Ability Grouping
Grouping students by performance or ability. Groups can be formed and reformed to meet varied instructional purposes

Above-Level Testing
Giving a test that was developed and normed for students who are several years older. It helps to differentiate the level and depth of knowledge for those students who score at the highest levels on grade-level testing device. Also called out-of -level testing or beyond-level testing

Acceleration
Faster presentation of content to more closely matches the speed at which gifted students learn. This can occur within the students' class in one or more subject areas (subject-matter acceleration) OR the student may need to work in one or more subject areas with a higher year group OR the student may need to move forward a whole year, sometimes two (grade-skipping). Please note that "grade-skipping" is only one of many ways to accelerate learning BUT does not equal to "acceleration"

Advocacy
Urging support for someone, something or a specific course of action. Parents of gifted children can be powerful advocates provided that they understand the system of education and know what is possible

Affective Education
The focus on person/social awareness and adjustment, and includes the study of values, attitudes, and self

Aptitude Tests
Used to predict performance in specific areas such as verbal comprehension, mathematical ability, or nonverbal reasoning ability. Distinguishable from intelligence tests in that aptitude tests have more specific content (i.e. they measure only one or a few abilities rather than a wide variety of abilities

Assessment
A term generally used to refer to various methods of measuring students’ development. It helps students reflect their own learning progress including mastery and application of knowledge. It also provides information for identifying areas for improvements in learning and adjustments to teaching process

Asynchronous Development
Differing rates for physical, cognitive and emotional development. The gifted student may have a chronological age of 8 years, a mental age of 12 years and an emotional age of 5 years

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and adulthood. Symptoms include difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and hyperactivity (over-activity). To be diagnosed with the disorder, a child must have symptoms for 6 or more months and to a degree that is greater than other children of the same age

Auditory Retention Problems
Refers to difficulties in maintaining/rehearsing information in the auditory/phonological loop of working memory

Autistic Spectrum Disorder
The autism spectrum, also called autism spectrum disorders (ASD) or autism spectrum conditions (ASC), is a spectrum of psychological conditions characterized by widespread abnormalities of social interactions and communication, as well as severely restricted interests and highly repetitive behavior. The three main forms of ASD are autism, Asperger syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), sometimes called atypical autism

Bibliotherapy
It is regarded as an important strategy to help gifted learners to cope with social and emotional issues in life and develop their mental and emotional health. Through the use of thought-provoking questions about the characters in the books like biographies, gifted learners could use their advanced cognitive abilities to help themselves understand how other people think when faced with similar situations and then apply their problem solving skills accordingly

Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. Symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe. They are different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through from time to time. Bipolar disorder symptoms can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. But bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives

Cluster Grouping
A grouping assignment for gifted students in the regular heterogeneous classroom.  Typically, five or six gifted students with similar needs, abilities, or interests are “clustered” in the same classroom, which allows the teacher to more efficiently differentiate assignments for a group of advanced learners rather than just one or two students

Cognitive Ability
Cognition is the scientific term for ‘the process of thought’; cognitive abilities are thus the capabilities that these processes potentiate

Collaborative Learning
A teaching strategy whereby students are expected to share expertise and effort in order to create a common project/product. Students in the collaborative group often have similar levels of ability. Some educators use the terms collaborative and cooperative learning synonymously

Cooperative learning
The practice of assigning a common task and/or project to a group of students with varying ability levels often reflecting the full range of student achievement and aptitude. The purpose of such learning is to prepare students to live in a democratic society; to help them understand group membership and group dynamics; and to allow them to practice both leadership and follower skills.

Coping Strategies
The specific efforts, both behavioral and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize stressful events

Convergent Thinking
The kind of thinking that brings material from a variety of sources to bear on a problem, in such a way as to produce the "correct" answer.

Core Curriculum
The common knowledge and skills to be learned by all students of a particular grade as determined and specified by a national or local government authority

Creative Problem Solving
A model for solving problems through a step-by-step process which includes fact finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding, and implementation. Brainstorming and other strategies for the production of creative ideas are an integral part of the process

Creative Thinking
The ability to think and approach a problem, in any subject, in an original and/or flexible way

Critical Thinking
Using higher order thinking skills, eg analysis or evaluation, to gain understanding of complex problems or ideas

Curriculum Compacting
The process of identifying learning objectives, pretesting students for prior mastery of these objectives, and eliminating needless teaching or practice if mastery can be documented

Deficit Based View
A view or description of students that emphasizes their deficits, or weaknesses, rather than their strengths

Diagnostic Test
An assessment prompted by a perceived problem in a student’s learning to determine the current level of functioning. Test results are then used to prescribe a solution

Differentiation
The right of pupils to be taught in a way specifically tailored to their individual learning needs. The process of differentiation, consequently, is the adjustment of the teaching process to meet the differing learning needs of the pupils.  It involves teachers having sufficient appropriate knowledge of the pupils, as well as the ability to plan and deliver suitable lessons effectively, so as to help all pupils individually to maximise their learning, whatever their individual situation

Divergent Thinking
The kind of thinking skill in broadly creative elaboration of ideas prompted by a stimulus, which results in novel, unique, or creative solutions, ideas or answers.

DSM-IV
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, is a manual published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) that includes all currently recognized mental health disorders

Dyscalculia
This is a specific learning disability involving innate difficulty in learning or comprehending mathematics, also known as Calculexia

Dysgraphia
The term for a deficiency in the ability to write, regardless of the ability to read, in no way due to intellectual impairment, also known as Agraphia

Dyspraxia
A neurological disorder of motor coordination usually apparent in childhood that manifests as difficulty in thinking out, planning out, and executing planned movements or tasks. The term dyspraxia derives from the Greek word praxis, meaning "movement process."

Dyslexia
A learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with reading and spelling. It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as a non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction

Early Entry
When a student is entered for an exam before the usual age of entry. Another form of Acceleration.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ/EI)
The ability, capacity, or skill to identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups

Enrichment
Deeper coverage of content often provided for gifted students (not to be confused with differentiation or acceleration). It involves activities that add or go beyond the existing curriculum.  These activities may occur in the classroom or in a separate setting

Exceptionally gifted
Please see "Levels of giftedness"

Gessel Development Observation (GDO)
The standard procedure used for direct observation of a child’s growth and development. This assessment is conducted by a trained examiner who makes discriminating observations of a child’s behavior and then evaluates these observations by comparison with normative patterns developed for each developmental age

Gifted Education Programmes
Special academic and social opportunities which try to meet the needs of gifted students. (see acceleration, ability grouping, enrichment, independent study, pull-out)

Grade Skipping
A form of acceleration where a student advances from the current grade level to placement at least one year higher. Students who grade skip show educational needs across all content areas that can be more easily met in the higher grade placement

Higher Order thinking
Thinking that focuses on the top levels of Cognitive Domain of the Bloom’s Taxonomy, i.e., analysing, evaluating and the creation of new knowledge

Identification
The selecting and labelling process. Requirements to be identified as gifted may vary between schools and Education Jurisdictions but might include: test results, class observations, parent nomination, peer nomination, diagnostic assessment. There is no universally agreed methodology for identification

Independent study
A self-directed learning strategy where the teacher acts as guide or facilitator and the student plays a more active role in designing and managing his or her own learning

Intelligence
A general concept of cognitive ability to learn and understand concepts. Has been put into a measurable form as intelligence quotient: IQ. Debate revolves around the nature of intelligence as to whether it is an innate quality or something that is developed as a result of interacting with the environment. Many researchers believe that it is a combination of the two

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
A numerical representation of intelligence. IQ is derived from dividing mental age (result from an intelligence test) by the chronological age times 100. For example, someone 10 years old with an intellectual age of 13 would have an IQ of 130

Lateral Thinking
A popular term coined by Edward de Bono in the 1960s for the solution of problems through an indirect and creative approach .

Learning Disability
refer to a group of disorders that affect a broad range of academic and functional skills including the ability to speak, listen, read, write, spell, reason, organize information, and do math. The disorders are neurological in origin and reflect information processing

Levels of Giftedness
According to IQ measurements (WISC-IV) alone, the following labels are generally accepted:
- Bright - 115 and above;
- Gifted - 130 and above;
- Highly gifted - 145 and above;
- Exceptionally gifted - 160 and above;
- Profoundly gifted - 175 and above.
(Remark: The scoring system of other IQ Assessments may differ)

Mentoring
Mentoring is a dynamic shared relationship in which values, attitudes, passions, and traditions are passed from one person to another and internalized. Mentoring is achieved by linking the gifted student with an experienced person from the appropriate field of experience

Meta-cognition
Meta-cognition refers to thinking about thinking, knowing "what we know" and "what we don't know." The basic strategies include connecting new information to former knowledge, selecting thinking strategies deliberately, planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s thinking processes

Motor Skills
Refers to a learned series of physical movements that combine to produce a smooth, efficient action

Multiple Intelligences (MI)
Developed in 1983 by Dr. Howard Gardner, the theory of multiple intelligences suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposed eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults

Nomination
A referral process for consideration of a student for a specialized or categorical programme such as a gifted programme or one of its options

Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD/NVLD)
Refers to a developmental or learning disorder with manifestations in somatosensory and motor functions, visuospatial and visuoconstructive functions, arithmetic, social cognition, and inferential reasoning

Over-excitabilities
A term to describe excessive response to stimuli in five psychic domains (psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional) which may occur singly or in combination.

Perfectionism
The desire to execute tasks flawlessly

Permanence
One of the three explanatory styles. When faced with an unfortunate event, people with this explanatory style think that the causes of the event which are thought to persist forever are always going to recur and its effects across time

Personalisation
One of the three explanatory styles. When faced with an unfortunate event, people with this explanatory style tends to put the blame on themselves (internal) rather than other people or circumstances (external)

Pervasiveness
One of the three explanatory styles. When faced with an unfortunate event, people with this explanatory style think that the causes of the events which are thought to be more global than specific and its effects across many different situations in life

Phenomenological
The science of phenomena as distinct from that of the nature of being.  It is an approach that concentrates on the study of consciousness and the objects of direct experience

Portfolio Assessment
A collection of student products used to measure student progress and achievement. This practice allows students to demonstrate a wide variety of abilities and talents that traditionally are not measured well by standardized tests. Material in a portfolio may be student selected

Precocity
Development significantly earlier than normal. Most gifted children show precocious intelligence, but not all who develop skills early are gifted: they may reach a plateau, allowing those of average ability to catch up

Prodigy
A child (usually under age 10) who is able to perform at an adult level in a specific skill. Unlike savants, prodigies often have high intelligence and are aware of their thinking strategies

Profiling
Accumulating information, both formative (mid-way) and summative (end results), on a student to ensure a correct record is kept of his/her progress. Used to inform appropriate programming for the student

Provisions
These refer to differentiated/enriched curriculum, grade/subject skipping, dual enrolment, mentorship, off-site programmes to cater for the diverse needs of gifted learners.

Psychological  Assessment
A process that involves the integration of information from multiple sources such as intelligence testing, personality profiles, and information about social and emotional maturity and adjustment. This assessment provides information about a student when compared to others of the same age.

Psychopathology
A term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress, or the manifestation of behaviors and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment, such as abnormal, maladaptive behavior or mental activity

Pull-out Programme
A part-time special education Programme that takes like-ability learners out of the mainstream class for specific instruction. Many primary gifted Programme are once a week, pull-out, enrichment activities

Resilience
A protective mechanism that modifies an individual’s response to risk; as the tendency to spring back, rebound, or recoil; and as a child’s ability to succeed contrary to predictions

Savant
A person with exceptional ability in a specific skill, often artistic, mathematical or musical, who seems intuitively to 'know' but is unaware of thinking strategies

Self-concept
Self concept is one’s perception of himself/herself that is formed through life experience, and is both multifaceted and hierarchical

Sensory Integration Disorder (SID)
A neurological disorder that results from the brain's inability to integrate certain information received from the body's five basic sensory systems. These sensory systems are responsible for detecting sights, sounds, smell, tastes, temperatures, pain, and the position and movements of the body. The brain then forms a combined picture of this information in order for the body to make sense of its surroundings and react to them appropriately. The ongoing relationship between behavior and brain functioning is called sensory integration (SI)

Sensory Processing Disorder
Please see ‘Sensory Integration Disorder’

Social competence
Social competence is the broader term used to describe a child's social effectiveness. It defines a child's ability to establish and maintain high quality and mutually satisfying relationships and to avoid negative treatment or victimisation from others through social, emotional, and cognitive skills and behaviours.

Social coping skills
The knowledge of and ability to use a variety of social behaviours that are appropriate to a given interpersonal situation and that are pleasing to others in each situation.

Social emotional learning (SEL)
SEL refers to the set of knowledge, skills and attitudes students ought to have in these broad areas: self awareness, self management, social awareness, positive relationship management and responsible decision making.

Telescoping Curricula
Allowing a student or, preferably, a group of students of the same age - to complete the school's curriculum of several years in less time, thereby allowing more time for enrichment activities and projects that better suit the interests, needs, and readiness levels of gifted students

Tiered Tasks
In a mixed ability classroom, a teacher uses varied levels of activities to ensure that students explore ideas at a level that builds on their prior knowledge and prompts continued growth

Tracking
Fixed groups of students that are rigidly maintained over time. Tracked students have few opportunities to move into higher-level groups despite increased performance. Tracking is not synonymous with grouping (e.g. Ability Grouping, Flexible Grouping) and is not endorsed by most gifted education advocates

Transition
Refers to when students move to the next stage of their education, the most common of which is the move from primary to secondary school, though there may also be other transition points

Twice/Dual/Multiple-Exceptionalities
Describes students that are both gifted and have concurrent learning disabilities, such as dyslexia or dysgraphia

Videotherapy
It refers to a well-documented strategy that helps promote the affective development of gifted learners. Through discussing the characters or the issues related to the videos, the gifted learners, as onlookers, can release their suppressed emotions and think about their own problems and solutions through watching the story of the characters. At the same time, they can understand how other people think when faced with the same situation and then apply their problem solving skills accordingly.

Visual thinker
A visual thinker uses visualisation techniques to think, such as colours, drawings, spatial arrangement, etc.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
A term developed by Russian child psychologist Lev Vygotsky to describe the distance between the actual developmental level of a child as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers