IDENTIFICATION, RATINGS AND READING ACHIEVEMENT OF GIFTED KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among the three study variables--method of identification of possibly gifted kindergarten children, teacher rating scales items, and reading achievement at the beginning of first grade.;The sample consisted of 124 kindergarten children identified as possibly gifted by a screening instrument and 95 others subsequently nominated by their teachers as possibly gifted, a total of 219 children.;Three instruments were used: The Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning (DIAL), four subscales of the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS), and four subtests of the Stanford Early School Achievement Test (SESAT), Level II. The former two were administered in kindergarten and the latter at the beginning of first grade. Precocity as superior reading achievement was the criterion for academic giftedness.;Chi square analyses were used with method of identification groups (DIAL Identified vs. Teacher Nominated), and ordered categories of teacher ratings and of reading stanines. Phi coefficient was used as a measure of relationship.;Major study findings of differences in and relationships to reading achievement involved only the Word Reading, on which more DIAL Identified than Teacher Nominated children achieved 7th stanine, and Sentence Reading, on which the two groups did not differ.;The vast majority of differences between reading achievement stanine groups were those in which a greater proportion of 9th stanine groups had high item ratings on the teacher rating scale.;In separate analyses, modest to moderate positive relationships between reading achievement and teacher ratings on certain Learning and Motivation characteristics were found only in the Teacher Nominated group. In only the DIAL Identified group, there were modest relationships between reading achievement and teacher rating on certain Creativity characteristics.;The findings lend support for including teacher judgment as part of the screening process. Given the limitation that DIAL Identification precluded Teacher Nomination, teacher nomination may be useful in identifying possible giftedness that is related to certain Learning, Motivational and Creativity characteristics. This suggests the value of using multiple criteria screening procedures, despite the fact that the criteria for giftedness was limited to reading achievement.