Moving Toward a Talent Development Model of Gifted Education

Traditional gifted programs emphasize the inherent nature of giftedness and identify children as gifted primarily based on IQ test scores or academic achievement. These traditional conceptions also favor culturally dominant groups, overlooking giftedness in typically underserved groups, and place value specifically on intellectual abilities alone, versus a more modern notion of multiple intelligences. The talent development model is an emerging approach to gifted education, centered on a broader idea of giftedness and more individualized programming. This report examines the talent development model and discusses modernizing student identification, offering domain-specific student programming, and engaging stakeholders.

Overview of the talent development model

While no profiled district has implemented this model fully, all districts seek to move toward implementation of the talent development model. The talent development model embraces the notion of different kinds of giftedness, and identifies students as gifted in specific areas (e.g., reading, art), known as domains. Administrators at District A, District C, and District G all use domain-specific identification methods, and other profiled districts provide gifted programming unique to different domains of giftedness. This more individualized conception of giftedness complements efforts to mitigate bias in gifted identification and trends toward offering more differentiated programming to all students.

Educators interested in moving toward a talent development model cite its individualized conception of giftedness, its focus on serving students in all areas of giftedness, and its emphasis on achievement and progress as the key potential benefits of the model.

Modernizing student identification

The talent development model identifies students as gifted or talented in a specific domain or area (e.g., art, leadership, math) rather than labeling them as broadly gifted. While standardized tests can still support general gifted identification, educators can more easily identify domain-specific abilities through measures like checklists, referrals, or portfolios of student work. Administrators at District A and District C use behavioral checklists to identify gifted students, while administrators at District F incorporate teacher referrals to improve identification.

Addressing structural biases to increase diversity

Evaluators’ implicit biases and biases inherent in assessment tools themselves can decrease equity in the gifted identification process. To ensure that a gifted program reflects the diversity of the district at large, administrators at profiled districts use more culturally-conscious evaluation methods. Administrators at District A use the Naglieri Non-Verbal Assessment specifically because of its culturally neutral framework, while administrators at District C use a point-based system that automatically assigns additional points for bilingual students and students receiving free or reduced-price lunch.

Administrators at profiled districts work to increase diversity by explicitly addressing bias in their identification process or by choosing culturally neutral identification methods. Both of these methods improve program diversity by ensuring that students from all backgrounds receive more equitable consideration by evaluators.

Creating programming for diverse abilities and interests

This short-format domain-specific programming allows districts to effectively serve a broad population of students who display various types of giftedness over the course of the academic year. Instead of a weekly one-size-fits-all pull-out program, administrators at District C, District B, and District G offer short pull-out programs (i.e., less than two weeks long) tailored to specific domains for instances where in-class differentiation does not fully meet students’ needs. Students only participate in pull-out programs that match their interests and talents.

Use councils to improve stakeholder communications

Contacts at all profiled districts note the importance of successful communication with parents and educators in the implementation of an effective gifted program. Setting up advisory committees for teachers or parent councils can help these stakeholders receive accurate information about gifted programs and can provide a forum for stakeholders to offer input into any proposed changes. This can help gifted administrators receive buy-in for program changes and improve the implementation of a new model, such as a talent development model.

Administrators meet with these councils regularly to discuss the development of the program, ask for input, and communicate proposed changes. Contacts at District B note that speaking with parents helped them to see deficits in their current program.