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5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options
Formerly titled Losing Our Gifted Children Left Behind, this book describes differences in developmental stages within the gifted population. The children are classified into five levels of giftedness based on behaviors and developmental milestones, giving parents and educators a reference guide to compare with their own gifted children or students. A child s intellectual level can thus be estimated, after which the book provides different educational approaches and practical advice, including how to find the best type of school for each level.
372 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
191 people want to read
About the author
Deborah Ruf
5 books6 followersDeborah L. Ruf earned a Ph.D. in the Psychological Foundations of Education with a focus on Tests & Measurement at the University of Minnesota. She worked as a private consultant and specialist in gifted assessment, test interpretation, and guidance for the gifted for 30 years.
Among her volunteer roles, she served as the National Gifted Children Program Coordinator for American Mensa from 2003 to 2008. She was awarded the Mensa Foundation Intellectual Benefits award in 2007 for her professional work in the field of intelligence.
Having been a parent, classroom teacher, and administrator in elementary through graduate education, she continues to write and speak about school issues and social and emotional adjustment of gifted children and adults.
Dr. Ruf's PhD 1998 dissertation, "Environmental, Familial, and Personal Factors That Affect the Self-Actualization of Highly GIfted Adults: Case Studies" has free access here: https://rb.gy/cu2qz
Dr. Ruf maintains an interest in educational policy, particularly how to set up schools that meet not only academic but social and emotional needs of children through grouping and instruction with true peers.
She is the author of the award-winning book "Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind" (2005) and retitled "5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options" in 2009.
Her most recent invited paper, How Parental Viewpoint and Personality Affect Gifted Child Outcomes (2020, Gifted Child International Journal) looks into specific parent-child interactions of the subject families from the 5 Levels book.
In 2022, she released a short book for parents and grandparents, "Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child," based on one of her most requested speaking topics.
In July 2023, Dr. Ruf released her follow-up longitudinal book study of the now-adult children from the original book and how they are doing now. Her focus has now progressed toward the social and emotional health of the gifted adults who parent gifted children.
For more than 40 years, Dr. Ruf has served as a keynote speaker, workshop, and conference presenter, and written chapters for 5 textbooks, more than 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 100 plus articles and handouts for newsletters, magazines, and websites.
Among her volunteer roles, she served as the National Gifted Children Program Coordinator for American Mensa from 2003 to 2008. She was awarded the Mensa Foundation Intellectual Benefits award in 2007 for her professional work in the field of intelligence.
Having been a parent, classroom teacher, and administrator in elementary through graduate education, she continues to write and speak about school issues and social and emotional adjustment of gifted children and adults.
Dr. Ruf's PhD 1998 dissertation, "Environmental, Familial, and Personal Factors That Affect the Self-Actualization of Highly GIfted Adults: Case Studies" has free access here: https://rb.gy/cu2qz
Dr. Ruf maintains an interest in educational policy, particularly how to set up schools that meet not only academic but social and emotional needs of children through grouping and instruction with true peers.
She is the author of the award-winning book "Losing Our Minds: Gifted Children Left Behind" (2005) and retitled "5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options" in 2009.
Her most recent invited paper, How Parental Viewpoint and Personality Affect Gifted Child Outcomes (2020, Gifted Child International Journal) looks into specific parent-child interactions of the subject families from the 5 Levels book.
In 2022, she released a short book for parents and grandparents, "Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child," based on one of her most requested speaking topics.
In July 2023, Dr. Ruf released her follow-up longitudinal book study of the now-adult children from the original book and how they are doing now. Her focus has now progressed toward the social and emotional health of the gifted adults who parent gifted children.
For more than 40 years, Dr. Ruf has served as a keynote speaker, workshop, and conference presenter, and written chapters for 5 textbooks, more than 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, and 100 plus articles and handouts for newsletters, magazines, and websites.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 21, 2011
This book is awesome!!! I read the original book on the recommendation of a good friend about two years ago at the library (at which time it was out of print) and have wanted my own copy ever since. When I recently found out the book had been re-published under a new name, I went out and bought a copy for myself.
This book details the behavioral, emotional, and developmental milestones of gifted children at each of the five levels. It also give many, many anecdotals for each level, which are just fascinating to read. The book is based on a large sample group of children whom the author (a psychologist) follows over time, and it is so interesting to see how these children grow and what they are capable of at different ages during their childhood. The second half of the book talks about educational challenges and possible solutions for gifted children.
I would recommend this book to any teacher or parent of a gifted child, as it is both an eye-opener and also an affirmation of your own child and who they are. I could read this book over and over again!
This book details the behavioral, emotional, and developmental milestones of gifted children at each of the five levels. It also give many, many anecdotals for each level, which are just fascinating to read. The book is based on a large sample group of children whom the author (a psychologist) follows over time, and it is so interesting to see how these children grow and what they are capable of at different ages during their childhood. The second half of the book talks about educational challenges and possible solutions for gifted children.
I would recommend this book to any teacher or parent of a gifted child, as it is both an eye-opener and also an affirmation of your own child and who they are. I could read this book over and over again!
February 3, 2013
I thought I would add a review as there are only two on this book so far. This book is a must read if you suspect that your child is gifted to any degree. It lays out the miles stones and characteristics of the gifted on all levels and allows you to estimate your child's level of giftedness based upon these things.
The thing that I was most thankful to learn was the different needs and styles of all these different levels of giftedness. Giftedness is not just giftedness. "The difference between someone at the 99th percentile and someone at the 99.4th percentile may be as large as the difference in ability between someone at the 50th and someone at the 75th percentile."
I really enjoyed this book and the insights it gave. Understanding where your child fits in, where they are coming from, how normal some of the things they do are for there intelligence level, all really help in laying out a better course for their education. It gives you a lot of ideas of what will work best for their specific level, ideas of how to best advocate for them, the struggles you will likely face in that area, etc. This is a great first step in understanding more about giftedness, and gifted education.
The oft told axiom that everyone will even out by 3-5 grades is also proved to be very false here. While that may be true simply for hot-housed kids that really don't display any giftedness beyond the norm, gifted kids learn at a much faster pace, and the thing that puts them ahead by 3 years in kindergarten, is not just going to sit on hold while other kids catch up. They will continue to learn at their accelerated pace and highly gifted kids have the ability to finish all of elementary school in one to two years or less. By the time they reach middle school and high school, they will continue to be on the same trajectory of learning, making them capable of completing college well before their time. The important thing to learn here is huge problem this can create for gifted students who are left to sit through these classes that are years below them, and the terrible effect it can have on their attitude, motivation, and study skills. It is critical for the gifted kid to be appropriately challenged, and not to be forced into the system and left only to rebel and something that is such a terrible fit for them.
This book gives you a lot to think about; and it is so much better to know these things before you start school so that you can properly address them all.
It does lose a star though for organization...It was not helpful to have the kids listed by name for me, and having to read though each of their antidotes...I would have preferred a summary, or table or something less taxing to read though for those sections.
The thing that I was most thankful to learn was the different needs and styles of all these different levels of giftedness. Giftedness is not just giftedness. "The difference between someone at the 99th percentile and someone at the 99.4th percentile may be as large as the difference in ability between someone at the 50th and someone at the 75th percentile."
I really enjoyed this book and the insights it gave. Understanding where your child fits in, where they are coming from, how normal some of the things they do are for there intelligence level, all really help in laying out a better course for their education. It gives you a lot of ideas of what will work best for their specific level, ideas of how to best advocate for them, the struggles you will likely face in that area, etc. This is a great first step in understanding more about giftedness, and gifted education.
The oft told axiom that everyone will even out by 3-5 grades is also proved to be very false here. While that may be true simply for hot-housed kids that really don't display any giftedness beyond the norm, gifted kids learn at a much faster pace, and the thing that puts them ahead by 3 years in kindergarten, is not just going to sit on hold while other kids catch up. They will continue to learn at their accelerated pace and highly gifted kids have the ability to finish all of elementary school in one to two years or less. By the time they reach middle school and high school, they will continue to be on the same trajectory of learning, making them capable of completing college well before their time. The important thing to learn here is huge problem this can create for gifted students who are left to sit through these classes that are years below them, and the terrible effect it can have on their attitude, motivation, and study skills. It is critical for the gifted kid to be appropriately challenged, and not to be forced into the system and left only to rebel and something that is such a terrible fit for them.
This book gives you a lot to think about; and it is so much better to know these things before you start school so that you can properly address them all.
It does lose a star though for organization...It was not helpful to have the kids listed by name for me, and having to read though each of their antidotes...I would have preferred a summary, or table or something less taxing to read though for those sections.
November 9, 2011
Wish I'd had this when my son was 10 years old, but still helpful in understanding him. Book is set up to give an overview of an issue concerning specific intelligence, then examples of real children based on interviews from parents and educators for comparison to your child, then expected levels of performance based on standard testing: How to tell if a child is bright or truly profoundly gifted. What to expect with the school system. Special scholarships and awards.
February 20, 2013
As the parent of a gifted child, this book reaffirmed that all we have experienced is "normal", which saddened me greatly. We also have very few fellow parents to talk to that understand the difference between having a smart child and having a gifted child, and the difficulties that come with it. This book was a great resource for our family.
April 14, 2023
The different levels of giftedness were quite interesting. There did seem to be quite a bit of overlap in my humble opinion, especially for children that are “lopsided” in intelligence, which isn’t uncommon. That said, the anecdotes of emotional and academic struggles and triumphs were quite encouraging to read.
The three stars is for her educational philosophy and lack of research within that. The author postulates that when a child’s educational needs are met that will satisfy their emotional needs. She advocates for grade skipping, pulling children out of school for middle school years, direct college entry. Yet now there are numerous advanced study programs starting in 2nd grade to avoid these options since now-adults that have gone this route tend to express regret (or at worse resentment) for having a truncated childhood.
The author (and this book particularly!) needs to strike a balance between both intellectual needs and whole-child needs. In my opinion these educational recommendations spell disaster.
The three stars is for her educational philosophy and lack of research within that. The author postulates that when a child’s educational needs are met that will satisfy their emotional needs. She advocates for grade skipping, pulling children out of school for middle school years, direct college entry. Yet now there are numerous advanced study programs starting in 2nd grade to avoid these options since now-adults that have gone this route tend to express regret (or at worse resentment) for having a truncated childhood.
The author (and this book particularly!) needs to strike a balance between both intellectual needs and whole-child needs. In my opinion these educational recommendations spell disaster.
August 12, 2023
I had to take it back to the library before I finished it because it was making me rant into the night. I really wanted it to be useful; I wanted all the information it promised to give me, but I took issue with too much of it:
- the author’s insistence that it is so well established (it’s not) that there are less gifted people among the poor than among the rich, accompanied by racist citations that left a lot to be desired
- her opinion that the reason we need to help gifted kids is because they will solve all the world's problems, rather than because they are kids and we're adults and IT'S OUR JOB.
- her fondness for intelligence measures last updated in the 70's, which made an oldish book seem ancient. These measures are based on the concept of “mental age” which I find to be very grating.
I also disagreed with the categories she put some of the kids in.
Basically, it's a compelling idea, but it became clear early on that engagement with this book is not healthy for me, and I had to put it back.
- the author’s insistence that it is so well established (it’s not) that there are less gifted people among the poor than among the rich, accompanied by racist citations that left a lot to be desired
- her opinion that the reason we need to help gifted kids is because they will solve all the world's problems, rather than because they are kids and we're adults and IT'S OUR JOB.
- her fondness for intelligence measures last updated in the 70's, which made an oldish book seem ancient. These measures are based on the concept of “mental age” which I find to be very grating.
I also disagreed with the categories she put some of the kids in.
Basically, it's a compelling idea, but it became clear early on that engagement with this book is not healthy for me, and I had to put it back.
June 10, 2023
Reading this book was the single most helpful thing I did to guide the early years with gifted kids. Years 1-2 are filled with joy watching your profoundly gifted kids advance so quickly, but by 2.5 -3 when they already have grade school level academic skills you start to realize reality is more complicated. Adding in asynchronous development, reluctance of school districts to skip grades and the challenge of keeping them engaged before gifted programs start at third grade, it becomes even more difficult to navigate. This book led us to recognizing their needs, completing early testing when we would have otherwise put it off, Mensa memberships and a more defined path to advocate for their needs. It saved us pitfalls we never would have considered. I will be forever grateful for this book and the brilliant minds behind it.
April 15, 2023
Good resources and information, but it is obscured by a sometimes tricky to follow organizational structure. Information is a bit dated in 2023 but still helpful in thinking about options to evaluate for gifted students. The primary thesis that there is a wide range of ability, interest, and need amongst the students we identify as "gifted" is incredibly relevant and a needed reminder.
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August 5, 2021Very informative and eye opening. However, there are way way too many examples of various children. They were drawn out and distracted from the information. After about halfway through the book, I just started skipping them.
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August 7, 2017PD for GT cert
June 4, 2014
I thought this was kind of all over the place. Part of it is describing the attributes of very high IQ kids, using some scores but also observations from parents of these kids. But part was supposed say how best to educate them but it wasn't really clear about anything. In fact some of her suggestions (eg radical acceleration)were later said by parents to leave their children feeling odd. And she seemed to have a vandetta against students receiving support for their disabilities.
April 8, 2015
Fabulous....a must read for parents with smart kids.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews