Identification

Barbara Ide writes in her article "Are Preschoolers Too Young for Gifted Programs?" about three year olds showing up for preschool already with IEPs. Her article questions the motivation behind this early identification. While the point of this discussion on gifted identification is not to debate underlying reasons why children are identified, her article does raise an important question-- when is the appropriate time/age to begin the identification process for gifted students?

James Borland (2008) states at the beginning of his article on identification that "identification of gifted students is almost always the most controversial aspect of gifted programs in the public schools." As stated in the introduction, this section on identification will not focus on the identification procedures (the most controversial aspect of this topic), but will instead examine what research states to be the the most appropriate time for schools to begin the identification process.

In 2002 the Idaho State Department of Education undertook the task of examining research on the question of the most appropriate time to identify students that are gifted. At the time of their study, schools in Idaho primarily served students in third grade or above, with only around one percent of gifted students being in kindergarten to second grade. In researching this subject the study showed that through age five, children's brains are susceptible to new experiences and that if they don't receive appropriate responses during this period their potential skills may deteriorate (Cohen, 1990). Also noted was that a person's mature intelligence is developed between birth and four years of age leading to the need for young gifted students to have quality learning experiences early (Hanninen, 1978) and that from the ages of five to six the brain's overall activity level is at it highest (Elliot, 1999). These facts along with Mooij (1999) reporting that many high ability kindergarten children are forced to underachieve by teachers that are not prepared to accelerate learning, led the Idaho task force to recommend that gifted students be identified as young as kindergarten.

The Idaho study goes on to give recommendation for how to identify students that are gifted, which includes the use of multiple test of abilities, characteristic checklist, and the use of interventions in the general education setting before administering in aptitude tests. The study goes on to recommend a comprehensive team process for identifying children at such an early age, with interventions used as well as multiple checklists and assessments by the members of the identification team.

Research shows that the early periods in the life of gifted children are very important. Should every child go through the identification process in kindergarten-- probably not. However, schools should have procedures in place in order to identify students in the early grades who exhibit characteristics of giftedness. Theses students, according to research, need to be identified and need the services a gifted program can provide in order to help them develop to their full potential.