A Search for Talented Pupils

Abstract

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS designed to meet the needs of a country's welfare are frequently made an issue of national scope by prominent citizens, many of whom are not actively engaged in the field of ed ucation . These people have, in the recent past, publicized the necessity to search our schools for intellectually gifted children for placement into ac ademically advanced classes. A concerted effort was made by the School Board of Haverhill, Massachusetts, to satisfy this need. The plan devised by the school administrative staff was quite unique in that its search began on the ele mentary level to be carried through on the second ary level and further into higher education. Many colleges and universities had made provision for academically advanced classes on a rather small scale. Some secondary schools devised programs for this purpose, as welL Nevertheless, few school systems instituted programs to survey the entire school community, particularly the elementary level. One purpose of this report is to de scribe the pro cedure utilized by the Haverhill school officials in screening probable candidates for placement into academically advanced classes and finally select ing those who would most likely profit by the pro gram. A second purpose of this report is to provide statistical data derived as a result of the screening process. Administrative personnel decided that academ| ically advanced classes be established for seventh and eighth graders. The success of a pilot program composed of one class in one school prompted this decision. The pilot program was begun in Septem ber, 1958. The screening and selecting procedure for the extended program was inaugurated in No vember, 1959, for classes which were begun in September, 1960o The first phase of the screening procedure was simply to select for consideration all sixth and sev enth graders who scored two levels or more above grade norm on a standardized achievement test in reading, and whose arithmetic achievement test scores revealed a pattern of consistent progress . The Metropolitan Achievement tests in reading and in arithmetic were the instruments used extensive ly by this community. The sixth graders were then to be tested individually for placement into the sev enth grade, and the seventh graders tested for placement into the eighth grade. The second phase of the screening procedure was to administer an individual intelligence test to each candidate. The testing instruments selected for this purpose were the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, 1937 Revision, Form L and M, and the Wech sler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). Four certified psychometricians from among the school staff personnel tested 226 candidates who qualified as of the achievement criteria (two levels or more above grade norm on a standardized achievement reading test and a pattern of consistent progress in arithmetic achievement). The third phase was to select for still further evaluation relative to health and teacher recom mendation, all those who scored 130 or more on the Stanford-Binet Scale and slightly less on the WISC School nurses provided information which would most likely preclude a pupil from achieving suc cess in this type of program. Teacher recommen dation consisted of an evaluation relative to the fol lowing: 1) scholastic achievement, 2) desire to learn, 3) attitude toward school, 4) emotional sta bility, 5) gumption quotient, 6) probability of success, and 7) an opinion as to whether a pupil will profit by the program. The fourth phase consisted of parental confer ences. These conferences had two functions: 1) to