Dunham Academy--Giftedness--



	What is Academic Giftedness? It is true that all children are special and deserving, but not all children have exceptional academic giftedness that requires additional or different support in school. Our school focuses on children with exceptional academic abilities. The term “gifted” or “gifted and talented” is often used in educational circles to describe such children. Of course, children may have exceptional abilities in areas other than academics, such as music, athletics, visual or performing arts, and thus may be “gifted” in those areas. In the educational context, “gifted” refers to quantitatively measurable, as well as a qualitatively observable, abilities to master concepts easily and to learn facts with minimal repetition, as well as to be innovative and creative with that information and those concepts. Much publicly funded research from major universities, including Johns Hopkins, University of Connecticut, University of Iowa, and University of Connecticut, demonstrates that most academically gifted children need specialized education to meet their potential. For that reason, our school provides a gifted and talented academic environment, including acceleration, clustering, independent progress, inquiry, and other best practices, which allow academically “gifted” children to thrive. Quantitative measures of academic giftedness -- i.e., the testing tools used for gifted assessment -- are generally referred to as IQ tests. Commonly used cognitive ability assessment tests include those from Stanford Binet, Wechsler, and Woodcock Johnson. Other quantitative measures, such as outstanding test scores at grade level, are often predictors of superior or very superior IQ scores. However, this is not true across the board, because some children of exceptionally high cognitive ability may perform poorly on such standardized achievement tests, for a variety of factors that are typically tied to being placed in an inappropriate school environment. Qualitative measures of academic giftedness are based on observation. A child who exhibits several of certain characteristics frequently test will in the superior or very superior range of an IQ test. For example, your child may be gifted if he/she: Masters concepts quickly Learns facts with minimal repetition Has intense interests Needs more flexibility to explore than conventional classrooms allow Prefers to work independently Is strongly individualistic Feels held back or frustrated by group learning activities Is keenly observant, noticing what others may not Is exceptionally sensitive to environmental stimuli - e.g., light, sound, temperature, texture Has ideas that are “out of the box” relative to chronological peers Uses a large vocabulary or is highly articulate Parents are often very good at identifying whether their child is likely to be intellectually gifted. Does Giftedness Mean Being Great at Everything? To a parent, each and every child demonstrates some area of special talent or interest. Academically gifted children are noticeably advanced compared to their peers with respect to one or more, but not necessarily all, academic measures. A young child who is academically gifted often has areas of academic excellence which are so pronounced that other areas of development are, relatively speaking, challenging for them. And, gifted children are frequently asynchronous in their development, which means that they may be significantly advanced compared to chronological peers in some areas, and not so advanced in others. It is often difficult for a child with exceptionally advanced cognitive abilities to mesh socially with chronological peers, because they can think and speak very differently. However, when placed with cognitive peers, such children typically thrive. The SENG Foundation - an acronym for “supporting the emotional needs of the gifted” - has many resources available to help parents understand the challenges that gifted children and their families face. Our school is adept at recognizing asynchronous academic and social development. There are also situations in which an academically gifted child may have learning disabilities, which makes conventional educational environments exceedingly inappropriate for them. We help refer academically gifted children who are “twice exceptional” (in that they have learning or behavioral challenges which are not addressed by accelerated educational technique and grouping with cognitive peers) to appropriate professionals and/or alternative educational environments. The Council for Exceptional Children is also an excellent resource. Why Is Recognizing Academic Giftedness Important for K-8 Children? Our school focuses on academically exceptional children starting as early as age 4, which is long before most schools even consider evaluating whether a child might be cognitively gifted. We do this because K-8 is a critical time in the learning curve for such gifted children. For an academically exceptional child to thrive, they need to be recognized early in their educational journey. “Almost without exception, experts in the field of education of the intellectually gifted agree that early identification of such talented students is important. There is a great deal of evidence to show that many gifted students who are not identified and whose needs are not met adequately at an early age become frustrated and disillusioned with school, falling into a pattern of low achievement and/or behavioral problems.” (Mills, C. J. (1992) Pediatrics 89 (1), Academically Talented Children: The Case for Early Identification and Nurturance, American Academy of Pediatrics.) As Mills, who served as Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Research and Evaluation Department, goes on to observe, “if educational intervention does not take place at an early age . . . interest in learning may diminish and important study skills may not develop because the child is never challenged to think and work hard. If left alone, by the middle grades, the pattern of underachievement is a life style that is almost impossible to change.” This is borne out by high school drop out rates. A recent report sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shows that an overwhelming percentage of high school drop outs actually had passing grades, and left because of lack of challenge and engaging curriculum. The Davidson Institute, a hotbed of research, advocacy, and education for profoundly gifted children located in Reno, Nevada, notes that as many as 40 percent of all gifted students are underachievers and between 10 and 20 percent of all high school dropouts test in the gifted range. (See Rimm, S.B. (1997). Underachievement syndrome: A national epidemic. Colangelo, N., & Davis, G.A. (Eds.). Handbook of Gifted Education. San Francisco: Allyn and Bacon, pp. 416-434.) Earlier work by Joseph Renzulli of the University of Connecticut indicates that many gifted drop outs are from the groups who can least afford to waste intellectual capital: those from low socio-economic status, racial minorities, or with parents who had low levels of education. (Renzulli & Park (2000) Gifted Child Quarterly 44:4, Gifted Dropouts: The Who and the Why 261 et seq.) Education Richard Riley stated, in the foreword to National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent (1993), that "neglect for these students makes it impossible to compete in a global economy demanding their skills." However, the U.S. government has no mandate requiring programs for gifted students. The lack of state funding in California exacerbates the problem, resulting in our state offering less to its population of academically talented students than nearly any other in the nation. The need for specialized educational programming for these students was the motivation behind the founding of Dunham Academy. *Who Performs Gifted Assessments?* Local licensed psychologists can administer standardized IQ tests. It is important to select a professional who is experienced with gifted assessment and the gifted population. Among other things, this is because there is some research indicating that certain portions of standardized IQ tests -- processing speed in particular -- may not be as useful in assessing giftedness as other portions of these quantitative tests. The Gifted Development Center in Colorado is a well known national institute that will perform these tests as well. Dunham Academy pairs with an experienced licensed psychologist to administer these tests to applicants who have not been assessed elsewhere. There are professionals in Northern California who also specialize in qualitative giftedness assessments. Two such professionals are Anne Beneventi, who is also associated with the Gifted Development Center, and Annemarie Roeper, who has developed a qualitative assessment procedure. Dunham Academy makes a qualitative assessment of fit with our school during an applicant’s tryout day(s). If you would like to know more about our program or schedule an assessment, contact us at admissions@dunhamacademy.com, or call (415) 491-4700.

What is Academic Giftedness?

It is true that all children are special and deserving, but not all children have exceptional academic giftedness that requires additional or different support in school. Our school focuses on children with exceptional academic abilities. The term “gifted” or “gifted and talented” is often used in educational circles to describe such children. Of course, children may have exceptional abilities in areas other than academics, such as music, athletics, visual or performing arts, and thus may be “gifted” in those areas. In the educational context, “gifted” refers to quantitatively measurable, as well as a qualitatively observable, abilities to master concepts easily and to learn facts with minimal repetition, as well as to be innovative and creative with that information and those concepts.

Much publicly funded research from major universities, including Johns Hopkins, University of Connecticut, University of Iowa, and University of Connecticut, demonstrates that most academically gifted children need specialized education to meet their potential. For that reason, our school provides a gifted and talented academic environment, including acceleration, clustering, independent progress, inquiry, and other best practices, which allow academically “gifted” children to thrive.

Quantitative measures of academic giftedness -- i.e., the testing tools used for gifted assessment -- are generally referred to as IQ tests. Commonly used cognitive ability assessment tests include those from Stanford Binet, Wechsler, and Woodcock Johnson. Other quantitative measures, such as outstanding test scores at grade level, are often predictors of superior or very superior IQ scores. However, this is not true across the board, because some children of exceptionally high cognitive ability may perform poorly on such standardized achievement tests, for a variety of factors that are typically tied to being placed in an inappropriate school environment.

Qualitative measures of academic giftedness are based on observation. A child who exhibits several of certain characteristics frequently test will in the superior or very superior range of an IQ test. For example, your child may be gifted if he/she:

Masters concepts quickly
Learns facts with minimal repetition
Has intense interests
Needs more flexibility to explore than conventional classrooms allow
Prefers to work independently
Is strongly individualistic
Feels held back or frustrated by group learning activities
Is keenly observant, noticing what others may not
Is exceptionally sensitive to environmental stimuli - e.g., light, sound, temperature, texture
Has ideas that are “out of the box” relative to chronological peers
Uses a large vocabulary or is highly articulate

Parents are often very good at identifying whether their child is likely to be intellectually gifted.

Does Giftedness Mean Being Great at Everything?

To a parent, each and every child demonstrates some area of special talent or interest. Academically gifted children are noticeably advanced compared to their peers with respect to one or more, but not necessarily all, academic measures. A young child who is academically gifted often has areas of academic excellence which are so pronounced that other areas of development are, relatively speaking, challenging for them. And, gifted children are frequently asynchronous in their development, which means that they may be significantly advanced compared to chronological peers in some areas, and not so advanced in others.

It is often difficult for a child with exceptionally advanced cognitive abilities to mesh socially with chronological peers, because they can think and speak very differently. However, when placed with cognitive peers, such children typically thrive. The SENG Foundation - an acronym for “supporting the emotional needs of the gifted” - has many resources available to help parents understand the challenges that gifted children and their families face. Our school is adept at recognizing asynchronous academic and social development.

There are also situations in which an academically gifted child may have learning disabilities, which makes conventional educational environments exceedingly inappropriate for them. We help refer academically gifted children who are “twice exceptional” (in that they have learning or behavioral challenges which are not addressed by accelerated educational technique and grouping with cognitive peers) to appropriate professionals and/or alternative educational environments. The Council for Exceptional Children is also an excellent resource.

Why Is Recognizing Academic Giftedness Important for K-8 Children?

Our school focuses on academically exceptional children starting as early as age 4, which is long before most schools even consider evaluating whether a child might be cognitively gifted. We do this because K-8 is a critical time in the learning curve for such gifted children. For an academically exceptional child to thrive, they need to be recognized early in their educational journey. “Almost without exception, experts in the field of education of the intellectually gifted agree that early identification of such talented students is important. There is a great deal of evidence to show that many gifted students who are not identified and whose needs are not met adequately at an early age become frustrated and disillusioned with school, falling into a pattern of low achievement and/or behavioral problems.” (Mills, C. J. (1992) Pediatrics 89 (1), Academically Talented Children: The Case for Early Identification and Nurturance, American Academy of Pediatrics.)

As Mills, who served as Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Research and Evaluation Department, goes on to observe, “if educational intervention does not take place at an early age . . . interest in learning may diminish and important study skills may not develop because the child is never challenged to think and work hard. If left alone, by the middle grades, the pattern of underachievement is a life style that is almost impossible to change.” This is borne out by high school drop out rates. A recent report sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shows that an overwhelming percentage of high school drop outs actually had passing grades, and left because of lack of challenge and engaging curriculum. The Davidson Institute, a hotbed of research, advocacy, and education for profoundly gifted children located in Reno, Nevada, notes that as many as 40 percent of all gifted students are underachievers and between 10 and 20 percent of all high school dropouts test in the gifted range. (See Rimm, S.B. (1997). Underachievement syndrome: A national epidemic. Colangelo, N., & Davis, G.A. (Eds.). Handbook of Gifted Education. San Francisco: Allyn and Bacon, pp. 416-434.) Earlier work by Joseph Renzulli of the University of Connecticut indicates that many gifted drop outs are from the groups who can least afford to waste intellectual capital: those from low socio-economic status, racial minorities, or with parents who had low levels of education. (Renzulli & Park (2000) Gifted Child Quarterly 44:4, Gifted Dropouts: The Who and the Why 261 et seq.)

Education Richard Riley stated, in the foreword to National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent (1993), that "neglect for these students makes it impossible to compete in a global economy demanding their skills." However, the U.S. government has no mandate requiring programs for gifted students. The lack of state funding in California exacerbates the problem, resulting in our state offering less to its population of academically talented students than nearly any other in the nation. The need for specialized educational programming for these students was the motivation behind the founding of Dunham Academy.

Who Performs Gifted Assessments?

Local licensed psychologists can administer standardized IQ tests. It is important to select a professional who is experienced with gifted assessment and the gifted population. Among other things, this is because there is some research indicating that certain portions of standardized IQ tests -- processing speed in particular -- may not be as useful in assessing giftedness as other portions of these quantitative tests. The Gifted Development Center in Colorado is a well known national institute that will perform these tests as well. Dunham Academy pairs with an experienced licensed psychologist to administer these tests to applicants who have not been assessed elsewhere. There are professionals in Northern California who also specialize in qualitative giftedness assessments. Two such professionals are Anne Beneventi, who is also associated with the Gifted Development Center, and Annemarie Roeper, who has developed a qualitative assessment procedure. Dunham Academy makes a qualitative assessment of fit with our school during an applicant’s tryout day(s).

If you would like to know more about our program or schedule an assessment, contact us at admissions@dunhamacademy.com, or call (415) 491-4700.