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14.1: Definition of Gifted and Talented Students

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    In 1972, a federal report, “Education of the Gifted and Talented,” provided the following definition of gifted and talented students, also referred to as the Marland Definition in reference to the then commissioner of education Sidney P. Marland, Jr.

    Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities, are capable of high performance. These are children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society. Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas, singly or in combination:

    1. General intellectual ability
    2. Specific academic aptitude
    3. Creative or productive thinking
    4. Leadership ability
    5. Visual and performing arts
    6. Psychomotor ability (Marland, 1972)

    This definition serves as the foundation for many of the definitions of gifted and talented students that are used today. Modified versions of this definition were proposed by the United States Department of Education in 1978 as part of the Gifted and Talented Act (Public Law 95-516) and in 1981 by the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. These subsequent definitions were similar but eliminated psychomotor ability (i.e., superior athleticism) as one of the possible criteria (Smiley et al., 2022).

    In 1993, a report, “National Excellence: A Case for Developing America’s Talent,” identified concerns about the underidentification of culturally and linguistically diverse students as gifted and talented. The report introduced the following definition.

    Children and youth with outstanding talent perform or show the potential for performing at remarkably high levels of accomplishment when compared with others of their age, experience, or environment.

    These children and youth exhibit high-performance capability in intellectual, creative, and/or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields. They require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools.

    Outstanding talents are present in children and youth from all cultural groups, across all economic strata, and in all areas of human endeavor. (Ross, 1993, p. 11)

    In 1998, Joseph Renzulli, an educational psychologist at the University of Connecticut, developed what he called the three ring concept of giftedness. The three rings include above-average ability, creativity, and task commitment. Students who possess a combination of these three traits exhibit gifted behavior (Renzulli, 1998). Renzulli’s model indicates that gifts and talents may emerge in students of varying abilities who may excel in one or more areas and are motivated to learn.

    Example \(\PageIndex{1}\): Renzulli’s Models

    Directions: Explore “The Three Ring Conception of Giftedness” as well as the related “The Enrichment Triad Model” and “The Schoolwide Enrichment Model” on Renzulli’s Research-Based Learning System web page. How might these models benefit students who are gifted and talented? How can these models be used to develop the strengths and talents of all students?

    To date, the Every Student Succeeds Act identifies gifted and talented as “students, children, and youth who illustrate high achievement capabilities in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities that are not typically available to fully develop their capabilities” (USDOE, 2015, p. 398). In addition, a survey conducted by the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC, 2015) indicated that most states use a version of the Marland definition. However, the results demonstrate a lack of consensus regarding an operational definition of gifted and talented students (Smiley et al., 2022).

    The Illinois Definition of Gifted and Talented Students

    The Illinois State Board of Education does not have a definition of gifted and talented students. However, the state does have laws and rules related to accelerated placement and educational programs for gifted and talented students. While educators providing gifted education within Illinois are not required by the state to hold a special endorsement, Illinois educators may add a gifted education teacher endorsement or a gifted education specialist endorsement to their license. Learn more about the state’s role in gifted and talented education at the Illinois State Board of Education Advanced Learners web page.

    Marland, S.P. (1972). Education of the gifted and talented — Volume 1: Report to the Congress of the United States by the U. S. Commissioner of Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED056243

    Smiley, L. R., Richards, S.B., & Taylor, R. (2022). Exceptional students: Preparing teachers for the 21st century (4th ed.). McGraw Hill.

    Ross, O.R. (1993). National excellence: A case for developing America’s talent. U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED359743.pdf

    Renzulli, J.S. (1998). The three ring conception of giftedness. In Baum, S. M., Reis, S. M., & Maxfield, L. R. (Eds.). Nurturing the gifts and talents of primary grade students. Creative Learning Press.

    United States Department of Education (2015). The Every Student Succeeds Act. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1177/text

    National Association for Gifted Children. (2015). 2014–2015: State of the states in gifted education: Policy and practice data. https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/gifted-state/2014-2015-state-states-gifted-education

    This page titled 14.1: Definition of Gifted and Talented Students is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Diana Zaleski (Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI)) .