Teacher Identification of the Gifted: A New Look

Abstract

Teacher recommendation as a means of identifying gifted children traditionally has been regarded as ineffective and inefficient, although such conclusions are based upon studies in which teachers were required to make global assessments of students' ability. The present study sought to re-examine the issue through the use of checklists on which the teachers were asked to indicate the presence or absence of certain behaviors. Significant, moderate, positive correlations between teacher rating and IQ were obtained, and the ratings were found to possess both high efficiency and stability. Teacher rating was found to be a better predictor of giftedness for girls than for boys. With IQ as the dependent variable, a main effect for achievement was found, but there was none for rating nor was there an interaction effect. Teacher rating was a better identifier of gifted underachievers than of gifted achievers.