:introduction, the process of curriculum making, adaptingcurriculum in the content areas, integrating curriculum fromkey learning realms, and the process of curriculum doing.Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

VanTassel-Baska, J., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (Eds).(1989). Patterns of influence on gifted learners: The home,the self, and the school. A series of 15 articles that offers acomprehensive look at the interrelated roles played byschool, family, and personal characteristics critical to talentdevelopment. New York: Teachers College Press.

Whitmore, J. R., & Maker, C. J. (1985). Intellectual gifted-ness in disabled persons. A series of case studies and dis-cussions about gifted individuals with hearing, visual, physi-cal, and learning disabilities. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Practical Self-Help Books, 1979-1989Adderholdt Elliott, M. (1987). Perfectionism. What's badabout being too good? Explores the differences betweenhealthy ambition and unhealthy perfectionism and givesstrategies for getting out of the perfectionist trap. Minneapo-lis: Free Spirit.

Alvino, J , and the editors of Gifted Children Monthly (1985).Parents' guide to raising a gifted child. This practical guideto raising and educating gifted children gives tips on promot-ing intellectual and creative thinking and research skills and

on counseling. Lists the best books and gamss availableand assesses the importance of computers. Boston. Little,Brown.

Berger, S. (1989). College planning for gifted students.Presents a way to identify gifted students; provides a 6-yearplan that guides the gifted student through critical collegeand career choices based on knowledge of self and educa-tional options. A practical resource for gifted students, coun-selors, teachers, and pents. Reston, VA. The Council forExceptional Children.

De lisle, J. D. (1987). Gifted children speak out. Part I is acompilation of gifted children' (ages 7-13) answers toquestions about their abilities and their concerns. Part II, tobe used by teachers and parents, is an extensive discus-sion/activity guide. Minneapolis: Free Spirit.

De lisle, J., & Galbraith, J. (1987). The gifted kids' survivalguide ll (Ages 11-18). Helps students understand themeaning of giftedness, how to take charge of their own edu-cation, how to handle other peop;e's expectations, and howto make and keep friends. Minneapolis: Free Spirit.

Ehrich, V. (1982). Gifted children: A guide for parents andteachers. Written in nontechnical language, this book an-swers commonly asked questions about gifted children. Pro-vides a wide range of information from preschool throughcareer planning for the college student and includes an ex-tensive resource and reference list. New York: TrilliumPress.

Galbraith, J. (1984). The gifted kids' survival guide (Ages 10and un 'er). Support and practical suggestions for giftedyoungsters who are strugglir.3 with typical problems such asschoolwork, peer relationships, and community expecta-tions. Mimeapolis: Free Spirit.

Halsted, J. W. (1988). Guiding gifted readersFrom pre-school to high school. Discusses the emotional and intellec-tual needs of gifted youngsters. Recommends books tomeet emotional needs through guided group discussionsand intellectual needs through reading guidance. An excel-lent guide for parents, teachers, counselors, and librarianswho work with gifted children. Columbus: Ohio PsychologyPublishing.

Kerr, B. (1986). Smart girls, gifted women. A thoughtfulbook that describes why bright girls who show promise inchildhood and adolescence often fail to reach their potential.Helps parents and teachers become aware of how to prevent difficulties. Vignettes of eminent women, relevant re-search, and practical suggestions. Columbus: Ohio Psychol-ogy Publishing.

Moore, L. P. (1981). Does this mean my kid's a genius? Of-fers advice to parents ranging from identifying a child withunusual capabilities to beginning education at home. NewYork: McGraw-Hill.

On being gifted. (1978). Written by students (ages 15-18)who participated ir the National Student Symposium on theEducation of the Gifted and Talented, this book is an articulate presentation of student concerns such as peer pressure, teacher expectations, and relationships. Recommended for educators, parents, and students. New York. Walker& Company.

Rimm, S. (1986). The underachievement syndrome: Caus-es and cures. A psychologist specializing in underachievinggifted students uses case studies and descriptions of proto-types to discuss symptoms, causes, and cures. Watertown,WI: Apple Publishing.

Smutny, J. F., Veenker, K., & Veenker, S. (1989). Your gift-ed child. Now to recognize and develop the special talentsin your child from birth to age seven. A practical sourcebookcontaining a wealth of information for parents and educatorsof young gifted children. Leads parents through infancy andearly childhood, discussing topics such as language devel-opment, creativity, and how to choose schools. Provides adevelopmental checklist. New York: Facts On File.

Vail, P. (1987). Smart kids with school problems. A learningdisability may account foi underachievement in some giftedstudents. This valuable book emphasizes the traits of giftedstudents a-ld the learning styles that set gifted/learning dis-abled students apart. Includes an annotated bibliographyand resources. New York: E. P. Dutton.

Webb, J., Meckstroth, B., & Tolan, S. (1982). Guiding 1'gifted child: A practical source for parents and teaches...Ten topics are discussed including discipline, stress man-agement, communication of feelings, and family relation-ships. The book is an outgrowth of continuing work atWright State University. Columbus: Ohio Psychology Pub-lishing.

Whitmore, J. R. (1980). Giftedness, conflict, and under-achievement. A comprehensive work that reviews the litera-ture; describes a long-term research project; and providessuggestions in how counselors, educators, and parents canhelp. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Books on Specific Areas in Gifted EducationArmstrong, T. (1987). In their own way. Discovering and en-couraging your child's personal learning style. A formerteacher and learning disabilities specialist describes learn-ing differences and provides suggestions. Los Angeles. J.P. Tarcher. Distributed by St. Martin's Press.

Berger, S. (Ed.) (1990). ERIC flyer files on gifted learners. Acollection of reproducible fact sheets about guiding and edu-cating gifted and talented students. These newly developedresources provide the perfect handout for rn, Angs withparents, teachers, and the community. Reston, VA. TheCouncil for Exceptional Children.

Buescher. T. M. (Ed.). (1987). Understanding gifted and tal-ented adolescents: A resource guide for counselors, educa-tor:, and parents. Fat professionals and parents interestedin the intellectual, social, and emotional traits and needs ofgifted and talented adolescents. Appropriate for people withlittle reading experience in the field as well as those with ex-pertise. Evanston, IL. The Center for Talent Development,Northwestern University.

Colangelo, N., & Zaffrann, D. (Eds.). (1979). New voices incounseling tho gifted. A collection of articles containing the-oretical and practical information on topics such as the roleof the school guidance counselor, creativity, girls' attitudes,culturally diverse gifted, and career development. Dubuque,IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Daniel, N. & Cox, J. (1988). Flexible pacing for able learn-ers. Flexioie pacing is any provision that places students atan appropriate instructional level, creating the best possiblematch between students' achievement and instruction. Thisbook describes workable options appropriate for all gradelevels. Examples illustrate how flexible pacing worc,.s inclassrooms with real students across the country. Reston,VA: The Council for Exceptional Children.

Elkind, D. (1981). The hurried child. Growing up too fast, toosoon. A noted behavioral scientist argues that modern soci-ety is robbing children of childhood and examines the is-

sues of stress and expectations in contimporary culture.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Feldman, R. D. (1982). Whatever happened to the QuizKids? Perils and profits of growing up gifted. The author,one of the original Quiz Kids, provides inQights on her ownchildhood and the lives of other Quiz Kids, drawing conclu-sions about the challenges of growing up gifted. Chicago.Review Press.

Gardner, H. (1985). Frames of mind: Tha theory of multipleintelligences (rev. ed.). Gardner has described seven different types of intelligence: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, andintapersonal. He suggests that individuals tend to displayabilities in one or two specific areas. This book provides the-oretical information on the nature of intelligence. New York.Basic Books.

Karnes, M. B. (1983). The underserved: Our young giftedchildren. Offers a comprehensive perspective on identifica-tion and programming for gifted children during the pre-school years. Provides a rationale for early identificationand programming. fleston, VA: The Council for ExceptionalChildren.

Kaufmann, F. (1981). Your gifted child and you (rev. ed.). Abrief and informative book containing a concise and read-able introduction to the identification, nurturing, and prob-lems of the gifted youngster. Reston, VA: The Council forExceptional Children.

Mitchell, P. B. (1981). An advocate's guide to building sup-port for gifted and talented students. A guide to effective ad-vocacy for parents and community leaders. Specific proce-dures and a systematic approach are among this guide'smany strengths. Alexandria, VA: National Association ofState Boards of Education.

Sternberg, R. (1985). Beyond IQ: A tricrchic theory of hu-man intelligence. A scholarly volume that outlines an ap-proach to understanding intelligence and argues against therole of traditional IQ tests in education. New York: Cam-bridge University Press.

VanTassel-Baska, J. (Ed.). (1990). A practical guide tocounseling the gifted in a school setting (2nd ed.). This use-ful monograph provides an overview of counseling trendsand issues, disr,usses the characteristics of gifted childrenand their related counseling noeds, and provides practicalmouels. Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children.

Journals/PeriodicalsAdvanced Development, a journal on adult giftedness, is theofficial publication of toe Institute for the Study of AdvancedDevelopment. Provides articles of interest to professionalsand those with some reading experience in the field of giftededucation. Published annually by Snowpeak Publishing,Inc., P. 0. Box 3489, Littleton, CO 80122.

Gifted Child Quarterly is the official publication of the Na-tional Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), publishedfour times a year. It contains articles of interest to profes-sionals and those with some reading experience in the fieldof gifted education and cc unseling. NAGC membership in-cludes the journal. NAGC, 4175 Lovell Road, Box 30, Suite140, Circle Pines, MN 55014.

Gifted Child Today (formerly G/C/T) is directed at teachersand parents. It avoids jargon and provides practical adviceus working with gifted, creative, and talented children. Arti-

6 7

Iles on research and programming, and a lively advice col-umn are included in each issue. Published bimonthly. P. 0.Box 637, 100 Pine Avenue, Holmes, PA 19043.

Journal for the Education of the Gifted (JEG) is the officialpublication of The Association for the Gifted (TAG), and isaimed at experienced readers of the literature. For member-ship or subscription information, TAG, 1920 AssociationDrive, Reston, VA 22091.

Roeper Review is a refereed journal that accepts contribu-tions from teachers, counselors, scholars, researchers, andstudents. This journal focuses on current research and is-sues that relate to the lives and experiences of gifted chil-dren. For educators, counselors, and parents who have hadsome experience in reading in the field. Published quarterly.Roeper Review, P. 0. Box 329, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48013.

Understanding Our Gifted, published bimonthly, addressesthe intellectual, social, and emotional needs of gifted youththrough regular columns and feature articles. The perspec-tive is on giftedness as advanced development rather thanas achievement or potential achievement. Provides practicalinformation on current issues in a clear, interesting writingstyle. Snowpeak Publishing, P. 0. Box 3489, Littleton, CO80122.

Journals on Creativity

The Creative Child and Adult Quarterly, 8081, SpringvalleyDrive, Cincinnati, OH 45236.

The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1050 Union Road, Buffa-lo, NY 14224.

Selected Summer Guides

Advisory List of International Educational Travel and Ex-change Programs. Council on Standards for Interna-tional Educational Travel (CSIET), 3 Loudoun Street,SE, Suite 3, Leesburg, VA 22075.

Boarding Schools: Special Programs (Summer). NationalAssociation of Independent Schools (NAIS), 75 FederalStreet, Boston MA 02170.

Directory of Student Science Training Programs for HighAbility Precollege Students. Science Service, Inc., 1719N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Educational Opportunity Guide. Duke University TalentIdentification Program, Box 40077, Durham, NC 27706.

Guide to Accredited Camps. American Camping Associa-tion (ACA), Bradford Woods, 5000 State Road 67North, Martinsville, IN 46151-7902.

Peterson's Summer Opportunities for Kids and Teenagers.Peterson's Guides, Princeton, NJ 08543.

Summer on Campus by Shirley Levin (1989). College BoardPublications, Box 886, New York, NY 10101-0886.

Summer Options for Teenagers by Cindy Ware (1990). Si-mon & Schuster, 15 Columbus Clicle, New York, NY10023.

Teenagers' Guide to Study, Travel, and Adventure Abroad.Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE),205 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Volunteerlby Marjorie Adoff Cohen (1989). Council on Inter-national Educational Exchange (CIEE), 205 East 42n0Street, New York, NY 10017.

Associations

American Association for Gifted ChildrenP. O. Box 2745Dayton, OH 45435

Gifted Child Society, Inc.190 Rock RoadGlen Rock, NJ 07452

National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC)1155 15th Street, NW, Suite 1002Washington, DC 20005

The Association for the Gifted (TAG)The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)1920 Association DriveReston, VA 22091

Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted, Inc. (SENG)Wright State UniversityP. O. Box 1102Dayton, OH 45401

Publishers and Resources for Materials

Addison-Wesley, One Jacob Way, Reading, MA 01867Allyn and Bacon, 160 Gould Street, Needham Heights, MA02194

.'merican Psychological Association, 1200 17th Street NW,`,. ashington, DC 20036Apple Publishing Co., W. 6050 Apple Road, Watertown, WI53094

Aristoplay, P. 0. Box 7028, Ann Arbor, MI 48107Aspen Publ!shers, 1600 Research Boulevard, Rockville, MD20850A. W. Peller & Associates, Educational Materials, 210 SixthAvenue, P. 0. Box 106, Hawthorne, NJ 07507Basic Books, 10 E. 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022Blue Marble, 118 North Ft. Thomas Avenue, Ft. Thomas,KY 41075

R. R. Bowker, 11800 Avenue of the Americas, New York,NY 10036

Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th Street, New York,NY 10011

The Council for Exceptional Children, 1920 AssociationDrive, Reston, VA 22091

Creative Learning Press, P. 0. Box 320, Mansfield Center,CT 96250Curriculum Associates, 5 Esquire Road, North Billerica, MA01862-2589D.O.K. Publishers, P. 0. Box 605, East Aurora, NY 14052E. P. Dutton, 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY '.0016Educators Publishing Service, Inc., 75 Moulton Street, Cam-bridge, MA 02238-9101

Facts on File, 460 Park Avenue South, New York, NY10016

Foxtail Press, P. 0. Box 2996, La Habra, CA 90632-2996Free Spirit Publishing Co., 123 North Third Street, Suite716, Minneapolis, MN 55401Gifted Talented Publications, Inc., P. 0. Box 115, Sewell,NJ 08080

Good Apple, P. 0. Box 299, Carthage, IL 62321-0299Kendall/Hunt, 2460 Kerper Boulevard, Dubuque, IA 52001Little, Brown & Company, 34 Beacon Street, Boston, MA02106

Love Publishing Co., 1777 S. Bellaire Street, Denver, CO80222

McGraw-Hill, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY10020

Merrill Publishing Co., 300 Alum Creek Drive, Columbus,OH 43216Midwest Publications, P. 0. Box 448, Pacific Grove, CA93950

Montessori Matters and E-Z Learning Materials, 701 EastColumbia Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45215The National Association of State Boards of Education, 701North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314NL Associates, Inc., P. 0. Box 1199, Hightstown, NJ 08520The Ohio Psychology Publishing Company, 400 at TownStreet, Suite 020, Columbus, OH 43215Opportunities for Learning, 2041 Nordhoff Street, Chat-sworth r:A 91311Pied Piper, 2922 North 35th Avenue, Suite 4, Drawer11408, Phoenix, AZ 85061-1408Prentice Hall, Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632Pro-Ed, 8700 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Austin, TX 78758Provoking Thoughts, Institute for the Develorinent of Edu-cational Alternatives, P. 0. Box 1104, Austin, MN 55912Review Press, 213 W. Institute Place, Chicago, IL 60610Scholastic Testing Service, Inc., 480 Abyer Road, P. 0.Box 1056, Bensenville, IL 60106-8056

St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 5 Union Square West,New York, NY 10003

Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1234 Amster-dam Avenue, New York, NY 10027

Trillium Press, P. 0. Box 209, Monroe, NY 10950

University of Texas Press, P. 0. Box 7819, Austin, TX78713

Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, Attn. LTI Publi-cations, 535 East Main Street, Ventura, CA 93009

Walker & Company, 720 Fifth Avenue, Ne N York, NY 1001

Zephyr Press, P. 0. Box 13448, Tucson, AZ 85732-3448

Compiled by Sandra L. Berger.

ERIC Digests ?re in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvemunt, under contract no. RI88062007.The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or poli-cies col OERI or the Department of Education.

Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children

THE COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN1920 Association Drive o Reston, VA 22091-1589FAX (703) 264-9494

ERICDigest

ERIC

0DIGEST #464 1989

MEETING THE NEEDS OF ABLE LEARNERSTHROUGH FLEXIBLE PACING

This digest is based on information presented in FlexiblePacing forAble Learners (1988) by Neil Daniel and June Cox.This CEC-ERIC book includes descriptions and anecdotalinformation from 32 successful programs in 18 states. High-lights and case studies provide a composite picture of howflexible pacing is managed and how it works.

What Is Flexible Pacing?

Flexible pacing includes any program in which students aretaught material that is appropriately challenging for theirability and allows them to move forward in the curriculum asthey master content and skills. For able or gifted learners,flexibie pacing generally means some form of accelerator,accomplished by moving the student up to aavanced contentor by moving advanced content down to the student. The rateof progress can be varied in either direction. With flexiblepacing all students can progress through schooi at a pacethat provides a steady challenge without crippling frustrationor unreasonable pressure.

Methods to Achieve Flexible Pacing

In practice, flexible pacing can be achieved by a variety ofmethods:

Continuous progress. Students receive appropriate in-struction daily and move ahead as they master contentand skills. The purest form of flexible pacing, continuousprogress breaks the age-in-grade lockstep.

Compacted course. Two or more courses, usuallyscheduled for a semester each, are compacted into anabbreviated time.

Advanced level course. Students are enrolled in coursesnormally taught at a higher grade level.

Grade slopping. Students move ahead 1 or more years,skipping levels in the normal sequence of promotion.

Early entrance. Students enter elementary school, middleschool, high school, or college earner than the age usually prescribed.

Concurrent or dual enrollment. Students at any gradelevel take classes in two school levels. For example,elementary school students take some classes at juniorhigh; junior high students take some high school classes;high school students enroll for some courses at a collegeor university.

Credit by examination. Students enter an advanced levelcourse or receive credit upon satisfactory compietion ofa comprehensive examination or upon certification ofmastery. The best known examples are the College

6 9

Board's advanced placement and college lever examina-tion programs.

How Can Schools or Districts Begin to Implementa Flexible ;'acing Program?

Flexible pacing will not occur systematically or to any sig-nificant extent unless the school or district has a policy thatstrongly encourages the practice and provides the necessaryinservice support and planning time for teachers. It is oftenbest to introduce the program gradually, with a carefullytargeted student population. Some districts have selected asingle subject area, often mathematics, as a starting place.Other school districts have successfully introduced con-tinuous progress programs for students of all abilities atselected school sites. This approach works bout when :heprincipal and teachers choose to work in that setting.

Flexible pacing entails not only flexible instruction but alsoflexible management systems. Today, in many schools, com-puterized storage of records and schedules makes flexiblepacing options easier to use, whereas the recordkeepingalone would have been overwhelming just a few years ago.Atention to individual needs for every student or selectedgroups of students can be developed piece by piece. Plan-ners should start wherever appropriate. with a single subject,a single set of students, or a single school.

Teacher Changes Needed toPromote Flexible Pacing

Allowing students to move through the school curriculum attheir own pace requires a special commitment from everyteacher. First, the teacher must agree that the best way toserve students is to allow them to progress in key subjectareas as they master content and skills. The teacher mustrecognize that as a consequence students will be placed forinstruction with other students at the same achievement level,not necessarily with those of the same age.

A shift to flexible pacing normally requires training orretraining in teaching methods and classroom managementthat support some form of continuous progress. lnserviceinstruction may include conferences and workshops onmethods of grouping, team teaching, curriculum sequenc-ing, and a variety of topics specific to the subject of pacing.Teachers may also need training in more advanced orbroader content within specialty areas. At the secondarylevel, summer institutes that prepare teachers for the CollegeBoard's advanced placement courses or the InternationalBaccalaureate are well established. These cooperativeprograms contribute by helping teachers address the needsof advanced high school students undertaking college -levelcoursework on their high school campuses.

Whatre the Benefits of Flexible Pacing?

The educational benefit of flexible pacing is individualizationof instruction and .earning to a higher degree than is possiblewhen students all move in lockstep. Students have foundcurriculum more challenging and less repetitious. Arrangingschool-wide scheduling in blocks (e.g., mathematics from9:00to 10:00 am., reading and languagefrom 10:00 to 11:00)permits an easy flow in which all students are studying thesame subject at the same time but at different levels. Oncegrade labels are removed from achievement levels and dis-associated from chronological age, students of all abilitiesappear to thrive.

The desired outcome of sound teaching and learning,whatever the pace, is mastery of concepts and skills. In aschool with continuous progress, students can move aheadnaturally as they are ready. They are not forced to choosebetween remaining in grade level, where they may be bored,or skipping ahead, where they may miss learning critical skillsor information.

How Are People Reacting toFlexible Pacing Programs?

Typically, tea,..hers, administrators, and parents of children inschools with flexible pacing are excited by the progress oftheir children. Although flexible pacing is too new to haveestablished a strong database in research, f :-lost schoolsusing it have found that it allows highly able learners to moveahead rapidly in all aspects of learning and skill development.

One survey of students in the Las Cruces Public Schools(Daniel & Cox, 1988) showed that students welcomed theopportunity for early entry into a more complex curriculum.They viewed their years in accelerated classes as productiveand challenging. All of the 37 students in the program saidthat if they had the choice to make over again, they would stillchoose the accelerated curriculum. For each of them, theadvantages far outweighed any disadvantages.

Flexible Pacing for Able Learners is available from TheCouncil for Exceptional Children, 1920 Association Drive,Reston, VA 22091.

RESOURCES

Cox, J., Daniel, N., & Boston, B. 0. (1985). Educating ablelearners. Programs and promising practices. Austin.University of Texas Press.

Daniel, N., & Cox, J. (1988). Flexible pacing for able learners.Reston, VA: The Council for Exceptional Children. ED 298725

Gallagher, J. J. (1985). Educational strategies for gifted stu-dents in secondary schools. NASSP Bulletin, 69(482), 17-24.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of mapleintelligences. New York: Basic Books.

Goodlad, J., & Anderson, R. (1959). The nongraded elemen-tary school. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C. C. (1984). Synthesis of research oneffects of accelerated instruction. Educational Leadership,42, 84-89.

Robinson, N. M., & Robinson, H. B. (1982). The optimalmatch. Devising the best compromise for the highly giftedstudent. In D. Feldman (Ed.), Developmental approachesto giftedness and creativity (pp. 79-94). San Francisco:Jossey-Bass.

Slavin, R. G. (1987). Grouping for instruction in the elementaryschool. Educational Psychologist, 22, 109-127.

Snow, R. E. (1986). Individual differences and the design ofeducational programs. American Psychologist, 11(10),1029-1039.

Stanley, .3. C. (1979). Educational non-acceleration: An inter-national tragedy. In J. J. Gallagher (Ed.), Gifted children:Reaching their potential (pp. 16-43). Proceedings of theThird International Conference on Gifted Children.Jerusalem, Israel: Kollek & Son.

Van Tassel-Baska, J. (1986). Acceleration. In C. J. Maker(Ed.), Critical issues in gifted education: Defensibleprograms for the gifted (pp. 179-196). Rockville, MD:Aspen.

The major aalncy concerned with flexib'a pacing for ableor gifted learners is

Gifted Students InstitutePO Box 11388Ft. Worth, TX 76110-0388.

ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This publication was prepared with funding from the U.S. Department of Education,Office of Educational Research and Improvement, under contract no. 8188082207.The opinions expressed In this report do not necessarily reflect the positions orpoliees of OERI or the Department of Education.

D

ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicappedand Gifted Children

ERIC stands for the Educational Resources Information Center, aninformation system in existence since 1966 and currently sponsoredby the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, withinthe U.S. Department of Education. There are 16 ERIC clearing-houses, each dealing with a particular area of education. TheCouncil for Exceptional Children has been the host institution forthe ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children sinceits inception.

ERIC clearinghouses perform three major tasks.

I. They acquire the subject literature and unpublished or (infor-mally published) literature in education. Clearinghouses thenabstract and index the materials they select for the ERICdatabase. Documents are announced monthly in Resources inEducation (RIE) and Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE).

2. They respond to questions about information that is in thedatabase. They also network with other agencies that havesimilar scopes of interest and refer inquiries to other resources.

3. They analyze and synthesize the literature into research reviews,knowledge syntheses, state-of-the-art studies, digests, studieson topics of high current interest, and other similar documentsdesigned to compress the vast amount of information availableinto usable formats for ERIC users. These products constitutenew contributions to the literature.

Each year the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and GiftedChildren produces several major publications, more than a dozennew or revised digests, and computer search reprints designed torespond to user requests and to provide leadership about emergingissues. All products produced by dearinghouses are reviewed byexperts in the field and represent the best knowledge that isavailable.

For general information about the ERIC system, call ACCESS ERICI-800-USE-ERIC.

For specific information about disabilities and/or giftedness, callERIC-CEC at 703/264-9474.

ERIC71