Identifying Gifted and Outstanding Students - Essay Example

Performance Assessment and Gifted The rate of growth and development in the world of today is mainly fueled by the amount of innovation among people and the rate of innovativeness. Individuals come up with new ideas and ways of doing things each day. All this has been explained by scholars as being the result of having gifted men and women in society. Students are able to think out of the box and generate unique and exceptional ideas. Giftedness has been defined as a character that involves aptitudes which, when combined with certain personal characteristics and favorable environment, produce an urge in students to learn rapidly and efficiently by themselves in different fields (Calero, Belen and Robles 176). Study shows that students of these days are almost changing the old education system due to being able to grasp ideas fast and easily. Though not all students are gifted and talented, many of them are able to excel in other different fields at school. With libraries having been incorporated in the learning curriculum, students have made good use of the facilities and have come up with their own research plans and projects. The libraries also encourage students to study ahead of their teachers, where they make use of a variety of materials apart from the normal class notes given by their teachers. Research shows that giftedness can be found in all cultures and can be expressed in different ways. Every individual usually has some hidden potential which, if given a little push could be unleashed. This is because despite having the gifts and talents, some students might just sit on them without taking any step to exploit them. It is thus the reason that teachers, parents and guardians should take note of the gifted students and look out for the untapped hidden ability in them (Sarouphim 277). To start with, one must adopt a broader view of the idea of intelligence, giftedness, and talents that goes beyond the academic performance of an individual and which includes a wide variety of human abilities. Before beginning the process, it is also important to pay attention to the different kinds of giftedness that exist in an individual. These may include; emergent giftedness, potential giftedness or high-potential giftedness (Calero, Belen and Robles 176). The authors also provided that the reasons for having this procedure was because the giftedness or creativity level in a person was also affected by other external factors other than the individual’s own abilities. Such include; the socio-environmental variables, which may either hinder or optimize the abilities. This is mainly due to the fact that the environment with which a person grows up in can to a great extent affect how he or she exploits his or her talents. Study shows that individual’s performance could be affected by cultural and environmental factors, especially those in underrepresented communities (Sternberg and Reis 142). The extent to which an individual exploits their abilities is also said to depend on their gender. This is greatly affected by the research results which indicate that men are said to be more competent than women and, thus, their performance it deemed to be also better (Gorman and Kmec 841). This extensively affects the mentality of women and thus, very few of them will be willing to exploit their gifts and talents. Otherwise, others will sit on them and do nothing due to fear. Research also indicates that the performance of women will also be affected by the fact that no one pays attention or cares about their hidden abilities. Performance assessment of verbal and math achievement in students showed that the level of giftedness in students also differed in terms of gender. By use of the Internal/External Frame Model, (I/E Model) both males and females were found to be similarly gifted in the way that they formed their verbal and math self-concepts. However, the results of their scores were found to be completely different. Female students were found to be more gifted in verbal concepts since their verbal achievements were higher as compared to their math achievements. The male students on the other hand, were found to be more gifted in the math concepts where their achievements were higher as compared to their verbal achievements (Rinn, McQueen, Clark and Rumsey 47). However, other scholars have failed to prove the existence of differences between gifted males and gifted females. The I/E Model was used to compare the abilities of a student while in one domain and those while in another. The model mainly concludes on the giftedness of students by comparing their achievements versus their self concepts. While some students will be very good at forming math self-concepts, they will still get poor achievements because they are not gifted in the area. However, study showed that achievement in an area was to have a positive impact on the self-concept of the individual in the related area. Students who found that they were gifted in certain subjects were found to continuously excel in the subjects since they would work harder in those particular fields. Consequently, they were found to perform poorly in the subjects that they found they were not gifted in. Taking the example of verbal and math self-concepts; students who found that they were gifted in one of the two, were likely to put more effort in it, than in the other. Still, their performance was also found to be affected by the performance of their fellow students (Rinn, McQueen, Clark and Rumsey 36). This is one way that is known to induce potential giftedness in a student. Students were noted to set their potential goals depending on the achievements of their fellow students and thus, while struggling to achieve these goals, they would realize that they were actually gifted in that certain area, only that they had not bothered to exploit it in full potential previously. With the I/E Model however, a weakness was raised where students had a negative belief that verbal and math self-concepts were not related. This negative notion on the interdependency really influenced the perceptions of abilities in different areas. Belief in negative interdependence made students avoid some subjects and to also affect their choice of carriers. Thus, irrespective of the results given by I/E Model, the perceptions of the students created by the belief of negative interdependence notably affected their level of giftedness (Rinn, McQueen, Clark and Rumsey 49) gives an occupation field called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mechanics) which can only be entered by students who have changed their perceptions with regard to their giftedness. In Lebanon, giftedness is assessed by the use of a performance assessment referred to as DISCOVER. DISCOVER stands for Discovering Intellectual Strength and Capabilities while allowing for Varied Ethnic Responses (Sarouphim 2). It is an assessment method that has been used to evaluate multiple intelligences among students and encouraging those students who are not gifted to engage in the ideas that they are good in. The Lebanese culture is mainly involved in identifying the gifted people in the society and establishing a curriculum of gifted education in the country. The method used to assess and evaluate giftedness is the performance-based assessment. This mainly involves assessment of the higher order skills, reduction of the period between lessons and tests and assessment of students on real life situations apart from class work only. Students are impacted with skills concerning the selected areas, and then they are assessed using tests. Since the students will perform differently in all the tested areas, they are deemed to be more gifted in the areas that they perform better. The use of DISCOVER on students has given positive results on the performance of students from culturally diverse groups by increasing their progressiveness, complexity and openness. The results given by tests conducted using DISCOVER showed that the possibility of signs of giftedness showing in a student were significantly dependent on the students themselves and not on the beliefs of either their teachers or parents. This is because, the expectations of both teachers and the parents were found to be completely the opposite of the true results attained after the DISCOVER assessment. Most teachers and parents seemed disappointed concerning the results obtained because they were contrary to their expectations (Sarouphim 287). The explanation obtained for this was that the giftedness in a student was mainly internal as opposed to external. Most people on the other hand, when assessing on the giftedness of a student will tend to observe the external side leading to a poor assessment. Scholars also point out that teachers often develop their own theories concerning the evidence of giftedness and will at times confuse good behavior with giftedness. In addition, teachers consider themselves knowing all about a child’s progress just because they spend a lot of time with him or her. Thus, they end up making wrong judgments and underestimating the abilities of students who do not perform well academically. Study however, shows that such students showed exceptional performances in other fields in which they were gifted. Parents also over estimate their children’s ability since no parent would openly admit that there child is not gifted in a particular area. Performance assessments would always, however, give the opposite results (Johnsen 40). Although assessments on giftedness are usually based on the education curriculum, other scholars provide that it is also important to involve non-verbal tasks based on inductive reasoning. This is because, while the results of performance training and giftedness will mostly be dependent on the IQ of a student, in some cases it may not be the case (Calero, Belen and Robles 177). The method of performance assessment thus requested by this author is dynamic assessment. Dynamic assessment is based on the argument that IQ is not necessarily the determinant of giftedness. Despite some students having a very low IQ, they will however, manage to be gifted students and have improved performance levels if trained well. The assessment showed that gifted students have a faster learning capacity and are highly motivated as compared to the non-gifted. The study also indicated that students with a high intelligence have a higher learning potential than those with a low intelligence. Thus, results from performance assessments were likely to indicate that such students were gifted, since they were the ones that performed well. Though, students with normal IQ did not show exceptional performances like those of students with a high IQ, the methodology was however, useful in locating and identifying them. Those with a low IQ were also identified, and once the two groups (average and low IQ) were trained, they showed an excellent improvement and could lie at a close level with the gifted students. With the above assessment, authors therefore, emphasized that: the principle of identifying gifted students by observance of the intelligence test results alone was not accurate. This is because other factors such as environmental factors affecting an individual’s performance have to be considered too. The dynamic assessment also showed that giftedness in students can be defined from different angles. Students with high IQ capacity can be said to be gifted due to their excellent performances. Those with an average IQ on the other hand, may not show excellent performances but once trained will also display high intelligence levels and thus proving that they are gifted (Sternberg, Jarvin and Grigorenko 227). However, the dynamic assessment still indicated that high IQ students not only did they possess high intelligence levels but were capable of maintaining high learning capacity even when taken to a different domain. The assessment was indeed useful since it was used in assessing the potential of high-ability subjects and identifying the potential ability in students whose initial performance was low (Calero, Belen and Robles 179). When performance assessment was taken, the level of giftedness in an individual was found to be also affected by the economic standards of an individual. McBee (2010) states that underrepresentation of students in minority communities was found to affect the level of their giftedness negatively. Research showed that students from the rich families had a greater potential to exercise their gifts and thus were more likely to be found gifted as compared to those from poor families. The poor students, who were described as being in low socio-economic status, have limited facilities and most of them also have emotional and psychological problems. Such students were also found to be having low self esteem and thus could not express their opinions openly or explain their views openly due to lack of self confidence. Most of them were found to avoid public places and to hide in their own cocoons where no one could spot them easily. Such behaviors limit their chances of meeting people who could help them unveil their hidden gifts and will thus end up being declared as non-gifted (McBee 286). Schools, indeed, have gifted students who know more than even what they are learning. Most students have proven to be indeed exceptional in the way that they grasp ideas in class and the ease with which they are able to remember them during tests and exams. Most of these students are, however, acknowledged as being intelligent just because they succeed in performance assessments. Consequently, other students who do not perform well in performance assessments are assumed to be non-gifted and not intelligent. In my opinion, however, this is not right and fair. All that every student needs is good and enough training to prove their capabilities too. A student could also be average in class work but be extremely gifted when it comes to other activities. Thus, giftedness can be wide, and what a person will term as giftedness will depend on his or her angle of definition. Works Cited Calero, Dolores M., Garcia-Martin M. Belen and Auxiliadora M. Robles. “Learning Potential in high IQ children: The contribution of dynamic assessment to the identification of gifted children”. Learning and Individual Differences 21, (2011), 176–181. Print. Gorman, Elizabeth H. and Julie A. Kmec. “We have to try harder: Gender and Required Work Effort in Britain and the United States”. Gender and Society, 21, (6) 2007, 828-856. Print. Johnsen, S.K. Identifying Gifted Students: A Practical Guide. Texas: Prufrock Press Inc., 2004. Print. McBee, Mattew. “Examining the Probability of Identification for Gifted Programs for Students in Georgis Elementary Schools: A multilevel Path Analysis Study”. Gifted Child Quarterly. 54, (4) 2010, 283-297. Print. Rinn. Anne N., Kand S. McQueen, Gina L. Clark and Jessica L. Rumsey. “Gender Differences in Gifted Adolescents’’ Math/Verbal Self-Concepts and Math/ Verbal Achievement: Implications for the STEM Field”: Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 32, (1) 2008, 34–53. Print. Sarouphim, Ketty M. “The use of a performance Assessment for Identifying Gifted Lebanese Students: Is DISCOVER Effective?” Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 33, (2) 2009, 275–295. Print. Sterberg, R. J. and S. M. Reis. Definitions and Conceptions of Giftedness. California: Corwin Press, (2004). Print. Sternberg, R. J., Jarvin, L. and E. L. Grigorenko. Explorations in Giftedness. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print. Read More