Is It a Cheetah?

Misconceptions About Gifted

General Intellect

IQ Score

Differentiation

Unserviced Success

Homogeneity

Fixed Quality

Singular Service

Cognitive Needs

The Common Definition

GiftedAchievementIntellectualAcademicCreativeTalented

Homogeneity

'There is no single homogeneous group of gifted children and adults'

- Reis and Renzulli

Myth 1: The gifted and talented constitute one singlehomogeneous group and giftedness is a way of being that stays in the person over time and experiences.

General Intellect

'Underlying assumption ... that gifted children have a general intellectual power that allows them to be gifted “across the board”'

- Winner

Gifted child: Myths and realities

Fixed Quality

'giftedness is developmental, not fixed at birth'

- Reis and Renzulli

Myth 1: The gifted and talented constitute one singlehomogeneous group and giftedness is a way of being that stays in the person over time and experiences.

The Singular Score

'very few within our field define giftedness as high IQ'

'High potential for intellectual performance is multidimensional'

- Borland

Myth 2: The gifted constitute 3% to 5% of the population. Moreover, giftedness equals high IQ, which is a stable measure of aptitude; Spinal Tappsychometrics in gifted education

- Friedman-Nimz

Myth 6: Cosmetic use of multiple selection criteria

The Singular Program

'there is a single set of principles or elements that represent an appropriate differentiated curriculum for gifted students'

- Kaplan

Myth 9: There is a single curriculum for the gifted.

General Ed. Differentiation

'reality is that the way we “do school” does not make it easy for classrooms to be places where individual student needs … ultimately shape the curriculum'

- Hertberg-Davis

Myth 7: Differentiation in the regular classroom is equivalent to gifted programs and is sufficient: Classroom teachers have the time, the skill, andthe will to differentiate adequately.

Success Without Service

'an array of comparative strengths,vulnerabilities, and similarities'

- Peterson

Myth 17: Gifted and talented individuals do not have unique social and emotional needs

Cognitive Needs

'Neither high achievers nor gifted underachievers are exempt from troubling circumstances … achievement may be central to achievers' identity'

- Peterson

Myth 17: Gifted and talented individuals do not have unique social and emotional needs