Moving Toward a Talent Development Model of Gifted Education

Traditional gifted programs emphasize the inherent nature of giftedness and identify children as gifted primarily based on IQ test scores or academic achievement. These traditional conceptions also favor culturally dominant groups, overlooking giftedness in typically underserved groups, and place value specifically on intellectual abilities alone, versus a more modern notion of multiple intelligences. The talent development model is an emerging approach to gifted education, centered on a broader idea of giftedness and more individualized programming. This report examines the talent development model and discusses modernizing student identification, offering domain-specific student programming, and engaging stakeholders.