Gifted 101

 

Keys to meeting learning & developmental needs

Gifted 101 serves as a starting point for parents, educators and community members to address key questions about gifted youth and meeting their needs, whether academic or socio-emotional, at home and at school:

1. Identification: How do I know?
2. Learning Needs: What should I know?
3. Finding Support: Where can I go?
4. Advocate Conversations: What approach should I take?
5. Research and Best Practice: Where should I look?
   • Reading Material and Curriculum Reference

Our aim is to put you in touch with reputable sources of information and expert guidance. Need more in-depth? We have plenty of resources for you to explore on focused topics.

Identification: How do I know?

While some commonalities exist across giftedness, one size does not fit all. Gifted learners exhibit different characteristics, traits, and ways to express their giftedness. Various issues must be considered for identification. – NAGC on Gifted Identification

• NAGC | What is Giftedness? and Why Gifted and Talented Education is Important 
• NAGC | Resources for Parents and Ayude a Su Hijo Dotado a Tener Éxito
• MCGT | Checklist: Is Your Child Gifted?
• Video | Gagne’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT)
• Video | UConn Talks: Dr. Joseph Renzulli, Director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
• MN Dept of Education | About Gifted Students and Gifted Education
• TAGFAM | How Do I Know if My Child is Gifted?
• Gifted Development Center | What We Have Learned about Gifted Children
• Bernie Kilgore, PhD | High Achiever, Gifted or Creative Thinker?

Learning Needs: What should I know?

The notion that age equates to grade is out of tune with what we know about individual differences. Research reveals that gifted students are more academically and emotionally advanced than their typical age-mates. Therefore, it makes more sense to think about readiness, rather than age, as the main determinant for grade placement. – Acceleration Institute

• Evaluating Gifted Programs: Four Essential Questions via Psychology Today
• Checklist for Middle School Gifted Programs (.pdf)
• NAGC | Gifted Education Practices and Common Gifted Education Myths
• NAGC | Glossary of Gifted Terms and National Standards in Gifted Education
• NAGC | Every Student Deserves Great Teaching (2015)
• Belin-Blank Center | A Nation Empowered (2015) – current research on acceleration
• Belin-Blank Center | Should I Accelerate my Child? – Q & A for parents and educators
• Jack Kent Cooke Foundation | Closing the Excellence Gap – support for GT learners of diverse socio-economic background
• Critical Issues in the Identification of Gifted Students With Co-Existing Disabilities by Barbara Jackson Gilman, et al., in SAGE Open (2013)
• Navigating the World of Special Education with your Gifted Student via Digest of Gifted Research, Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) (2013)
• 25 Signs Your Gifted Child is Misunderstood at School by Gail Post, Ph.D. via Gifted Challenges (2016)

Finding Support: Where can I go?

• MCGT – Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented – www.mcgt.net and www.stcroixvalleygifted.net
  • Tips for Parents of Gifted Children: What Most Parents Wish They had Known by Gail Post, Ph.D. via Gifted Challenges (2015)
  • Power in Numbers: How Gifted Advocacy Groups can Help You and Your Kids by Gail Post, Ph.D. via Gifted Challenges (2016)
• MEGT – Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented – www.mnegt.org
• NAGC – National Association for Gifted Children – www.nagc.org
• SENG – Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted  – www.sengifted.org
• Mensa
  • American Mensa – www.us.mensa.org
  • Minnesota Mensa –  www.mnmensa.org
  • Minnesota Mensa Children’s Program – www.mnmensa.org/giftedchildren1.html

Advocate Conversations: What approach should I take?

One of the keys to effective advocacy is having the confidence to make your case.  You don’t have to be an expert to be an effective advocate, but it is important to have some basic facts.  – NAGC

• Why Aren’t You Advocating for your Gifted Child? by Dr. Gail Post, Ph.D.
• Parent Advocacy Model — Are My Child’s Needs Being Met? by Heidi Williams via STRETCH
• OAGC Parent Day Round Table: Advocacy via Race to the Middle
• Harvard Family Research Project | Parent-Teacher Conference Tip Sheets for Principals, Teachers and Parents (.pdf)
• Rethinking Difficult Parents by Dr. Allen Mendler, Ph.D. via Edutopia
• NAGC | Advocacy Toolkit
• NAGC | A Break in Communication: When an Advocate is Needed (.pdf)
• MCGT makes gifted advocate services available for members as you navigate school decisions and conversations

Research and Best Practices: Where should I look?

• NAGC | Administrator Toolbox and Resources for Educators
• National Research Center for Gifted Education – ncrge.uconn.edu
• National Research Center on the Gifted & Talented (NRC:GT) – curry.virginia.edu/research/centers/nrcgt
• Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development – www.gifted.uconn.edu/
• Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary – education.wm.edu/centers/cfge/
• Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Research – www2.education.uiowa.edu/belinblank/aboutus/
• Acceleration Institute – www.accelerationinstitute.org
• Davidson Gifted – www.davidsongifted.org
• Hoagies Gifted – www.hoagiesgifted.org
• UC Irvine Extension – Gifted & Talented Webinars
• Gifted Education Resource Institute – www.geri.education.purdue.edu
• Re-Forming Gifted Education: Matching the Program to the Child by Dr. Karen Rogers, Ph.D., University of St. Thomas, via Great Potential Press