Achieving Monthly
…a monthly newsletter provided by Whitehall Curriculum Department
editor: Patricia Farrenkopf, Ed.D.
Introduction: My name is Pat Farrenkopf. I am working in Whitehall again this year, with
guidance from Darrell Propst and Kristin Barker, to provide supports for gifted education. You
may not have gifted students officially identified in your classroom at this time, but the ideas
shared will be applicable to high achieving students as well.
OCTOBER FOCUS…Visual and Performing
Arts Gifted Identification
There are four areas of giftedness that district educators are charged with finding and
serving. We are currently identifying and serving those identified as Superior Cognitive
Ability (high IQ/ability scores) and Specific Academic Ability (high achievement scores.)
This year, we will be adding the other two categories required by ODE: Creative
Thinking Ability and Visual/Performing Arts.
GIFTED STUDENTS ARE JUST AS SIGNIFICANTLY
STATISTICALLY from “AVERAGE” as OUR SPECIAL
EDUCATION STUDENTS. SOMETIMES A STUDENT CAN BE
BOTH!
The September issue focused on the creative thinker. This month, the focus is the
gifted artist, musician, thespian, and dancer. We will be identifying gifted in visual and
performing arts in our district by using checklist information from an ODE approved instrument:
GATES 2. GATES stands for Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scale. We will also be using the
ODE approved rubrics for each area. Before doing that, it is important to know the arts
behaviors for which we are looking and how to tell them apart from the other characteristics of
superior cognitive and specific academic abilities. This newsletter issue focuses on what to keep
in mind when observing responses in our classrooms, which is the very best place to find all
four. It is also important to remember being identified does not mean the student is a better
human being – it just means they learn differently.
The following links show examples of students who are gifted in each of the visual and
performing arts. Take some time to view each:
Music: Gavin George
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWxJ3s02yDs
Art: Kieron Williamson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo6imnb08R0
Dance: Rio Anderson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5rnD6u5EtY
Drama: movie examples https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7YA8i4a5b8
An initial checklist for each area can be helpful in screening for identification in art,
music, dance, and drama:
VISUAL ART
Elaborates on other people’s ideas and uses them as a jumping off point as opposed to copying
from others
Shows unique selection of art media for individual activity or classroom projects
Has unusual and richly imaginative ideas
Composes with unusual detail and skill
Displays compulsive artistic pursuit
MUSIC
Matches pitches accurately
Is able to duplicate complex rhythms correctly
Demonstrates unusual ability on an instrument including voice
Has a high degree of aural memory/musical memory
Displays compulsive musical pursuit
DRAMA/THEATRE
Readily shifts into the role of characters, animals or objects
Communicates feelings by means of facial expression, gestures and bodily movements
Uses voice expressively to convey or enhance meaning
Easily tells a story or gives a vivid account of some experience
Regularly seeks performance opportunities
DANCE
Demonstrates exceptional physical balance
Performs sequences of movement easily and well
Communicates meaning and feeling with movement
Uses his/her body as an instrument of expression
Volunteers to participate in movement activities and dances
The final step in the identification process is reviewing products and performances.
Fair, accurate and consistent evaluations of student work are critical to the screening and
identification process. Trained individuals evaluating student work play a vital role in identifying
talent, providing feedback to students, and helping educators and parents make appropriate and
informed educational decisions. It may be helpful to instruct trained individuals to consider the
following guiding questions as they are assessing displays of work:
___Am I objective about assessing the natural ability of this student, regardless of my
past knowledge of or relationship with the student?
___Am I assessing the Display of Work in comparison to other works created by students
of similar age?
___Am I assessing the Display of Work in comparison to other works created by students
with similar training and experience?
___Am I assessing the Display of Work in comparison to other works created by students
from similar environments?
___Do I have sufficient familiarity with works of art created by students of similar age,
training and environment to allow me to make valid comparisons?
The rubrics for each of the visual and performing arts areas can reviewed at:
http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Other-Resources/Gifted-Education/Gifted-Screening-andIdentification/Visual-and-Performing-Arts-Identification
Finally, the question of service comes into play. We identify in these areas and then
what do we do as a result?
First, it is important to know these areas of gifts and talents. If we never identify, we
never know. As educators, we know the importance of really knowing our students.
Second, it is essential when motivating students to use their identified areas of gifts and
talents as a lens. Chemistry may seem to be a foreign language until the gifted art student has to
know the chemistry of glazes. Human physiology may not be of interest until the dancer realizes
the importance of knowing the science of the human bones and muscles.
Finally, self-concept and self-esteem are important components of developing identify.
In a study comparing 9-13 year olds, the findings indicated that the development of self-concept
in gifted children was different from that of nongifted children. Specifically, the self-concept
scores in general of nongifted children increased from 11 to 13 years old, while those of gifted
children decreased for the same age period. Both academic and nonacademic self-concepts were
considered.
Journal for the Education of the Gifted. Vol. 31, No. 4, 2008, pp. 481–500. Copyright ©2008
Prufrock Press Inc., http://www.prufrock.com