United States and Gifted Education

The United States has a long history of gifted education. The US department of education uses the Marland definition of gifted children formed in a congressional report in 1972.

This definition gave the government a starting point in the need to identify and establish programs for gifted students.

It wasn’t until the late 1800’s when education laws were first developed and school attendance was mandatory that the issue of gifted students arose.

When Alfred Binet developed a test in France to rank students according to their level, Lewis Terman began using a modified version in 1916 which he called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. This test served to create the theory of mental age.

The world wars had an effect on gifted education. The military wanted to be sure that the right people were in the right positions. They needed intelligent and competent people to serve in the military.

The Space Race in the mid 1950’s also had an impact. The U.S. government recognized the need for gifted and talented people to help with the space program.

The civil rights movement helped to change education laws and allow for more children to have equal access to a good education.

Technology has also helped improve the available resources for these students and the need to continue to encourage them.

There are gifted schools and private schools designed to meet the needs of these children.

Teacher development and training continues to be key in order to challenge gifted students in the regular classroom.

The understanding and commitment to gifted children needs to continue if the potential of these amazing children is to be realized.


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