Educating Gifted Students in Middle School: A Practical Guide

By Susan Rakow

Educating Gifted Students in Middle School: A Practical Guide (3rd ed.) helps educators with the challenging task of understanding and meeting the needs of gifted students in middle school. This revised and updated third edition:

• Provides a rationale and framework that middle schools can use to fill the service gap for gifted and advanced learners.
• Addresses the needs of learners from diverse backgrounds.
• Shows how to implement effective program models.
• Identifies best practices for the classroom.
• Shares research-based curriculum models.

Topics addressed include school organization, instructional strategies in the basic subject areas, cocurricular and summer programs, the missing link of executive function skills, and counseling at-risk gifted learners. Educating Gifted Students in Middle School focuses on creative, practical, and realistic school solutions that create a vital and responsive community for all students.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: Jul 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781618219831

Susan Rakow

Susan Rakow, Ph.D., is visiting assistant professor in Curriculum and Gifted Education at Cleveland State University. She earned her doctorate at Kent State University in Middle School and Gifted Education. Currently, she coedits the NAGC Middle Grades Division e-newsletter Middle Matters. She presents, consults, and writes about gifted adolescents and how to serve their broad range of needs. More importantly, she is the parent of two gifted children.

Book preview

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

In updating this book, I looked forward to delving into all of the new research, programming, and overall progress made in educating gifted learners in grades 5–9, so that I could summarize and share it with teachers, administrators, and others in our field. But although there has been a great deal of change in gifted education, not much is happening specific to middle school, and the middle grades seem to remain the black hole of gifted education.

In many middle schools, gifted students seem to be invisible or, at best, an afterthought. Even the number of formerly popular advanced or honors English language arts and math classes is declining. There is no requirement that preservice teachers or administrators have training to prepare for these students—beyond generalities about differentiation. In most cases, there is no distinction made between differentiation for gifted students and accommodations for struggling learners. School guidance counselors do not receive training in working with gifted and twice-exceptional students. Even the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) has disbanded its middle grades network due to lack of leadership, but definitely not for lack of a need to address these concerns.

We will never have students ready for advanced high school academics if we do not prepare them in the middle grades. This is especially true for learners from diverse backgrounds whose participation in the few available gifted classes decreases precipitously in middle school. Those in charge may see clearly that there will be no successful high school football or basketball teams without the middle school feeder sports programs, yet the same principle is ignored when considering academics. I have found that no one says, Gee, our football, soccer, and basketball teams don’t seem racially balanced, so let’s stop having them. Instead, these differences are accepted as somehow just how it is. The Gospel Choir at my local high school is 99% Black, while the Swim Cadets have the same homogenous percentage of White girls. Yet the programs continue. This is not to say that we should not address racial, wealth, and ethnic disparities in gifted identification and program participation. We can—and we must—but not by eliminating programs and classes.

This third edition of Educating Gifted Students in Middle School addresses overall changes in the field; provides additional information about executive function, stress and anxiety, and depression, as well as the arts and social studies; includes updated information about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); expands the understanding of identifying and serving diverse gifted learners; and provides direction and specifics for improving opportunities for and meeting the needs of gifted early adolescents.

Read More

To extend the scope and value of the text, as well as to provide historical perspective, additional resources are provided at this book’s webpage at https://www.prufrock.com/Educating-Gifted-Students-in-Middle-School-Resources.aspx.

So here I am, still sounding the clarion cry for something to change for gifted students during their middle grade years. It is my hope that teachers, counselors, and administrators will find this a valuable tool in their work with these students as we, and they, continue to make our way through the 21st century.

CHAPTER 1

Nature and Needs of Gifted Middle School Students

KEY QUESTIONS

▶In what ways may gifted and advanced students differ from typical students during their middle school years?

▶Why do gifted students need differentiated services during middle school?

Gifted students are not a homogeneous group; some may fit a few or all of the descriptions and challenges described in this chapter, and many others may not. As in any area of human development, gifted adolescents are a diverse group.

Definitions and descriptions of giftedness have varied over time. The Marland Report (1972) included children who demonstrate high potential ability or performance in any of the following areas singly or in combination: general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or productive thinking, leadership ability, visual and performing arts, and/or psychomotor ability (p. 2). The federal definition from the U.S. Department of Education’s (1993) report National Excellence: A Case for Developing America’s Talent described youth who exhibit high performance capability in intellectual, creative, and or artistic areas, possess an unusual leadership capacity, or excel in specific academic fields (p. 3), and, as with the Marland Report, reiterated that these children require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the schools. But current theory and practice are moving beyond the limited notion of IQ scores as the sole determinant, toward broader and more inclusive definitions that reflect an expanded understanding of human development, creativity, learning style, and eminence.

Talent development and talent search models seem to better describe current practices for gifted identification and services as they relate to adolescents. Although these models still consider foundational superior cognitive abilities, they tend to focus on domain-specific talent development (e.g., math, writing, art, etc.). Other principles of these models include transforming potential into accomplishment through access to appropriate opportunities, providing psychosocial skill training or coaching, and developing confidence in risk-taking, thus preparing talented young people who seek to make changes in the world and transform their abilities into creative or path-breaking contributions (Subotnik et al., 2018). Subotnik et al. (2011) proposed the following definition as a start for reconceptualizing giftedness and gifted education:

Giftedness is the manifestation of performance or production that is clearly at the upper end of the distribution in a talent domain even relative to that of other high-functioning individuals in that domain. Further, giftedness can be viewed as developmental, in that in the beginning stages, potential is the key variable; in later stages, achievement is the measure of giftedness; and in fully developed talents, eminence is the basis on which this label is granted. Psychosocial variables play an essential role in the manifestation of giftedness at every developmental stage. Both cognitive and psychosocial variables are malleable and need to be deliberately cultivated. (p. 4)

New research (e.g., Golon, 2017) also points to the value of visual-spatial giftedness, which is often untested and/or undervalued. Yet the nature of right-brained thinkers is highly correlated with creativity and success in STEM. Many times these students’ talents remain untapped as schools and classrooms emphasize the abilities of more analytical and verbal students over holistic thinkers.

With a more inclusive definition of giftedness comes the need to likewise broaden educational practices. Ambrose et al. (2012) tackled the challenge of diverse definitions as well as other ways in which gifted education has often remained stuck in old paradigms and practices.

Regardless of the definition or multifaceted description used, it is clear that we work with exceptional students whose abilities and talents far surpass what is typical for their age and grade. Too often there is a mismatch between gifted students’ needs and the opportunities that are available in middle school. When opportunities are offered, they are usually solely academic without consideration of gifted students’ particular social and emotional needs during this critical stage of their development. Every day classroom teachers face students whose needs are not being met by the typical middle school curriculum, instruction, or school organizational patterns. As Woods-Murphy (2017) lamented,

I am a gifted and talented specialist in New Jersey. It is my job to make sure that students receive the proper level of acceleration and enrichment. But every single day, I fail at my job. . . . School, for many of our advanced learners, begins to feel like a kind of prison where they feel trapped, misunderstood, and bored. . . . We are at a juncture where the times demand that we dare to break through traditional scheduling, use of teacher talent, and grade-level thinking to support all learners. (paras. 1, 2, 11, 25)

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE, 2010; previously known as the National Middle School Association [NMSA]) asserted, Youth between the ages of 10 and 15 are characterized by their diversity (p. 53) and display a wide range (p. 56) of cognitive development, contrary to middle school advocates’ past misconceptions. Early adolescents are able to think abstractly, are curious, may have a wide range of intellectual pursuits, and develop a more accurate understanding of their current abilities (p. 57).

Armstrong (2016) and Siegel (2015) described the latest research on adolescent brain development and how to harness it in schools and at home. They emphasized the development of new brain cells, with the pre-frontal cortex (reasoning brain) lagging somewhat behind the emotional brain. The adolescent brain is especially sensitive to surroundings and is more susceptible to stress than the brains of either children or adults (Armstrong, 2016). Siegel (2015) described four qualities of the mind during the early teen years related to brain changes: novelty seeking, social engagement, increased emotional intensity, and creative exploration.

Additionally, most middle school students are confronted with a multitude of new and potentially terrifying tasks: developing their own meaningful interpersonal relationships, attempting to find physical comfort with their changing bodies and evolving sexuality, identifying their personal and social values system, maintaining psychologically healthy self-esteem and identity, and sustaining ethnic and cultural awareness and connections, all while seeking increased independence from their families. No wonder many people say middle school teachers are either crazy or saints!

All adolescents at this age need role models, supportive adults, hands-on classroom activities that make clear connections to their lives, opportunities to make important decisions, expressive arts activities, and appropriate intellectual stimulation to ensure growth. According to Siegel (2015), The work of adolescence—the testing of boundaries, the passion to explore what is unknown and exciting—can set the stage for the development of core character traits that will enable adolescents to go on to lead great lives of adventure and purpose (pp. 2–3).

Although the previous descriptions of general adolescence certainly apply to those who are gifted, these students have additional unique needs (Cross, 2017; Hébert, 2011b; Olszewski-Kubilius, 2010a; Rakow, 2011). As a group, gifted adolescents differ in self-efficacy, attitudes, aspirations, and achievement (Neihart & Huan, 2009). They are often significantly more advanced than their peers in one or more academic areas and have a greater propensity for deductive thinking. They have increased ability to observe themselves and to verbalize strong feelings, rather than act on them.

Gifted adolescents often strive for mature and adult understanding of human problems and values. In this respect, they often seek out older friends or adults for companionship. This need for mentors and other responsive adults is part of developing not just independence, but also interdependence, a key to successful relationships throughout life.

Gifted adolescents have flashes of insight and creative surges. Their sophisticated abilities to conceptualize, seek alternatives, explore diverse relationships, and find creative ways of self-expression will be useful and fulfilling to them once they reach adulthood. But, during adolescence, these same qualities may create (rather than solve) some unique problems.

Giftedness and Physical Development

Although significant physical changes occur for all adolescents during the middle grades, for gifted students, this may be the first time they feel out of control. In fact, Cross and Cross (2015) suggested that many gifted adolescents are somewhat detached from their bodies, as they tend to live more in their heads. They may be confused by the impact their hormones have on their bodies, as well as their emotions and moods. Students have many worries about being normal, and their previously successful cognitive problem-solving strategies may not work when they are at the mercy of biology, chemistry, and brain development.

Either early or late puberty can magnify problems. Gifted students who talk and think like adults and have adult interests find that early puberty compounds the challenge they face of being expected to behave like adults. Gifted 12-year-olds have many of the emotional and social difficulties of other 12-year-olds, regardless of how smart they are. This apparent disconnect among physical, social, emotional, and intellectual maturity, which is known as asynchronous development, is at the root of many conflicts that gifted adolescents face in middle school. When academic achievement and intellectual precocity are at odds with social-emotional and physical development, problems can be created if adults expect more mature behaviors based on advanced intelligence and achievement. But many behaviors are more connected to chronological age than academics or general intelligence, such as the ability to understand social dynamics, traumatic events, and emotions (both one’s own and others’).

Especially if a student has been accelerated (or grade-skipped), middle school is often the time when physical differences become most noticeable and most important. And physical differences may add to gifted students’ already existing sense of being different and separate. Interscholastic athletics take on a bigger role during middle school, and it often isn’t enough to just participate. The emphasis changes to winning and success, with trophies, assemblies, and the other trappings of a culture that highly values sports. As a result, participation for gifted students may prove more embarrassing than enjoyable, especially for nonathletic or late-developing boys. Hébert (2011a) described this as managing an image based on what the society regards as masculine. Healthy exercise and physical activity may then take a backseat to more sedentary cognitive pursuits that can provide more emotional and physical safety. Because exercise is often a release for tension, students should find a regular enjoyable physical activity that is relaxing. Spending time outdoors in natural settings is particularly important, as recess is often eliminated in middle schools, especially for students in grades 7 and 8.

Although it is difficult to discuss without using traditional gender labels, students who identify as male and those who identify as female experience these dilemmas differently, and these differences are further complicated when we consider the integration of gender identification, sexual orientation, race, class, and ethnicity. Many boys who are gifted in the visual and performing arts prefer using their bodies as an instrument of expression, rather than in daring physical activities. Some may worry about being perceived as effeminate or gay. Some gifted girls may be concerned that too much emphasis on, and success in, competitive athletics will take away from their attractiveness to the opposite sex, and they too are concerned about assumptions that might be made about their sexual orientation. (Chapter 2 further addresses gifted LGBTQ students as well as the different issues faced by boys and girls.)

Gifted Intensities

Adolescents who have exceptional cognitive abilities also tend to have increased sensitivity to people and events, are more deeply introspective, and often display a higher sense of justice and fair play. According to Olszewski-Kubilius (2010a), many gifted adolescents have strong emotional reactions to events or occurrences that other adolescents do not even notice (p. 19). Their actions and ideas are often influenced by heightened self-criticism, sensitivity, and intensity (Mendaglio, 2002), and many psychologists believe that this sensitivity and intensity may be the primary defining characteristic of gifted individuals. Their ability to make a deeper commitment to, or concentrate on, one activity often results in a narrow focus (e.g., online games, a favorite YouTube channel, mathematics, computer programming, music, reading, etc.).

These characteristic heightened sensitivities result in a different manner of experiencing the world. Dabrowski and Piechowski (1977; Piechowski, 1986) described these enhanced channels of experience in five dimensions or forms of emotional overexcitability: psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational, and emotional. These contribute to the individual’s psychological development and behaviors, both positive and negative. For example, the positive and productive side of heightened psychomotor sensitivity is a surplus of energy marked by rapid speech, obvious enthusiasm, and a push for quick action. The negative side may manifest as compulsive talking, workaholism, and perhaps nervous habits (e.g., tics or nail biting) that physically express emotional tension. Although the positive side of heightened emotional sensitivity is the ability to identify with and feel concern for others’ feelings, the negative side may be intensified self-criticism, feelings of inadequacy or guilt, and loneliness. These heightened sensitivities may also contribute to feelings of anxiety and stress, even when everything may seem to be going well, as gifted adolescents often feel alone in their intensities. We must help students realize that stress is a normal part of every person’s life and accompanies any kind of change, both good and bad.

A more introverted personality (which is often connected to some forms of talent development) may require extended time for solo study or practice. This can create problems for gifted students, especially in our Western culture where extroversion is more highly valued. In Quiet, Cain (2012) discussed the challenges introverts face as well as their significant contributions in quiet leadership and creative production. She also pointed to adolescence as the great stumbling place, the dark and tangled thicket of low self-esteem and social unease (p. 263). I encouraged one student to participate more by raising his hand and sharing ideas and opinions. He replied, You can participate by listening, you know. As an extrovert myself, this was revelatory.

Understanding these characteristics can help us guide gifted students toward self-actualizing behaviors and emotional growth. Gifted adolescents need help understanding, appreciating, accepting, coping with, and productively using their intensities (e.g., active imaginations, fantasies, and emotional and moral questioning) in order to develop overall psychological and emotional well-being (Olszewski-Kubilius, 2010a). Offering gifted middle schoolers the opportunity to self-assess using a measure like the Overexcitability Questionnaire–Two (OEQ-II; Falk et al., 1999) and providing suggestions for students to help channel their intensities not only help with self-awareness, but also help students understand that others may not share their level of sensitivity or appreciate their reality. They need to develop relationships with people who take them seriously and have similar experiences. Awareness of their intensities can also prevent misdiagnoses of psychological disorders like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), general anxiety disorder (GAD), or autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Giftedness and Social-Emotional Development

Gifted adolescents’ abilities to assimilate information more rapidly and to have quicker and deeper insights often contribute to challenges in psychosocial adjustment. Hébert (2011b) identified seven specific social-emotional traits of gifted early adolescents: high performance standards (sometimes impossibly high), internal motivation, emotional intensity, high levels of empathy, moral maturity, strong desire for self-actualization, and resilience. Awareness of how these might manifest in gifted students during middle school can help teachers and counselors be more responsive and patient with behaviors and attitudes that may seem outside of grade-level norms. Dweck (2012) reminded educators to help gifted students understand that their intelligence is not fixed and to guide them in developing a growth mindset accompanied by greater flexibility and resilience in the face of disappointment or failures that are inevitable when they are challenged. Their sensitivities might contribute to more negative and intense reactions to real and/or perceived failures.

However, sometimes a growth mindset can be debilitating for gifted students. They may feel that they have to be growing all of the time in all areas, believing it is never acceptable to pursue an activity for the fun of it. They may resist simply finishing a required assignment, believing that they must do their best constantly, regardless of personal interest or value.

In early adolescence the power of the social milieu to shape the future developmental trajectory is at its height (Horwitz et al., 2009, p. 101). In elementary school, social acceptance by parents, teachers, and peers is positively connected to school achievement and being smart. This social advantage may disappear by age 13. In middle school, the teacher’s approval is less important than peers’ approval, which is often contingent on athletic prowess, Internet and social media savvy, rapidly changing fads in clothing or music, or belonging to the right clique. Previously, the rules were clear: Do well in school, get good grades, behave well toward others, and people will like and accept you. In adolescence, the rules are unclear and often unspoken, they change frequently without notice, and the penalties for not following them can be harsh, lasting, and intensified by social media.

In addition, successful logical problem-solving strategies from past years may no longer work for gifted students in the rapidly shifting sands of the middle school social scene (Rakow, 2011). Gifted students at this age may feel different from their classmates because of their continuing commitment to academic and intellectual interests. Social groups of peers and society at large have a distinct anti-intellectual attitude (Sowell, 2000), and there is distrust of those who want to do their best because excellence makes others feel bad (Colangelo, 2004). Participation in special or advanced classes may fulfill students’ needs for like-minded peers and intellectual stimulation, but it may also create social stigmas.

For gifted students, conflict may manifest in a struggle between wanting to belong and wanting to achieve. This struggle appears both at school and at home if there are mixed messages about upward mobility or high achievement. Even greater challenges are often experienced by those students from cultural, economic, racial, and linguistic minorities, who may face choices of conflicting identities that can result in the burden of stereotype threat as well as lowered aspirations and self-concepts and/or underachievement.

Gifted students may have a difficult time finding compatible friends because they often need more than one group—age peers and intellectual peers—including out-of-school groups and contacts. Many students find it difficult to straddle or move smoothly between and among groups at this age. The question Where do I belong? has many answers, not all of which can be accommodated easily during middle school. According to Horwitz et al. (2009), a student’s academic achievement is not solely individual but occurs in a social context that is affected by one’s perceived position in that social context (p. 92).

Gifted students in middle school often experience negative social stigmas and lack of appreciation for their unique abilities, resulting in tension between achieving academic excellence and having a social life. They may retreat from academic achievement in order to be more accepted (e.g., dumbing down, dropping out of certain clubs or activities, underachieving). These concerns and conflicts seem to be particularly intense for gifted girls, the profoundly gifted, students from underrepresented backgrounds, and students who have been radically accelerated.

For gifted students, a new situation or challenge is accompanied by pressure (from within or from outside) to excel and an often critical internal voice. This pressure may be accompanied by concerns of feeling different and self-doubt—the imposter syndrome, in which gifted students fear that, at some point, they will be uncovered as just ordinary. Students feel they must accept responsibility for constantly meeting high expectations in demanding course loads, sports participation, leadership in school activities, family chores and relationships, and even part-time jobs. This may lead to physical and emotional exhaustion as they try to be all things to all people.

One problem facing gifted students is bullying. In a 2013 national survey (U.S. Department of Education, 2015), approximately 28% of 12- to 18-year-old students reported they had been bullied at school that year, and sixth graders reported the most incidents. Research (Cross, 2012, as cited in Espelage & King, 2018) suggested that gifted youth were at particular risk for being targets of bullying due to the asynchronous development that can contribute to difficulties in peer relationships, a poor fit with the school culture, or nonstereotypical gender behaviors. Hargrove (2010) indicated that bullying peaks in middle school, with more than 60% of gifted children reporting that by eighth grade, they have been victims. Longitudinal studies show that victims of bullying have compromised social, emotional, and academic development. Because of their sensitivities, gifted children can be more aware of and upset by nonphysical kinds of bullying. In interviews, gifted students said that they internalized these bullying experiences and described them as life-changing and profound (Peterson & Ray, 2006). Available technologies, which are constantly changing, make cyberbullying a pervasive threat to students’ self-concept and emotional well-being.

Because school transitions seem to place all youth at risk for bullying, developing awareness and understanding of gifted students’ experiences with bullying and possible victimization is critical in helping students manage the transition to middle school. In addition, gifted students need to learn not to be perpetrators of bullying, as they may use their academic and intellectual gifts as weapons in the dynamic and possibly threatening social sphere of middle school. One study (Peairs et al., 2019) suggested that gifted adolescents may not use more typical overt and physical aggression/bullying, but may instead avoid interpersonal confrontation and be involved with more subtle relational aggression, the kind that requires advanced cognitive abilities.

Gifted students may view school guidance counselors as only for problem kids and test preparation. But gifted students need counselors and teachers who are aware and responsive and who have received education and training in understanding gifted students. These students often have few readily available adult or peer role models who can help them through the changes they are facing. They receive mixed messages about what it means to be gifted and what society expects of them, which may have the effect of limiting behavior and identity formation (Cross, 2017). They need guidance as they seek a place in the adult world that accepts and values them. They need to learn how to set and choose among goals, how to persevere, and how to accept both challenge and failure.

Under the tutelage of supportive and aware adults, discussions about challenging concerns can help gifted students understand and accept themselves and promote growth. These discussions can encourage respect for diverse views and can address issues such as:

▶how they might send unintentional nonverbal messages,

▶how to communicate new ideas and concepts,

▶how their different or atypical adolescent experience affects them,

▶how to use their imagination,

▶how to determine acceptable and unacceptable risks,

▶how to make decisions about their learning and living environments,

▶how to engage in truth seeking, and

▶how to maintain individual intellectual pursuits (Lind, 2011).

In order to nurture the full potential of gifted adolescents, educators need to address cognitive growth as well. When we consider gifted adolescents, the psychological well-being of gifted youth is likely to be enhanced as a function of the time they spend in learning activities that compel or inspire high levels of concentration, interest and enjoyment (Shernoff et al., 2014), or what Csikszentmihalyi called flow (Csikszentmihalyi et al., 1993).

Academic and Intellectual Development

All middle school students develop intellectually during adolescence. However, gifted students are those who, at a given point in time, are academically and intellectually advanced beyond their typical age and grade-level peers. They are generally more self-motivated to learn and more aware of societal and global issues. These gifted students require differentiated academic programming because they are more at risk than others for disengagement from school during the adolescent years and the greater the degree of advancement, the truer this is (Horwitz et al., 2009, p. 100).

It’s Too Boring . . . I Know This Already . . .

Remnants still exist of the old and discredited brain periodicity research that stated that middle school students can’t learn abstract or challenging material because their brain development is at a plateau. This outdated view, plus the current emphasis on grade-level standardized test accountability, results in teachers who concentrate on reviewing and applying previously learned material, with advanced material being saved until high school. Many middle school students are ready for abstract and conceptual learning at a rapid pace, which they may have already been involved in throughout elementary school.

Academic rigor is often lacking when there is an overreliance on or inappropriate use of cooperative learning or widely mixed ability groups. The repetition common in many middle schools’ curricula contributes to gifted students’ underachievement and turning off of school, which has been exacerbated by emphases on competency/proficiency testing. Erb (1997) confronted this issue for both gifted and typical students:

Middle school classrooms are not supposed to be boring, disengaging places. They are to be characterized by integrated curriculum or at least interdisciplinary curriculum where students work at their own paces and at their own levels to produce projects that demonstrate meaningful applications of the knowledge they are acquiring. Students are supposed to be investigating the questions that they themselves are asking about the world and their place in it. They are supposed to be solving problems as they work in interdependent work groups. All of this effort is directed toward producing products and performances for some real audience. Yet we hear time and again that teachers just cannot meet these goals with all the diversity—developmental, academic, and emotional—of students that they encounter in their classrooms. (p. 2)

Dweck (2006/2016) asserted that motivation, engagement, and effort may be more important to gifted-level achievement than intelligence. But it is especially necessary to keep identifying and nurturing high-level, domain-specific talent in early adolescence when school is the only setting in which students’ talent is being systematically and intentionally developed. Kanevsky and Keighley (2003) explored factors contributing to boredom in high school gifted students and found that their gradual disengagement from learning had begun in middle school. The extent to which students experienced the 5 C’s: control, choice, challenge, complexity and caring teachers determined their continued productivity and engagement in learning (p. 20). When these were not present, students reported that the honorable action was to quit producing and disengage.

NMSA (2003), however, emphasized the importance of challenging curricula that capitalize on students’ cultural, experiential, and personal backgrounds to build new concepts on knowledge students already possess (p. 25). When combined with preassessment (also supported in AMLE’s [2010] principle of Varied and Ongoing Assessment), an appropriate starting point for learning can be determined, and the boredom gifted students often face can be avoided.

You See, I’m Not Really That Smart After All . . .

In some middle schools, the opposite problem occurs, but with the same result: underachievement. For many gifted students, middle school may be the first time school is difficult. Having cruised through elementary school with straight A’s often attained with little real effort, the sudden academic challenge is disruptive to students’ sense of self-confidence and self-definition as a smart person. The approval of teachers and parents is often predicated on this easy academic achievement, and students fear the loss of this outside validation. Those students who are already somewhat perfectionistic feel that, without guaranteed success (defined as earning an A), the work isn’t worth doing at all. A kind of paralysis can result, and parents report that their adolescent has shut down. Some gifted students who easily earned A’s in elementary school never needed to develop personally appropriate and effective executive function or study skills. Further discussion of executive function skills and the impact of perfectionism can be found in Chapter 3.

Apparent Contradiction

It seems as if there’s a contradiction here: Middle school is too easy or boring, or it’s too difficult or challenging. How can it be both? Part of this apparent contradiction is the student’s mindset; part of it is the emergence in adolescence of domain-specific abilities and the increasing importance of areas of exceptional strength rather than the more global giftedness of early childhood. Part of this can be blamed on the adults’ perspectives. Consistently showing students that their learning process is much more important than their products helps enforce a growth mindset.

Most often the all-too-common lack of fit between the students and their educational environment—including peers, curricula, instruction, and materials—inhibits growth for gifted students in middle school. The extent and impact of the problem may vary by school and even among individual teachers. A middle school gifted student can be frustrated because an honors algebra class seems so difficult, and this student really should be doing math homework nightly in order to master it. But, the same student may simultaneously be frustrated because the science class is so boring, with its hands-on heterogeneous cooperative learning groups working on science material the student learned 3 years ago. Nevertheless, the overall effects may be the same: underachievement, alienation from school, self-doubt, increased perfectionism, or outright rebellion. The emotional toll of inappropriate attention to the academic and intellectual needs of gifted students during middle school can have lasting effects.

Multipotentiality

Multipotentiality exists when gifted individuals are equally talented in several diverse areas, including academics, athletics, leadership, and the arts. For them, making decisions about course selection, careers, and colleges, as well as day-to-day time management, can create existential dilemmas.

Gifted students with multiple talents may be fearful about not living up to their potential. They worry about how to balance their many dreams with realistic consequences of making one choice and leaving others behind. They question whether it is better to do one thing well or attempt to know a lot about many areas. They need assurance that their many talents are an asset, not a liability, and that, in most areas, these decisions do not have to be made in middle school (although in some areas, such as gymnastics, dance, and music, certain decisions do have to made early). The stage model of talent development, proposed by Subotnik and Jarvin (2005), describes how talent development changes as a student ages. By middle school (the second stage), most students are moving from general competence and abilities into more specific development of expertise (Olszewski-Kubilius, 2010a):

Critical to this period is a student’s (1) teachability or willingness to be taught and receive criticism, (2) motivation and desire to learn and achieve, (3) persistence in the face of challenges, (4) self-confidence, (5) ability to delay gratification, (6) ability to work and study independently, and (7) ability to set and work toward goals. (p. 6)

Well-planned and sensitive guidance and career counseling, as well as mentorships, can help students clarify their goals and directions over time and help them make choices that incorporate their personalities and abilities. Caring adults should also address students’ fears of not making the perfect choice when deciding how to allocate time and energy in the face of multiple talents.

Why Can’t I Do It This Way?

The creatively gifted student shares many qualities in common with the intellectually gifted student, as a base level of intelligence is usually necessary for creative production. Characteristics of the creatively gifted include high energy, high motivation, risk-taking, and complex personalities. Considered differently, these qualities might be seen as impulsive and overactive behavior, the willingness to look or act foolish, asking unusual (What if?) questions,