Investigating an Instrument Measuring Conceptions of Giftedness

• In Event: 26.080 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 26.080-17 - Conceptions of Giftedness

Abstract

Researchers and authors in the field of gifted education have, in the past decade, written extensively about the fragmentation of the field in terms of beliefs and values into distinct paradigms. The present study created an instrument to assess these beliefs (Conceptions of Giftedness Inventory) and surveyed 103 authors published in journals of the field to assess its factor structure. The results indicated four factors: gifted child-practical, gifted child-specialness, differentiation, and talent development. Items loading on the observed factors were generally in line with previous literature on the subject of gifted education paradigms. Further investigation into streamlining the instrument for use in program evaluation and future studies of K-12 practitioners are discussed.

Author

• Jeb S Puryear, University of Connecticut