ABILITY GROUPING: Grouping students by need, interest, or ability. Groups can be formed and reformed to meet varied instructional purposes. All students need to participate in both homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping patterns. Ability grouping is NOT synonymous with "tracking." (See also Heterogenous Grouping, Homogenous Grouping, and TRACKING.) ABOVE-AVERAGE: A "normal distribution" of students is shaped like a bell curve. If 100 student scores are plotted on a graph, a bell curve would likely be generated. Most of the scores earned by the students would fall in the middle of the curve. Average scores are those in the middle two-thirds of the curve. Students who earn scores above the average scores are above-average. Compared to the other 100 scores, their scores are better than 85 percent of the scores. In contrast, scores earned by "gifted" students are considered to be those in the top 5 percent. Compared to 100 students, gifted students earned scores that were better than 95 percent of those students. ABOVE-LEVEL TESTING: Giving a test that was developed and normed for students who are several years older. Also called out-of -level testing or beyond-level testing. (i.e., seventh graders who take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The SAT was developed for eleventh and twelfth graders.) ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: Expecting each student to work at maximum level toward a set of external standards as defined by the state, district, and/or school. Learning and performing for each student should be at a challenge level commensurate with each student’s skills and developed abilities. ACCELERATION: Moving faster than is typical through school levels or curriculum. Perhaps acceleration is a misnomer; what is really happening is not acceleration of the student, but appropriate matching of a child with advanced aptitude and the level of education the child needs. This can be accomplished by entering kindergarten, first grade, or college early ("early admission"), skipping an entire grade ("grade skipping"), finishing several years of school at one time ("telescoping"), or advancing in a subject area more rapidly than is typical ("subject matter acceleration"). ACHIEVEMENT TEST: Test usually given to students after completing a course or topic. It is used to evaluate students’ accomplishments. Results from achievement tests are also useful for adapting instruction to individual needs because examiners can determine what topics a student does or does not know. Examples of commonly-used achievement tests include: Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), Norm-Referenced Assessment Program for Texas (NAPT), American College Testing Program (ACT), Comprehensive Testing Program II or III (CTP II, CTP III). ADVANCED PLACEMENT: A program in which a secondary student can gain college credit and/or advanced college placement. Advanced placement is obtained by successfully meeting criteria established by higher education institutions on nationally-given, scored tests, such as those in the Advanced Placement Program, College Level Examination Program (CLEP), or International Baccalaureate (IB) Program. ADVOCACY: Presenting someone’s case, defending him or her, and pleading on his or her behalf. With gifted children, advocacy almost always focuses on school issues. AFFECTIVE EDUCATION: Teaching children to deal with feelings, values, and social interactions, and helping them develop positive self-images. AFFECTIVE LEARNING: Incorporating into the curriculum opportunities for students to address values, attitudes, and appreciation of self and others. ALTERNATE FORMS OF A TEST: Two or more tests containing different items that cover the same material at the same level of difficulty. ANALYSIS: The fourth of six levels in Bloom’s taxonomy. Analysis involves breaking down things or ideas into their component parts to better understand how they are put together. The student separates information. S/he identifies reasons, causes, and motives. The student uncovers the special characteristics of something and determines its distinguishing factors. APPLICATION: The third of six levels in Bloom’s taxonomy application involves using previously learned information to solve a problem. The student transfers information to a new situation. The student applies rules, methods, concepts, principles, laws, and theories in new settings. APTITUDE TESTS: Used to predict performance in specific areas such as verbal comprehension, mathematical ability, mechanical aptitude, spatial relations aptitude, or nonverbal reasoning ability. Distinguishable from intelligence tests in that aptitude tests have more specific content (i.e., they measure only one or a few abilities rather than a wide variety of abilities). APTITUDE: Capacity for learning; natural ability, talent. Aptitude can be general, such as school aptitude, or specific, as in mathematics aptitude. It is possible to have high aptitude in one area and average or below average aptitude in another domain. AT-RISK: Students who may underachieve or who may drop out of school. Unmet economic, physical, emotional, linguistic, and/or academic needs may inhibit a student’s ability to learn or attend school. ATTRIBUTE BLOCKS: Colored shape blocks which are used in activities emphasizing attributes, deductive thinking, and logic. ATTRIBUTE LISTING: An advanced creative problem-solving strategy that uses a chart format to facilitate (1) breaking a problem down into its component parts or essential attributes and (2) brainstorming solution ideas for each part or attribute analyzed as well as for the problem as a whole. Often used to improve an object or idea. AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT: Process of evaluating student learning using student products or performance instead of traditional standardized tests. It allows students to be evaluated with regard to their individuality and creativity. (See also portfolio assessment.) B B B B (return to index)BIONICS: Technique for problem solving which looks at nature to observe ways in which things in nature function. Example: camouflage in insects or radar in bats. BLOOM’S TAXONOMY: A classification system for thinking and reason-ing: LEVEL 1 - Knowledge LEVEL 2 - Comprehension LEVEL 3 - Application LEVEL 4 - Analysis LEVEL 5 - Synthesis LEVEL 6 - Evaluation (Also See the individual terms for a description of each level.) BRAINSTORMING: A group activity that stimulates creative thinking. The goal is to come up with as many ideas related to a topic as possible. The main principle is deferred judgment. All ideas are accepted without criticism. After the brainstorming is over, ideas are evaluated. C C C C (return to index)CEILING EFFECT: Occurs when a test does not have enough difficult items to measure a student’s abilities accurately. Students who get all or almost all of the items right on a test are said to have reached the "ceiling" of the test. If the test does not have an adequate ceiling for gifted children, they will cluster at the top scores of the test and the power to discriminate between them will be lost. Also, if a student already scores near the ceiling on a pretest, it is extremely difficult to find improvement on a posttest score. CHRONOLOGICAL AGE: The actual age of the child (years, months, and days). CLUSTER GROUPING: A method for organizing a heterogeneous (mixed ability) classroom by assigning some students with similar needs, interests, and/or abilities to the same classroom for one or more specific learning experiences. COLLABORATIVE LEARNING: A teaching strategy whereby students are expected to share expertise and effort in order to create a common project/product. Students in the collaborative group often have similar levels of ability. (Note: some educators use the terms collaborative and cooperative learning synonymously.) COMPACTING: See CURRICULUM COMPACTING. COMPREHENSION: The second of the six levels in Bloom’s taxonomy, comprehension involves the student in explaining material in his or her own words. The student communicates information or an idea in a different form that demonstrates internalization and understanding. CONTENT ACCELERATION: A type of acceleration that gives the child more advanced subject matter without necessarily changing grade placement (i.e., a mathematically talented sixth grader might take algebra I while remaining in sixth grade for other classes). CONTENT/PROCESS/PRODUCT/THEMES: The elements of curriculum. Content is the subject matter. Process is the skill included in the curric-ulum. Product is the output of learning or form of communication, such as writing, illustrating, performing, debating, etc. Themes are a way of organizing content across multiple disciplines and for seeing the content in more abstract terms. CONTRACT: A form filled out by the student and teacher, which states an agreement of expectations and goals for study over a set period of time. CONVERGENT THINKING: Systematic reasoning focusing on one correct answer. This includes inductive and deductive reasoning, inquiry, and logic. COOPERATIVE LEARNING: The practice of assigning a common task and/or project to a group of students with varying ability levels often reflecting the full range of student achievement and aptitude. The purpose of such learning is to prepare students to live in a democratic society; to help them understand group membership and group dynamics; and to allow them to practice both leadership and follower skills. (Note: some educators use the terms cooperative and collaborative learning synonymously.) CORE CURRICULUM: The common knowledge and skills to be learned by all students of a particular grade as determined and specified by a local school district. The state frameworks provide guidance to a local district in this decision-making process. In Texas these are called the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). TEKS exist for each grade level and content area. They represent the minimum content required in Texas at each grade level. CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CPS): A model for solving problems through a step-by-step process which includes fact finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding, and implementation. Brainstorming and other strategies for the production of creative ideas are an integral part of the process. CREATIVE THINKING: Open-ended, divergent, imaginative thinking; includes fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. CREATIVITY: The human attribute of constructive originality. It is the process of combining what exists into something new. The something new could be procedure, idea, or product relative to the individual. Creativity needs to be nurtured in the students to develop the abilities necessary to affect our society with new ideas and solutions to problems. CRITICAL THINKING: The development of analytical thinking for purposes of decision-making. This includes using specific attitudes and skills such as analyzing arguments carefully, seeing others’ points of view, reaching sound conclusions, and the higher levels of Blooms’s taxonomy. CURRICULUM COMPACTING: A method for eliminating unnecessary repetition of material already learned. What a student already knows is determined and then the student is allowed to move on. Students "buy back" school time that teachers plan for all students so they can "spend" this time in other more productive ways. CURRICULUM-BASED INSTRUCTION (CBI): Performance is based upon mastery of the curriculum rather than on a standardized comparison with other students (which is a normative comparison). CUTOFF SCORE: The score set (either by group or individual) on an IQ and/or achievement test below which a student is rejected for a gifted and talented program. D D D D (return to index)DEFERRED JUDGMENT: Withholding judgment, evaluation, criticism, etc., until after ideas are generated in a brainstorming or listing activity. Judgment is delayed so that the flow of ideas will not be inhibited. DIAGNOSTIC TESTING -> PRESCRIPTIVE INSTRUCTION (D->P): A model for educating talented youth that is useful for determining specific strengths and weaknesses in a subject. This information is then related to instructional prescriptions. DT-PI model participants are first given aptitude tests. High-scoring students are recommended for further testing using above-level achievement tests. Instruction is prescribed based upon those test results. Students work on the topics they do not fully understand, and they spend little time on topics they already know well. After studying a topic, students are retested to assess their level of mastery. DIFFERENTIATED CURRICULUM: Adapting the curriculum to meet the unique needs of gifted learners by making modifications in complexity, depth, or pacing. It may include selecting rather than covering all elements of a curriculum, depending on the individual needs of students. DIVERGENT THINKING: Creative generation of many responses; open-ended thinking. Includes fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration, and is the opposite of convergent thinking. E E E E (return to index)EARLY ADMISSION: A form of acceleration (appropriate matching) that allows a child or young adult to enter the next level of education early. It involves early entrance to kindergarten or first grade as well as early entrance to college. (See also Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science.) EARLY GRADUATION: Leaving high school earlier than age peers. Early graduation is often accomplished through use of accelerated courses, advanced placement, college classes while in high school, advanced summer programs, or telescoping. ELABORATION: The ability to add detail; to embellish things, inform-ation, or ideas. ELITIST: Advocating the selection and treatment of people as superior in some way and therefore favored. Promoting appropriate and challenging programs for gifted and talented children is not elitism. Participation is not based on promotion of superiority, but on the participants’ legitimate educational needs. ENRICHMENT: Activities that supplement the core curriculum. Enrichment provides opportunities to study subjects or content not covered in the typical school curriculum and/or a more in-depth exploration of topics covered in the regular curriculum. Students participating in enrichment activities study richer and more varied content. EQUITY: Fair and impartial learning opportunities and access to good teaching for all students. In order to meet educational needs at all levels of development, these opportunities should encourage and enable all students to develop their fullest potential. EVALUATION: The highest level in Bloom’s taxonomy. Evaluation involves judging the value of the material for a given purpose and defining the criteria that must be used. The student must judge the value of ideas, purposes, methods, or things, and defend his or her reasons based on definite criteria. F F F F (return to index)FFOE: Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Elaboration: elements of divergent thinking. FLEXIBILITY: The ability to shift point of view or see alternate methods or answers; expressing different categories of ideas and looking at situations in different ways. FLUENCY: The ability to give a number of responses for ideas in a situation; quantity is the goal. Studies show that generating a large number of ideas increases the likelihood of producing useful and/or original ideas. FORCES RELATIONSHIPS: The mental forcing together of two or more unrelated objects or ideas in order to create a new idea or solution; a useful creative problem-solving strategy. G G G G (return to index)G/C/T: Gifted, creative, or talented. G/C/T is also the name of a journal on gifted education, Gifted Child Today (formerly, Gifted, Creative, Talented). G/T: Gifted and talented. GRADE EQUIVALENT: Children’s scores on tests are sometimes compared in terms of grade and month in the school year (i.e., 12-7 means grade 12, seventh month) to the performance of a typical child at a given level. However, caution needs to be used in drawing conclusions regarding most age-equivalent scores, as scores are usually extrapolations and not actually based upon performance. For example, a six-year-old who earns a grade equivalent of 12 years 7 months on a reading test has actually earned an age-equivalent score that is based upon an extrapolation of data, not upon an assessment of students in grade 12. GRADE SKIPPING: A form of acceleration where a student advances from the current grade level to placement at least one year higher. Student who grade skip show educational needs across all content areas that can be more easily met in the higher grade placement. H H H H (return to index)HETEROGENEOUS GROUPING: Placing students of approximately the same age level in the same class without regard for the diverse educational and affective needs of the students, their learning styles, or their interests. Heterogeneously-grouped classrooms contain students with a wide range of abilities. HIGHER-LEVEL THINKING: Tasks and activities that require analysis, synthesis, or evaluation; complex, abstract thought. HITCHHIKING: Using the idea of someone else to come up with one of your own. This is encouraged in divergent thinking exercises such as brain-storming. HOMOGENEOUS GROUPING: Placing students of similar ability and needs in the same class without regard for their age. Students can be heterogeneously grouped based on common criteria such as academic ability, educational needs, interests, or special requirements. Homogeneously-grouped classrooms contain students with a narrower range of abilities in the area of grouping; wide differences probably exist among these students in other areas. HONORS CLASS: A secondary-level (grades 7-12) course specifically designed to be advanced in content, process, product, or content organization. Traditionally, students who meet prerequisite criteria are accepted into these courses. I I I I (return to index)IDENTIFICATION: The process of selecting able children for differ-entiated program options. The selection often involves using multiple criteria. IEP: Individualized educational plan; a system to design academic material tailored to the unique needs, interests, and abilities of a specific child. Often used in special education, but easily adapted to G/T uses. IMAGERY: Mental images or pictures produced by the imagination; also, the metaphorical language which evokes such pictures. INDEPENDENT STUDY OR SELF-DIRECTED STUDY: Allowing students to follow individual or self-selected areas of interest and specific aptitude by designing and implementing their own study plans. Close moni-toring by teachers is an essential component of independent study. INDIVIDUALIZATION: Providing a specific program that meets the particular needs, interests, and/or abilities of an individual student for some part of his/her educational experience. It does not mean, however, that every child is working in isolation on a different level or a different subject at all times. It does mean that students are working on levels commensurate with their assessed ability, needs, and/or interests. INQUIRY: To ask about, investigate, examine; learning to ask productive questions. INSTRUCTIONAL SCAFFOLDING: An apprenticeship approach to instruction which places the teacher in a collaborative, interactive role with students by providing carefully structured and sequenced support as they undertake new and more difficult tasks. Emphasis is on teacher modeling, extension, rephrasing, questioning, praise, and correction rather than on the teacher as evaluator. INTELLIGENCE TEST: Designed to sample a wide variety of functions in order to estimate the individual’s general intellectual level. Some example of individual intelligence tests include: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III), Stanford-Binet IV, Stanford-Binet (Form L-M), and Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC). INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM: A curriculum that is structured to study a topic or concept by gathering and relating ideas from multiple dis-ciplines. INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB): A rigorous international pre-university course of study, leading to examinations that meet the needs of highly motivated and academically superior secondary-school students. IB has a comprehensive classics curriculum (languages, science, mathematics, and humanities) that allows its graduates to fulfill educational requirements of various nations. Only schools approved by the IB organization may offer the program. IQ (INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT): The score earned on an intelligence test. It is a measure of ability or aptitude at a given point in time. It is not a fixed quantity, but a changeable one. IQ is considered one of many ways to measure a student’s potential. A high IQ score indicates giftedness, but a lower score does not automatically mean a child is not gifted. The average score on an IQ test is 100. The original formula for IQ was (mental age/chronological age X 100) Today, "intelligence quotients" are expressed as "deviation IQs." Deviation IQs are based on the difference between a person’s score and the average score for persons of the same age. K K K K (return to index)KNOWLEDGE: The first level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Knowledge involves students recalling information such as names, dates, events, places, and major ideas. L L L L (return to index)LEARNING STYLE: A student’s preference for a mode of learning and/or a type of learning environment (i.e., a student could favor auditory learning in an independent learning environment). M M M M (return to index)MANDATED PROGRAM: A legally required program or action authorized by law. MEAN: The average of a set of scores. MEDIAN: The middle score in a set of ranked scores; half of the scores fall above the median and half fall below. MENTOR: Matching a student on a one-to-one basis with an adult member of the community or older student who can provide expertise and/or advise in a field of study or other community endeavor. Mentors may serve as instructors for talented students and are well-trained in the subject matter considerably beyond what they are expected to teach. Typically, mentors work with only one or two students at a time. They present new information to students rather than reviewing already-studied material the way a tutor would. Mentors help their students (sometimes called "mentees") to move through material at a challenging pace. Mentors not only present new inform-ation to students, they also clarify and extend the material to be learned. The goal of mentoring is to help students learn self-teaching skills, not to spoon-feed them information. MIND BENDER: A logical thinking activity that uses a grid as an aid in solving logic problems. MODE: The most frequently occurring score in a set of scores. MODELING: The emulation of the feelings or behaviors of one individual by another. MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: A systematic creative problem-solving strategy that uses a matrix to organize, and forces associations between the component parts of a problem in an attempt to produce a novel solution idea. MOTIVATION: An individual’s level of desire to perform a specific task. N N N N (return to index)NCE: A kind of score reported on some tests. NCE means Normal Curve Equivalent. The NCE has a mean of 50, a standard deviation of 21.06, and a range of 1 to 99. Unfortunately, NCE has a ceiling and it is impossible to distinguish among students scoring in the tops of scales. NOMINATION: A referral process for consideration of a student for a specialized or categorical program such as a gifted program or one of its options. NON-TRADITIONAL IDENTIFICATION: An alternate means of identification using instruments and procedures that provide an assessment of students that is not norm-referenced or standardized. NORM GROUP: See NORM SAMPLE. NORM SAMPLE: When tests are developed, they are given to large numbers of students (tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the case of most achievement tests). This group comprises the norm group. Later, when individual students are tested, their performance can be compared to that of the first group of students. The individual can be said to be average, above-average, or below-average when compared to the norm group. NORM-REFERENCED TESTS: A test used to determine an individual’s status with respect to the performance of other individuals on that test. A "norm" group is the large number of examinees who have taken a particular test and whose scores form the basis of the norms. Interpretations of such a test may be based on national comparisons (norms), state norms, or local norms. At every level of education test usage, it is necessary to match the scope of the test with the purpose that the test is supposed to perform. O O O O (return to index)OPEN-ENDED QUESTION: Provides opportunities for more than one "right" solution or answer. Students’ response is judged by the logic by which the response is explained or defended. Students must be able to recognize tasks without a label, draw upon prior knowledge, generate relevant approaches on their own, and articulate their reasoning. ORIGINALITY: Producing original (unique) ideas or products. OVERACHIEVER: A child who is thought to be performing above his or her intellectual potential. There is no such thing as an overachiever. This term is to be avoided when describing students; it is a derogatory judgement of the child’s effort and potential. P P P P (return to index)PEER GROUPING: A practice which indicates voluntary or assigned matching of students by shared characteristics such as age, ability, need, and/or interest, in order to affect teaching and learning. PENTOMINOES: A set of puzzle pieces made up of shapes constructed of five squares with at least one side in common with another square. PERCENTILE RANK: Allows the student’s score on a test to be compared to other children who have also taken the test. An average score on a test yields a percentile rank of 50, meaning that the child scores higher than 50 percent of the children in the comparison group. Talented children tend to score in the top 5 percent to 10 percent when compared to children their own age. PIGGYBACKING: See HITCHHIKING. POOL OF NOMINEES: See TALENT POOL. PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT: A collection of student products used to measure student progress and achievement. It is often used to evaluate abilities to determine the appropriateness of placement in a program such as visual and performing arts. This practice allows students to demonstrate a wide variety of abilities and talents that traditionally are not measured well by standardized tests. Materials in a portfolio may be student-selected. (See also AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT.) PRECOCIOUS: Showing exceptionally early development. For example, a precocious mathematics students may multiply and divide at the age of four. PRODIGY: An exceptionally talented youngster who performs adult-level accomplishments at a young age. PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT: Provides information about a student when compared to others of the same age. Psychological assessments can include intelligence testing, personality profiles, and information about social and emotional maturity and adjustment. PULLOUT PROGRAM: A program in the school where able children leave their regular classrooms to come to differentiated classes taught by a specially trained resource teacher for a specified time. R R R R (return to index)REGRESSION TOWARD THE MEAN: A curiosity of testing in which extreme scores tend to move towards the average score of the group on subsequent tests. (i.e., When a group of students is found due to their very high scores on a test, and a second test is given sometime later – even if no instruction has occurred in between – their average scores on the second test will be lower than on the first. If there was instruction between tests, the regression effect can mask the positive impact of the program. Regression effects also occur when looking at individuals selected because of high scores on one measure (such as IQ) and then looking at some other measure (such as achievement or creativity); the second measure will tend to be lower than the first). RELIABILITY: The consistency or repeatability of a score. Reliability is the ability of a test to produce similar results on tests, or it is the agreement of observers, or the consistency of relationships between measures. RESOURCE ROOM: A place in the child’s home or school where special program services are provided. RESULTS-BASED EDUCATION: A movement to measure success of a program or in a class not only by tests or completing a certain number of clock hours, but by meeting certain performance standards. RISK TAKER: A person not afraid of failure, willing to take chances in order to learn new things. S S S S (return to index)SAI: A standardized score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16 (15 in some tests). A score of 100 is an average score. A 116 is one standard deviation above the mean; the student has scored higher than about 83 percent of all students who took the test. A 132 is two standard deviations above the mean; the student has scored higher than about 97 percent of all students who took the test. A 148 is three standard deviations above the mean; the student has scored higher than about 99 percent of all students who took the test. SCAMPER: A checklist technique used as a strategy for increasing the production of original ideas in creative problem solving. The letters of SCAMPER stand for changing something by Substituting, Combining, Adapting, Modifying (or Magnifying or Minifying), Putting to new uses, Eliminating, and Rearranging. SCHOOL OF CHOICE: Opportunities for parents and students to select a school of attendance. Choice is fundamental to the voucher system. SITE-BASED MANAGEMENT: A current school restructuring model by which local autonomy is given to schools for planning and decision making. Also known as school-based management. A team of educators and community members assume responsibility for all education programs in a school, striving to assist all students to reach their fullest potential. STANDARD DEVIATION: A measure of how widely spread out a set of scores are. In a normal distribution, 68 percent of all scores fall between one standard deviation above the mean and one standard deviation below the mean. At two standard deviations above the mean, a child’s score is higher than 98 percent of all scores (e.g., IQ on WISC-R of 130). At three standard deviations above the mean, a child’s score is higher than 99.9 percent of all scores (e.g., IQ on the WISC-R of 145). STANDARD SCORES: Transformations of raw test scores into scores which can be used to directly compare different kinds of tests. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are an example of standard scores. SAT scores have a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. STANDARDIZED TESTS: See NORM-REFERENCED TESTS. STANINES: A condensation of the phrase "standard nine-point scale." The range of percentile scores from 1 to 99 are divided into nine sections. The average stanine is 5 and a standard deviation is about 2. Stanines tend to play down small differences in scores and focus on variations that are big enough to fall into distinct categories. A stanine score does not stand for a single point, but for a range of scores; e.g., a score of 8 indicates the range from 7.5 to 8.5. SUNSET: A legislative term indicating the stated procedure and date for continuation or termination of a categorical program. SYNECTICS: The use of metaphors, similes, and analogies to produce original ideas. It is a useful creative problems-solving strategy. SYNTHESIS: The fifth of the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Synthesis involves putting parts together to form a new whole; to combine "given" into a new or original creation, formulate new patterns, structures, or ideas. T T T T (return to index)TAGT: The Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented. TAGT is the nation’s largest state advocacy group. It was chartered in 1978 and provides nearly 7,500 members an opportunity to exchange ideas and information about education of the gifted. TALENT POOL: The group of students who may be eligible to be in a gifted program and from whom final selections will be made. In some gifted programs, the talent pool refers to the group of students who receive special services. TEA: The Texas Education Agency. This is the state agency charged with carrying out the legislators’ mandates in education. TEA has a Gifted and Talented Division. TEXAS ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE (TAMS): TAMS is a two-year, early admissions program at the University of North Texas that gives students who are particularly talented in science and mathematics a chance to complete their last two years of high school and first two years of college simultaneously. TRACKING: Fixed groups of students that are rigidly maintained over time. Tracked students have few opportunities to move into higher-level groups despite increased performance. Tracking is not synonymous with grouping and is not endorsed by most gifted education advocates. U U U U (return to index)UNDERACHIEVER: A child whose academic performance is below the level expected, based on age, grade, aptitude, achievement test scores, or potential. Underachievement is a learned behavior. Its causes may be social, emotional, or academic. V V V V (return to index)VALIDITY: Exists when a test measures what it says it measures. Validity does not refer to a test but to how the results of a test are used and interpreted. © 1993 Dr. Michael Sayler, University of North Texas |