Defining Giftedness

3/4/2024

Christopher Federico

Roeper is the oldest pre-K to 12 school for gifted students in the US. But what does it mean to be gifted? Answering that question is trickier than you might think.

In addition to the National Association for Gifted Children’s own definition, there are no fewer than 46 separate legal definitions recognized by state and federal agencies in the US alone.¹

Early on in their work, George and Annemarie Roeper realized that giftedness meant much more than a score on a standardized test, the fixation on which they saw as “a limitation indicating an inadequate understanding of the many facets of giftedness.”²

The Roepers’ own views about the multi-faceted nature of giftedness were aligned with the work of other prominent authorities including:

Robert J. Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence³
Joseph S. Renzulli’s three-ring conception of giftedness⁴
Aakash A. Chowkase and Sujala Watve’s three C’s conception, part of the broader literature on transformational giftedness⁵

When we combine these ideas with our parallel focus on social justice and educating the whole child, Roeper’s definition of giftedness begins to take shape:

A gifted student is one who demonstrates exceptional ability and/or potential in the following six interrelated traits or behaviors and, as a consequence, who will benefit from our specific programming and supports:

Capability. The ability to perform at a high standard when completing cognitive tasks.

Communication. The ability to convey and process information and ideas effectively through oral, written, graphic, and/or other media.

Collaboration. The ability to interact and work productively with others toward the achievement of shared goals.

Creativity. The ability to generate novel works, ideas, and solutions to problems.

Commitment. The ability to dedicate sustained attention to a specific task or undertaking.

Connection. The capacity to feel and show empathy and understanding for the unique lived experience of others and to apply that to work towards the good of their community.

This comprehensive approach to identifying and educating gifted students is what makes the Roeper approach truly advanced—and truly unique.

¹ A.N. Rinn, R.U. Mun, and J. Hodges., 2020-2021 State of the States in Gifted Education. National Association for Gifted Children and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted (2022). See especially Appendix, Section II.Michigan is one of the few states that does not have such a legal definition.

² George A. Roeper, An Answer to the Question: “How to Describe the Gifted Student for whom the School is Designed,” unpublished manuscript (December 1971), 1.

³ See, for example, Robert J. Sternberg, Beyond I.Q.: A Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (New York: Cambridge UP, 1993).

⁴ See, for example, Joseph S. Renzulli, “Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness,” in Susan M. Baum, Sally M. Reis, and Lori R. Maxfield, eds., Nurturing the Gifts and Talents of Primary Grade Students (Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press, 1998).

⁵ Aakash A. Chowkase and Sujala Watve, “From I to We: The Three C’s Conception of Gifted Education,” in Robert J. Sternberg, Don Ambrose, and Sareh Karimi, eds., The Palgrave Handbook of Transformational Giftedness for Education(Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), 61-85.

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