Identifying Gifted Students: A Practical Guide

by Susan K. Johnsen

This revision of Identifying Gifted A Practical Guide is aligned with both the updated National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards and the NAGC and The Association for the Gifted, Council for Exceptional Children (CEC-TAG) professional development standards. This book is relevant in any state or setting that intends to meet these national standards and uses multiple assessments to identify gifted students within an increasingly diverse population. Designed for practicing professionals, such as teachers, counselors, psychologists, and administrators, Identifying Gifted Students addresses definitions, models, and characteristics of gifted students; qualitative and quantitative approaches to assessment; culturally fair and nonbiased assessment; and how to evaluate the effectiveness of identification procedures. In addition, the book provides an updated summary of all major assessment instruments, including scoring information, reliability, and validity.

Genres: Reference

198 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Susan K. Johnsen, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Baylor University. She directs the Ph.D. program, and programs related to gifted and talented education. She is past-president of the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented. She is editor of Gifted Child Today; coauthor of the Independent Study Program, RTI for Gifted Students, Using the National Gifted Education Standards for University Teacher Preparation Programs, Using the National Gifted Education Standards for PreK–12 Professional Development; and author of more than 200 articles, monographs, technical reports, and other books related to gifted education.

Reviews

[Haifa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended for those who research the Giftedness for the first time.

[Fafani Weinzierl · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating probably isn’t fair as I’m reading this based on its applicability to me versus its content. I felt I needed to read this for professional purposes as I coordinate the GT program as part of my job. This book validated my point of view on several areas. The use of academic achievement measures in the identification process will almost always guarantee underrepresentation of multilingual learners and economically disadvantaged students. Inclusive practices refer to the entire continuum of learners and students should be receiving differentiation in the classroom. I would love to broaden the scope of the GT program in my district by creating a system that identifies the gifts of students beyond just academic achievement. I had hoped to gain more insight into that type of process and perhaps this did give me a starting point but of course I want all the answers, right away, and a step-by-step outline for just how to do that. 😉

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear look at the identification practices based on standards from NAGC and other gifted organizations. It is very clear, data collected from a variety of stakeholders, quality assessments in both quantitative and qualitative means, and frequent evaluation of the program are necessary -- non negotiable elements of this process.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Haley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this book had some good information. I felt it was bogged down with a lot of references and cited sources. There were times where I felt like every other sentence was a cited source. I appreciate all of the research done to produce the book, but I would prefer if it had more explanations in between each cited sentence.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! This is the perfect guide for a new gifted teacher to begin testing. It gives you everything you need to know to be successful at creating a testing program for your school!

[Shellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very informational in terms of the identification process, a bit dry and uninteresting when it came to explaining raw scores, percentiles, etc. But overall....a good, informative read.