Evolution of the Definition of “Academically Gifted”

Introduction

When you hear the word gifted, what do you think of? Your answer may differ based on your education, age, and career. Academically Gifted students have been around since the beginning of education, but the way the researchers have fostered the academically gifted hasn’t always stayed the same. This chapter will discuss the definition of academically gifted and how it has evolved throughout education.

The chapter will start with focusing on what the definition of academically gifted has looked like in the past and what it looks like now. The researchers will discuss how and why these definitions changed and what the future may look like for the definition of the academically gifted. This will lead the chapter into the discussion of what the definitions look like in countries outside of the United States. The chapter will compare and contrast the practices and take a look at what that looks like for their definition process. This is an important part of this chapter. It will allow us to compare different countries and cultures' definitions of academically gifted, also allowing comparison to the standards of those countries compared to the United States.

Moving to a smaller scale, the authors will focus on the practices of a group of southern states. This will include the practices of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The researchers will compare the states and discuss the history of the academically gifted definition throughout the years and where it stands now. The authors believe that this part of the literature is crucial to understanding the current definition. The comparison and contrasting of these state definitions will allow for the authors to further examine the differences between the definitions. The main focus of the chapter will be how today’s definition of academically gifted differs from the past and how it got there. This part of the chapter will include focus points of the educational laws, acts, and other factors that have affected the definition.

Because there are multiple definitions, the chapter will discuss if they are too narrow or broad. This will include looking at the standards of obtaining the title academically gifted on a national and state level. It will also discuss the standards and steps following the identification process. This section will determine if the standards are equal to the definition and how the two differing could cause confusion when it comes to identification.

The next section will challenge the reader/learner to ask themselves: are educators benefiting our students with the title of academically gifted or does this handicap them? When students are identified as academically gifted some teachers will check them off their “to-do” list. Our students need teachers to challenge them, not teachers who will assume they are smart, give them busy work, and accommodate lower achieving students. Education as a whole advertises that schools' goals are to meet students where they are, but if one were to look at literacy plans, school improvement plans, and more, the likelihood of gifted students being mentioned is slim to none. To benefit all students, educators need to challenge and allow students room to grow those students who are defined as academically gifted as much as those students’ who are falling through the cracks.

This section of the chapter will focus on the standards in the many different definitions the researchers have looked at. This is to help determine a more well-rounded definition that accurately includes students who would benefit from gifted services. Creating this definition will help bring stability to the definition of academically gifted and ensure standards without raising them year to year.

This chapter aims to convey the need for a well-rounded definition of academically gifted as well as standards that are equitable and consistent. The discrepancy throughout states can cause an inflation or deflation of students who would or would not qualify as academically gifted. The need for this definition is felt throughout the country as advanced students are craving knowledge and being met with busy work. These advanced students deserve to have a definition that is inclusive and equitable to their situation and not one that handicaps or hurts them in any way. In the future, this chapter could branch off into discussions about how educators can retain current students in programs as well as ensuring their success. It would also make way to discuss how educators can make standards attainable to minorities based on equity and advances in education.