History Of Gifted Education

  • Reformation of public Education

    Reformation of public Education
    Horace Mann began to pioneer a reformation in the public school system. After this reformation, it became normal for students to attend school from Kindergarten through 12th grade. This is important because before this reformation, gifted students may have quit school before it was ever discovered that they were exceptional.
  • Article published "Mental Tests and Measurements"

    Article published "Mental Tests and Measurements"
    James McKeen Cattell published an article called "Mental Tests and Measurements". Cattell had studied under Sir Francis Galton and subscribed to the philosophy of using sensory tests for mental abilities. The ideas of Cattell and Galton did not prove to be correct, but they led to the development of better ideas about testing.
  • First True Intelligence Test Created

    First True Intelligence Test Created
    Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon created the first true intelligence test. Binet and Simon were French psychologists. Their test was able to measure both vocabulary knowledge and thinking skills. The previous sensory tests had been unable to do this.
  • Binet-Simon Intelligence Test Revised

    Binet-Simon Intelligence Test Revised
    Lewis M. Terman, who was a Stanford University psychologist, revised the Binet-Simon test. He not only improved the test, but adapted it to make it more applicable to different age groups.
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    Search for Giftedness

    Lewis Terman searched for boys and girls with IQs of at least 135. He published a five volume set called "Genetic Studies of Genius". This jump-started the movement for gifted education; however, Terman was mainly looking for gifted children to study them to see if beliefs about them were true.
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    Letta Stetter Hollingsworth pioneers gifted education

    Hollingsworth was across the country from Lewis Terman; yet she was also searching for gifted children for her research. The difference was that she wanted to find ways to improve their education.
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    Federal Government Legislation

    The Federal Government began to pass legislation that made educators think about students who fell outside of the "norm".
  • A Nation At Risk

    A Nation At Risk
    A study by the Federal Government focused on the missed opportunities for gifted students.
  • National Excellence: A Case For Developing America's Talent

    National Excellence: A Case For Developing America's Talent
    A report by the Federal Government took a look at opportunities that were being missed to service gifted students.