Formerly, all it took to be considered “gifted” is a stellar performance on a single test. However, the definition of gifted has expanded exponentially as educators come to a broader understanding of what giftedness is and neuroscientists continue to develop ways of studying how the brain works and interacts with its environment. This means that students who might once have been considered simply talented or even misclassified as autistic are, in fact, gifted. Proper and authentic identification of the gifted can help parents and educators fend off behavior problems, develop learning strategies, and even prevent truancy or dropping out.
IQ & Giftedness
Educators now understand that placing too much emphasis on one IQ test is not a reliable way to designate who is gifted and who is not. Students who are good at structured testing or who can adapt their behavior easily may score well on IQ tests without actually being gifted. These children usually perform well academically, but do not show the exceptional complex creative or cognitive thinking which is the mark of the truly gifted.
Students who are “good at school” or who perform well on standardized IQ assessments are certainly bright, but they are also children who are also usually good at navigating through a structured system. While not necessarily gifted, these students usually perform well in the adult world. Their organizational skills and ability to fit in with clear expectations make them ideal employees, particularly in such fields as science and math. High IQ students of this nature also usually perform well on such tests as the ACT and SAT. Usually, however, they do not distinguish themselves later in life as particularly original thinkers.
For example, some students who are exceptional musicians, writers, artists, or inventors may not show to advantage in structured testing. Athletically gifted students or those who have unusual skill with animals won’t, either. But does this mean IQ tests are useless when it comes to identifying the gifted?
The Value of IQ Tests
IQ tests can be useful when they are viewed as one tool in an educational system’s arsenal of identifying gifted children. Placing a great deal of emphasis on a single test can create anxiety in the child and even work counterintuitively, causing the child to freeze up and underperform, especially if he or she is doubly exceptional. For example, a child may be exceptionally gifted as a creative thinker, but have a learning disability where discerning spatial relationships is concerned. He or she is then placed at an immediate disadvantage if an IQ test demands use of these skills.
Younger children can even underperform for trivial reasons, such as feeling tired or hungry. Students who are gifted in one area but do not perform well in a structured environment are at a natural disadvantage when it comes to such tests.
However, teachers can use these tests to perhaps signal that a child has at least the potential for giftedness. They provide an objective standard against which the student may be measured: How well do students of similar ages and educational backgrounds perform when presented with these same challenges? Identifying students who score well on IQ tests and watching them interact with other students as well as adults is a good way to learn who might be gifted.
Some students might score well on IQ tests but underperform in a day to day classroom setting; this might indicate dysfunction or a lack of support in a home environment. Without support in homework and studying for tests, some students will naturally fall behind those who do have these advantages.
Divergent Thinking
Some students may become discouraged in traditional classroom settings because they are divergent thinkers. This means they may approach problem solving in unusual ways. While some creative thinkers and doers demonstrate their giftedness verbally or in art, divergent thinkers present themselves in less obvious ways.
For example, they might be brilliant mathematical thinkers, but their grades do not reflect this because their written tests show that they have arrived at the right answer the “wrong way.” They may also, due to asynchronous development, not get along with their peers and create disturbances in the classroom because they are bored, unsettled, or otherwise not feeling engaged.
Divergent thinkers are problem solvers and usually far more fluid and flexible than a traditional IQ test allows. While some students may be stumped by pattern detection, others might do well in reasoning or intuitive thinking. Some educators believe this can be detected on standardized tests. Others dispute this theory, preferring instead to allow an exceptional students gifts to unfold over time or even unexpectedly, as suddenly displaying the ability to compose complex music on demand.
How Should Gifted Students Be Identified?
This all feeds into the ever-expanding question of how gifted students ought to be identified. Some educators agree that a mix of standardized tests, collaborative learning challenges, casual classroom observation, and nonverbal ability tests are the best ways to determine giftedness.
Some tests should be administered in a neutral setting by a trained professional. As a certain percentage of students, particularly those who are younger, cannot distinguish between “graded tests” and may freeze up when presented with a stressful testing environment. Other tests should involve assessment of such skills as cognitive processing, motor skill development, and verbal abilities. Allowances for a student’s potential social skills, should also be made.
Interpreting Results
Results interpretation is also key. Standardized tests may reveal surprises about a student. Some educators or parents may learn of a child’s mismatch between a high IQ score and low academic performance and become angry. They might assume the child is lazy, has not been working to full potential, or is “wasting time” in daydreams or obsessing over non-scholastic matters.
Standardized test scores should also not exist in isolation, and various forms of IQ tests should be used. By working together to evaluate a student’s performance, parents, staff members, and educators can collaborate throughout the student’s development to determine giftedness.
