I Don’t Always Know What It Means For a Child To Be Gifted

Gifted education, or more specifically the gifted label, needs clarification. Labeling students as gifted leads to preconceived beliefs and ideas about students and their overall abilities. The purpose of this study was to acquire insight into how gifted students are perceived in order to better understand and meet the needs of gifted students. Through a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators regarding their perceptions surrounding the characteristics, identification process, and needs of gifted students. Results yielded consistencies and discrepancies in the perception of gifted education, ranging from student behaviors, identification of students, and perceived understanding of the term gifted. Findings indicated the need for a revised, comprehensive, and uniform definition of giftedness across the district, along with professional development pertaining to how to accurately identify gifted students and ways to effectively differentiate instruction