Ccmh535 R2 Giftedness Exercise Week6

He randomly assigned 132 first-graders to keyboard, singing or drama lessons, or no lessons at all. He figured that at the end of the school year, both music and drama students would show bumps in IQ scores, just because of "that experience of getting them out of the house." But something unexpected happened: The IQ scores of the music students increased more than those of the other groups. (Lipman 2).

With this in mind, how then is it fair to give a student in Compton the same test that is given to a student in Beverly Hills? The answer is obvious, it is not fair. However, if a test on life in the ghetto and Ebonics was given to children in Beverly Hills, it is safe to assume nearly all the children would fail. This example illustrates that by changing the culture for which the test is written the previously gifted kids fall to the ranks of retards while the ghetto kids advance to the state of genius. To better evaluate the intelligence potential of any student from any background, the I.Q. tests given should cover a broader range of topics, so that a musical genius is not mistakenly placed in a class for the mentally challenged.

One of the difficulties in identifying the needs of low-income students is the profound cultural barriers which exist that prevent their strengths and deficits from being identified. Children from low-income homes frequently have poorer vocabularies and a weaker basis of the type of knowledge that is frequently considered 'intelligence' on most forms of assessment. A low-income child's IQ may be high, even though he lacks a framework of accepted middle-class knowledge. "In January 2003, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on the seeming overrepresentation of minorities in special education and underrepresentation of those students in gifted education. The NRC reported that, nationwide, 7.47 percent of all white students and 9.9 percent of Asian students are placed in gifted programs. Meanwhile, 3.04 percent of African-American students, 3.57 percent of Hispanic students, and 4.86 percent of American Indian students are classified as gifted" (GT-minority identification, 2003, ERIC Clearinghouse). The discrepancy, the NAS believed, could not be solely explained by talent alone but was at least partially rooted in the methods of identifying students labeled as gifted. Biases in standardized and other tests identifying student strengths, combined with prejudices, however unintentional, amongst educators and administrators lead to under-identification of the gifted

Middle school is a period of transition for adolescents. Students are no longer the children were once were in elementary school; they are beginning to mature into the adults they will need to become. Gifted learners at the middle-school level face the same developmental and tasks tasks and challenges that their peers do. Yet, gifted learners also possess traits that are different from their peers, which often make them misunderstood or ignored. The need for teachers to identify these students and differentiate instruction in a way that addresses the needs of the gifted students in the classroom is becoming more crucial than ever.

Flora also spoke of the life lessons and skills that being involved in a strong music program has taught her, many of which have been studied and proven (Flora). Flora reported an increase in her self-esteem and a sense of belonging after becoming a part of her school’s music program (Flora). Studies have indeed shown that the arts give children something in which to take pride, which in turn boosts self-esteem and self-confidence (Lock).

It is difficult to develop a valid musical aptitude test because most of the time, the measures of the aptitude are misunderstood and demands that are unrealistic, made on them. Validity should be seen as construct validity. The problem sources are in two groups. The first group uses composite validity criteria. This forms the assumption that they are not dimensional. The second one uses subject groups. The groups do not represent the distribution of the construct in whole. In order to maximize the ecological validity, composite measures must be used as the criteria for validity.

But the problem of this admission system is that it can’t recognize those kids who have real talent; the kids who are picked are those who have parents that can afford the prep test program. With this system, it’s possible that many students who have real talent might be missed. If this admission system can’t help us finding those talents, then there is no reason we maintain it. What we should do is exactly the opposite; we should abandon it and set up a new system which can really help us recognizing gifted

Schools with music programs have a higher estimated graduation rate estimated at 90.2% and a higher attendance rate around 93.9% (11 Facts about Music Education 7). In comparison, schools without music programs; however, average a72.9% graduation and an 84.9% attendance (11 Facts about Music Education 7). Additionally, students who study art are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance than those who do not (11 Facts about Arts in Education 2). Despite the benefits of having a music and art program, they are often the first things to go when a school starts budget cuts. Due to, schools today focusing on four main core values: Math, Science, English, and History. Consequently, by focusing on these four main core values schools are crushing the creativity of students. Ken Robinson successfully argues this viewpoint in his TED Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” By enthralling the audience with humorous rhetorical questions, creating connections with the audience through logical and relatable examples, and by keeping a fairly concerned tone throughout his speech to convey the urgency of the issue at hand Robinson effectively and subtlety attacks the modern world’s education system while at the same time informing his audience how schools are squandering the creativity of their students

In Joanne Lipman’s “A Musical Fix for U.S. Schools”, she describes the benefits music can bring to a student’s IQ that allows them to perform superior in school. Music forces a person to think differently than how they usually may in other classes. This allows for new thinking strategies to form, improving the cognitive side of the mind. This positive difference is shown when a canadian study was done with music training where the results showed an increase in IQ in the group of people children studied (Lipman). With that study, the favorable results of music is clear for children. An IQ measures the intelligence of people, which is related to the cognitive abilities of the mind, and therefore the person. People may think that music may

In a few cases, musical talent is easily recognized when a musician, possibly a young beginner or dedicated artist with years of training, is able to send shivers up your spine through his or her musical performance. However, the process of identifying musical talent does not readily conform to the typical gifted and talented identification practices already in place in most school districts. It does not fit comfortably into a calculable measurement such as an IQ or achievement test score. The debate as to what it means to be musically talented has been going on for centuries. With new research and findings about the musical mind, the conversation continues today.

In light of such positive data, it is tempting to conclude that music must be a consequential variable in elevating student achievement. However, these findings potentially tell us more about our students than about the effects of music. (Demoresi and Morrison, 2000, p. 37)

Criteria 2: This criteria cannot be answered because we are not given a definition of how they identify the students. The only thing that is stated is that the assessments are not adequate for identification in all of their programs up to the fifth grade. One of the ways that the school district could do this and follow this criteria is to state whether or not they are advanced in engineering to be able to complete in the 3rd grade the bridge program. They also could base their participation on Renzulli’s Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness model.

They observed six schools in two counties and discovered many differences between arts involved students and non-arts involved students. “Discussions with administrators and arts teachers in Florida high schools cited examples of students who not only remained in school because of their interests in the arts, but who also improved academically in other classes”, says the study, and also mentioned how these students stayed in school and graduated, achieved scholarships, and even “became so skilled that their artworks were being sold commercially and to private sources” (Role of Fine and Performing Arts 10-11). It is obvious that the enthusiasm in students was high and that their determination to succeed as an artist, whether it be a musician, dancer, or actor, had become a motivating force in their lives. A key statistic that FSU found was that 83% of the students that they interviewed said that they chose to stay in high school rather than drop out because of their involvement in fine and performing arts. Tyleah Hawkins, of Howard University, found in a separate study that “students who take four years of arts or music classes in high school score an average of 91 points better on SAT exams than students who only took a half year or less (1070 average SAT score in students in arts

Pupils who exhibit gifted characteristics along with another disability are referred to as ‘twice-exceptional students’ (Morrison, 2001; Nielsen 2002). This term is used in the article that I have chosen to review, which analyzes the responses and perceptions through interview, of one particular individual (Andrew) who was identified as being gifted and talented (G/T) and who had emotional and behavioral disabilities (EBD). What the researchers aimed to accomplish through this analysis was a clearer understanding of Andrew’s community and school experiences, as they stated that there was a lack of empirical data focusing upon pupils who displayed such behaviors.

The significant contribution of musical instruction among children between the ages of 12 and 14-years-old is critical, because it can be used to improve learning in academic settings. Dege, Wehrum, Stark & Schwarzer argue that academic achievement varies with the personality of each child, due to their difference in orientations to music. The noteworthy association between musical