GIFTED & TALENTED IN AN ERA OF GROWTH Damian W Betebenner - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Damian W Betebenner

National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment CCSSO/NCSA Philadelphia, PA June 21th, 2016

GIFTED & TALENTED IN AN ERA OF GROWTH

“Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform

• r show the potential for performing at remarkably high

levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.” – US Department of Education, 1993

Gifted & Talented

Gifted & Talented

• As the definition suggests, gifted & talented is often

associated with extraordinary levels of attainment.

• Gifted connotes “natural ability”
• How do we square this definition within a growth

based view of the world.

• Carol Dweck (2010): Growth Mindset
• Angela Duckworth (2007): Grit

Growth Mindset

• Based upon research done with students identified as

gifted and talented.

• Studied the effect of praise on students in a dozen

New York schools.

• Explicated difference between fixed and growth

mindsets of students.

• Fixed mindset consonant with belief in innate gifts

(e.g., intelligence).

Growth Mindset

• Those who think that innate intelligence is the key to

success begin to discount the importance of effort.

• I am smart, the kids’ reasoning goes; I don’t need to

put out effort.

• Striving seen as a sign of weakness by gifted students

(can’t cut it with your natural gifts).

• Giving kids the label of “gifted” does not prevent them

from underperforming. It might actually be aiding it.

Grit

• Duckworth (2007) investigated perseverance and

passion for long-term goals (i.e. grit) on long term achievement.

• Showed significant impact on long-term educational

attainment.

• Not correlated with IQ.
• Despite importance, Duckworth warns against

attempts to quantify grit for inclusion in accountability systems.

Strivers versus Naturals

• Recent research suggests a cultural bias in favor of

naturals over strivers.

• Tsay (2016) “We are willing to give up better-qualified

candidates in order to hire those believed to be naturals.”

• Showed 900 U.S. investors fictional profiles of

entrepreneurs.

• Investors strongly favored naturals over strivers

Strivers versus Naturals

• Recent research suggests a cultural bias in favor of

naturals over strivers.

• Tsay (2016) “We are willing to give up better-qualified

candidates in order to hire those believed to be naturals.”

• Showed 900 U.S. investors fictional profiles of

entrepreneurs.

• Investors strongly favored naturals over strivers

Gifted & Talented: My Experience

• In 7th grade, moved into 8th grade math class

because I received a high grade on the first test.

• 8th grade - 11th grade classes were standard math
• classes. 12th grade class was calculus.
• A seminal fixed-mindset experience: Provided

external validation of what I was “good at”. Conversely, what I wasn’t good at were the classes I didn’t get gifted placement in.

• Who would I be today if I hadn’t made the choice

chose to jump to 8th grade math?

MY WORK:

• Have worked with SEAs over the last decade to

calculate and investigate student growth.

• Developed student growth percentiles (SGPs) as a

way of discussing student growth.

• SGPs incorporate norm- and criterion-referenced

(growth to standard) component.

• Growth of ALL students high/low achievers

represented in the model (e.g., move-up growth).

• Catch Up

Target

• Keep Up

Target

• Move Up

Target

• Unsatisfactory

Advanced Part Proficient Proficient

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7

2009−2010 2010−2011 2011−2012 2012−2013 2013−2014 449 533 579 602 Unsatisfactory Part Proficient Part Proficient Proficient 69 85 74 High Very High High Proficient (620)/Advanced (661) Keep Up (76)/Move Up (99) Proficient (592) Catch Up (60)

Achievement Growth

Scale Score Achievement Level Achievement Target Growth Percentile Growth Level Growth Target

Reading

Achievement

Growth

Level Percentiles

• DEMO Reading

Scale Score Very Low 1st − 19th Low 20th − 39th Typical 40th − 60th High 61st − 80th Very High 81st − 99th

Explosive growth!

Gifted & Talented

• How can growth inform gifted and talented

placement?

• Can the notion of gifted and talented exist without a

fixed mindset?

• Can gifted and talented enable grit and perseverance?

“Children and youth with outstanding talent who perform

• r show the potential for performing at remarkably high

levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.” – US Department of Education, 1993

Gifted & Talented

Growth as an indicator of potential

References

Dweck, C. S. (2010). “Mind-Sets and Equitable Education”. Principal Leadership 10 no5 January 2010 Duckworth, A.J., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., and Kelly, D.R. (2007) Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term GoalsJournal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007, Vol. 92, No. 6, 1087–1101 Dweck, C. S.; Leggett, E. L. (1988). "A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality". Psychological Review 95 (2): 256–273. Tsay, CJ. (2016) Privileging Naturals Over Strivers: The Costs of the Naturalness

• Bias. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2016 Jan;42(1):40-53.