Identifying Gifted Students: What Parents Should Know

Have you ever wondered if your child might be gifted? While all parents marvel at their own baby's achievements, perhaps your baby always seems to do more - and do it sooner - than other babies the same age. Or maybe your fourteen-year-old is a math whiz, able to solve complicated problems that even perplex you. And could it be possible that your eight-year-old violinist is a musical prodigy?

Knowing that your child is smart is one thing; determining that he or she is gifted is quite another. From an educational standpoint, schools have been measuring giftedness by I.Q. ever since Lewis Terman first adapted Alfred Binet's test in the early 1900s. Ranging from approximately 115-129 at the mildly gifted end, to as high as 180 for the highly rare, profoundly gifted, the intelligence quotient - albeit popular - is only one measure of giftedness.

Increasingly, educators are realizing that just as there is more than one type of giftedness, the means of identifying gifted students must necessarily encompass more than one characteristic as well. While each child is a unique individual - and it's important to be wary of stereotypes about giftedness as with any attributes that deviate from the expected - gifted students share some common traits.

General Characteristics of Gifted Students

Although no one can reasonably expect any child to exhibit every characteristic associated with giftedness, in general, if a child demonstrates 75% of the following traits, which are characteristic of gifted students, the child is probably gifted.

Gifted children have excellent memories, giving them the ability to recall detailed information and to learn quickly. These abilities work well in conjunction with two other common traits of gifted children: their keen observational skills and long attention spans. When interested in a topic or subject - and gifted children have many and varied interests - they tend to concentrate, paying rapt attention for long periods of time. And science or literature often falls within the interests of gifted students.

With a tendency to be very creative, gifted students often display vivid imaginations and a high degree of curiosity - in short, they enjoy learning and presenting that knowledge in new ways, which is why they are also above average in problem-solving.

Enjoying a challenge, gifted children show high levels of what renowned educator Joseph Renzullli referred to as task-commitment, which is essentially a willingness to persevere with a task until its resolution or completion, which is why they also work quite well independently. This is an additional reason that gifted children often (but not always) achieve high academically and tend to read early and often. On the other hand, this task-commitment underscores another gifted trait, which is perfectionism.

This raises the issue of personality traits. While it bears repeating that each child is different, some gifted children are characterized as hypersensitive and emotional, butfrequently have a well-developed sense of humor. And, perhaps, in part, due to their superior reasoning ability, highly developed language skills, sound judgment,and strong sense of justice, gifted children tend to be excellent leaders. Combined, these skills may explain gifted students' tendency to gravitate toward older, more mature friends.

What to do about your gifted child

If your child appears to have the vast majority of these traits, parents might consider having the child tested for gifted education. Depending on the school district's philosophy, gifted education may be a separate class of only gifted children, a pull-out program in which gifted children receive enrichment outside of the regular class (for a certain amount of time each week), or the insertion of gifted activities and lessons in the regular class.

Parents, acting as advocates for their children, should investigate what is available and then determine what is best suited to their children.