What are some current trends and innovations in diagnostic and placement assessment for gifted education?

1 Universal Screening

One of the most common and recommended practices in gifted education is to use universal screening, which means testing all students in a grade or school for giftedness, regardless of their background, language, or disability. Universal screening can help reduce the underrepresentation of students from historically marginalized groups, such as low-income, racial/ethnic minority, English language learners, or twice-exceptional students, who may be overlooked by traditional methods of referral or nomination. Universal screening can also help identify students who may not exhibit typical signs of giftedness, such as high achievement, motivation, or creativity, but who have hidden or emergent potential that can be nurtured with appropriate interventions.

2 Dynamic Assessment

Another trend in gifted education is to use dynamic assessment, which is a form of interactive assessment that measures not only the current level of performance, but also the potential for learning and growth. Dynamic assessment involves providing feedback, scaffolding, and instruction to the student during the assessment process, and observing how they respond to the challenges and support. Dynamic assessment can help capture the cognitive and affective aspects of giftedness, such as problem-solving, reasoning, metacognition, self-regulation, and resilience. Dynamic assessment can also help differentiate between students who have high ability but low achievement, and students who have low ability but high achievement, by examining their learning processes and outcomes.

3 Portfolio Assessment

A third innovation in gifted education is to use portfolio assessment, which is a collection of evidence that demonstrates the student's achievements, skills, and interests in various domains and contexts. Portfolio assessment can include samples of the student's work, such as projects, essays, artworks, or performances, as well as reflections, feedback, awards, or testimonials. Portfolio assessment can help showcase the student's strengths, talents, and passions, as well as their growth and development over time. Portfolio assessment can also help provide a holistic and authentic picture of the student's giftedness, beyond the scores and labels of standardized tests.

4 Adaptive Testing

A fourth trend in gifted education is to use adaptive testing, which is a form of computer-based testing that adjusts the difficulty and content of the questions based on the student's responses. Adaptive testing can help provide a more accurate and efficient measure of the student's ability, by avoiding questions that are too easy or too hard, and by tailoring the questions to the student's specific domain or subdomain of interest. Adaptive testing can also help reduce the boredom, frustration, or anxiety that some gifted students may experience with traditional testing, by providing more challenge and feedback.

5 Multiple Criteria

A fifth and final practice in gifted education is to use multiple criteria, which means using a combination of different types of assessments and data sources to identify and place gifted students. Multiple criteria can help ensure that the assessment process is fair, valid, and reliable, by reducing the bias and error that may result from relying on a single or narrow measure of giftedness. Multiple criteria can also help address the diversity and complexity of giftedness, by capturing the different dimensions, domains, and levels of giftedness that may exist within and across students. Multiple criteria can include standardized tests, teacher ratings, parent nominations, peer nominations, self-reports, observations, interviews, or any other relevant information that can inform the decision-making process.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?