Identification

Those students who have an outstanding ability, be it across the board, or in just one area, deserve to be identified and provided for. It is usually obvious who the precociously gifted and the talented ‘star performers’ are. However, other students may also excel in years to come, although the indicators of ability may seem less obvious.

This section looks at how gifted and talented students can be identified. There are several approaches to identification, including:

• spotting general characteristics
• noting characteristics at different phases
• observing characteristics in different subjects
• gathering evidence, perhaps through testing and nomination.