Spatial Reasoning: The Third Pillar of Human Intelligence and Key to Proportional Gifted and Talented Identification?

• In Event: 75.042 - MTCC Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 75.042-9 - Gifted Education: Practices and Policies

Abstract

The gifted and talented education field has reached consensus that universal screening is the most fair and unbiased method to identify low income and underrepresented minority students for gifted programming. But there is room to explore which measures are most effective for this screening and which reflect important talents on which to focus programming. This paper proposes that spatial reasoning in addition to traditional reasoning domains (abstract/figural, verbal, and quantitative) may be a key to helping programs better identify and serve underrepresented groups of students.

Authors

• Joni M. Lakin, University of Alabama

• Jonathan Wai