The world may be finally catching on that brain power can lead society to greater achievements in science, art, linguistics, and just about every other area of human endeavor. The trick is to find these future Einstein’s at a fairly young age and give them the educational direction and support they need to reach their full potential.
Traditionally and currently in most places, gifted and talented children are found by giving intelligence tests in math, English, and areas of “general ability.” These tests usually start in the third grade and children suspected to have “innate advanced abilities” are given special curricula and opportunities to pursue their talents.
But this philosophy is now being modified in several ways. Instead of using intelligence tests with strict thresholds, many countries are using a broader range of methods to find highly intelligent children.
The search is becoming more inclusive since previous IQ testing has been found to be somewhat biased against low-incomefamilies and those with English-language limitations.
Furthermore, the search is now considering more than IQ testing as a basis for identifying gifted children. Educators are looking at successful people and their personality traits and attitudes to find children with similar strengths, even the ones who did not do well on IQ tests, or maybe not have taken them at all.
There is another traditional stereotype that is being called into question. And that is the belief that genius is inherited. There is much evidence today that, although genetics play a part in the development of giftedness, it is not the sole contributor.
Nature-nurture is becoming less of a debate as both seem to be involved in varying degrees. Intelligence is inheritable and the family tree might be the best predictor of future success but the opportunity to exercise giftedness in the process of learning is also important.
Starting With IQ Testing
IQ tests are still worthy of being used as measuring sticks to find very bright young people. Researchers still agree that IQ tests can measure general intelligence represented by the ability to reason, plan, solve problems and think abstractly.
One study by Julian Stanley, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, involved 5,000 precocious children. They were studied over a span of 25 years. Their scores on IQ tests were high enough in early adolescence to get them early entry to universities.
The project was called the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY). It was found that of the top 0.5% of participants, who scored high in math and verbal tests, 30 percent went on to earn doctorates, versus 1 percent of Americans in general. These gifted children were also more likely to file patents and earn high incomes.
Some psychologists feel that IQ has a ceiling, and its effects wane at some point. But studies have shown that the children who had high tests in their early years went on to earn advanced, terminal degrees in fields like medicine, law or science.
Gifted children may have problems being acclimated to a social environment. Indeed, some are twice exceptional and need special programs and support. But studies have also shown that many children with high IQs go on to have better physical and mental health as adults.
Gifted children who are given opportunities to accelerate their learning by being moved up a school-year or two show little harm. And they are also much more likely to file patents and achieve advanced degrees.
Using Universal Screening
But IQ tests and their administration are not perfect. They miss out on finding the smart kids who are also poor. So, in this sense, IQ testing is wasting the development of a significant population of future Einstein’s.
The problem is that sometimes applications for gifted programs are voluntary, and these applications come mostly from rich and/or pushy parents who are well aware of the advantages gifted programs can provide for their children.
Tutors can charge a lot of money to help very young children to boost their IQ scores, and this benefit may be out of reach for many poor families. In one 2015 study in New York, it was found that 70 percent of students admitted to gifted programs were white or Asian although they represented only 30 percent of the school population.
Universal screening is becoming more popular these days to include poor children, Hispanics, and black students.
Miami-Dade is America’s fourth-largest school district, and it uses universal screening for gifted programs. In doing so, it provides a lower threshold for poor children or those who have English as a second language – as long as they have high scores on other tests or show that they can learn English quickly, etc.
Looking Beyond IQ
Almost every state in America offers programs for very smart children. Many states have shifted the focus from “gifted” to “high-ability,” reflecting the change from single IQ tests to testing for other attributes. Similar changes are occurring in Europe.
The search is on for children with high-ability in areas like spatial intelligence, the ability to generate, manipulate, and store visual images. Psychologists note that spatial ability in a child is linked to future achievement in science and technology.
Another interesting finding of spatial ability is that it is not as correlated with economic status in childhood as is math and verbal scores. This means that gifted and talented children who are also poor have a better chance to perform well.
IQ testing itself is not enough to find children with high potential. It is also important to find children with persistence, passion, determination, and creativity and foster those attributes throughout their formative years.
It is not just about intelligence, it is also about performance. Talent counts but effort counts more, according to educational psychologists. Deliberate practice over long periods of time is considered critical to developing high abilities.
Learning How to Learn
Project Bright Idea was developed at Duke University. It focused on teaching 10,000 primary school children – and younger – using the same methods often reserved for gifted students.
The project fostered high expectations and required complex problem-solving as well as “thinking about thinking” forms of cognition. Almost all of these children went on to perform better than their peers.
Teaching methods that draw on the principle of growth mindset are now being used in schools in the U.S., Britain, and other countries. In Peru, the World Bank is running trials of this method where teachers work with students to amend their statements like “I can’t do long division” to “I can’t do long division – yet.”
Young Einstein’s can be found with more equitable IQ testing, identification of extraordinary traits, recognition of passionate commitment to a field of interest, and extraordinary drive for learning.
