1. America has thousands of highly gifted children and millions of gifted children whose intelligence quotients (IQs) qualify them for gifted programs.

• Gifted individuals (IQ 125+) appear in the population at a rate of 1 in 20 people. Approximately 5% of the population is gifted (IQ 125+). 

• Highly gifted individuals (IQ 145+) appear in the population at a rate of 1 in 1,000 people.  Approximately 0.1% of the population is highly gifted (IQ 145+).

• Profoundly gifted individuals (IQ 160+) appear in the population at a rate of 1 in 10,000 people.

• Approximately 1.5 million gifted students in the United States are under-challenged by standard school curriculum and need an educational program more optimally matched to their abilities.

2. Gifted children are one of the most at-risk student groups in America.

• Research indicates that up to 20 percent of high school dropouts test in the gifted range.  (an IQ of 125 or above, or achievement test scores at the 95^th percentile). 

• Gifted children are frequently misdiagnosed as hyperactive or as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) because boredom often leads them to be inattentive in class.

•  Researchers estimate that about half of gifted students are underachievers.

• Gifted students learn more rapidly and desire to pursue subjects in greater depth. They need a rigorous curriculum that matches their ability to learn.

• Highly gifted students are the most likely to fall between the cracks in American classrooms – they are the ones experiencing the greatest gap between their potential and what is asked of them.

• Gifted children often hide their intellectual abilities in order to make friends. During adolescence, girls especially will “dumb down” to fit in with their peers.

• Social development is more closely aligned with intellectual development than chronological development. This means that many highly gifted students have little in common with students their age, therefore have trouble forming friendships. These students are more likely to develop friendships when placed with their intellectual peers.

 3. Gifted education in America is mostly inadequate and underfunded.

• The $50 billion federal education budget contains only $11 million earmarked for gifted education - the equivalent of 2 cents out of every $100.

• The only federal funding for gifted students – the $11 million Jacob K. Javits grant – goes primarily to research and demonstration projects, not to students.

• No federal mandate or overarching federal legislation exists to guide state and local school districts to educate highly intelligent students.

• Only 32 states have laws requiring that gifted students be identified; just 29 require that they be served.

• Roughly 70% of elementary school gifted programs consist of just 90 minutes to a few hours of “pull-out” enrichment programs per week. These programs generally feature non-curricular work such as puzzles or games that do not challenge gifted students in core curricula subjects.

• Many secondary schools serve gifted students by allowing them to take honors classes aimed at the 75^th percentile, or by allowing students to move ahead a year in math (such as taking algebra in 8^th grade). Yet early entrance college programs have found that highly gifted students can usually compress the entire high school curriculum into one or two years. Talent search summer programs find that highly gifted students can learn a year’s worth of curricula in math in three weeks of intensive study.

4. Anti-intellectualism runs rampant in America.

• The number of American students scoring above 1,000 on the SAT declined so much over the past few decades that in 1995 the test was adjusted to “re-center” the scores, having the effect of inflating their numeric value.

• U.S. businesses have been complaining for some time about the lack of highly skilled workers; many businesses have to import intellectual talent from abroad.

• The No Child Left Behind Act penalizes schools if students do not meet minimum competency requirements, but does nothing to ensure that high-scoring children continue to learn.

• Because so little time and attention are given to nurture gifted students’ intellectual abilities, we are, in effect, writing off our nation’s brightest young minds. By denying them the opportunity to excel, we deny the nation the benefits of what they could someday achieve.

5. Gifted students whose talents are nurtured can make significant contributions even at a very young age.

Every year the Davidson Institute awards scholarships to students under age 18 for prodigious work.  Some of the significant accomplishments of recent recipients are:

• Developing processes and compounds that can retard the spread of malignant tumors

• Computational analysis leading to a breakthrough in human genome research

• Analyzing gene expression regulation to find new treatments for the control of rheumatoid arthritis

• Mathematical modeling of gasoline sprays to lessen automobile emissions

• Easing Internet traffic congestion and increasing data storage in handheld and wireless devices

• Exploring advanced graph theories with potential applications in communication networks, robotic vision systems and expansion of the Internet

• Calculating better engineering methods to improve safety for workers in the bulk material industry

• Discovering new properties of clay adhesion to polymers in order to increase control of durability and permeability of surfaces and packaging

• Composing a series of new instrumental works

• Conducting symphony orchestras

• Writing a novella based on string theory and canoeing

• Utilizing techniques of past master composers to develop a unique signature musical style

• Developing literary works in poetry, short stories and other genres displaying advanced knowledge of writing styles and self-expression

6. Parents, teachers, administrators, mentors and patrons can work together to challenge gifted students and help them develop their talents.

• Parent involvement is crucial. Research shows that parents play a more important role in the development of a child’s gifts than schools do.

• According to gifted education professor Nicholas Colangelo at the University of Iowa, “Most parents of gifted children who have legitimate and valid reasons for demanding curriculum alteration do not ever approach the school for fear of being labeled ‘pushy.’”

• According to Gina Ginsberg and Charles Harrison’s How to Help Your Gifted Child, “There are more parents who have gifted children and don’t know it than there are parents who don’t have gifted children but think they do.”

• Every child should have the opportunity to learn something new in school every day. Every student should have access to an education that appropriately challenges his or her abilities.  If the regular classrooms can’t provide this, other options need to be considered.

• Providing intellectually advanced students an appropriate education does not require a lot of financial resources.  It requires that schools assess the needs of gifted students and offer them appropriate options, such as independent study, subject-matter acceleration, credit by examination, whole-grade acceleration, dual enrollment (taking both middle and high school classes at the same time, for instance), extracurricular opportunities such as contests, and learning partnerships with experts.

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Davidson Institute for Talent Development
9665 Gateway Drive, Suite B
Reno, Nevada 89521
775-852-3483
Fax: 775-852-2184
www.davidson-institute.org

To schedule an interview with Bob or Jan Davidson,

please contact Julie Dudley at 775-852-3483 x. 424