Click
M
for myth or T
for truth. Then check your answers with the answer key to determine
your "MQ"
- myth quotient.
1. The gifted child
needs a differentiated
learning experience to realize his potential.
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2. Labeling a child "gifted" leads to special treatment and special problems.
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3. Gifted children are typically taller, stronger and healthier than their age mates.
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4. Gifted girls are more likely to be underachievers than gifted boys.
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5. A child's IQ score will remain the same throughout his life.
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6. Parents must be advocates of gifted programs if these programs are to continue.
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7. Teachers are better at identifying the gifted than peers or parents of the gifted child.
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8. Gifted students from racial and ethnic minorities, of low socioeconomic status, and who are handicapped are less easily identified.
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9. If gifted children are accelerated, they will suffer emotional difficulty.
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10. An IQ test score is a good predictor of academic success.
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11. An insufficient number of teachers are being trained to teach the gifted.
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1. TRUTH
Gifted children need to have
the time, space, and staff necessary to assist them in the development
of their outstanding ability. They also need to interact with and
experience other gifted children. When the mental age rather than
the chronological age is used, the gifted are probably the most under-achieving
students in school.
2. TRUTH
Labels are powerful. They can change a child's self-concept and the perception others have of them. Labels can be useful when they enhance self-concept and stimulate achievement, but they can also be harmful when the reverse is true.
4. TRUTH
Research suggests that role stereotyping of girls, rather than a difference of abilities from boys, creates more under-achieving gifted girls. Girls actually avoid success because of society's voice that girls should serve, please and watch while boys are taught to be strong, independent, and active. Promote our girls, please!
IQ scores may vary as much as 20 points throughout a person's lifetime. Several reasons can account for a change in IQ scores, from growth spurts to emotional or personal problems. A high IQ may be a peak or valley of intellectual potential. Parents should not panic if testing shows a drop in IQ. Achievement scores maybe a different matter, and parents should investigate drops in these scores.
6. TRUTH
In this era of budget cuts, parents must insist on their right to an appropriate education for their gifted children. When California tried to cut their gifted program as part of Proposition 13, parents saved the program by banding together and bringing their concerns to the legislature.
7. MYTH
Research indicates that parents and peers are often more able to identify the gifted child than the teacher, especially among the very young and disadvantaged. Because the patterns of aptitudes, skills, and potentialities that make up giftedness are many and varied, schools use many different methods for recognizing exceptional ability. Parent input is always welcome.
8. TRUTH
Some gifted students are harder to find but not impossible. Sometimes special identification methods are needed and used.
9. MYTH
As a general rule the gifted child's emotional maturity matches his mental age. Gifted children are generally well-rounded, committed, responsible, and likable people who tend to maintain these qualities throughout their lifetime.
10. TRUTH
IQ scores measure the ability to do well in an academic setting. This is not to say it is an indicator for real-world success. Renzulli has identified above-average intelligence, creativity, and task commitment as indicators of real-world success.
11. TRUTH
There are approximately 2.56 million gifted children and not enough teachers trained to meet their needs. Universities that have programs for gifted education report only a handful of graduates for the gifted.
