CISS training

What is giftedness?
There is no singular, generally accepted theory of
giftedness. Instead, there are many concepts, all of
which attest to an increasingly complex understanding
of extraordinary human potential, that is, giftedness as
a multifaceted phenomenon that includes both cognitive
and affective qualities and is influenced by both social
and psychological contexts. (Krisel 75)
There are 10 characteristics used when identifying
students as gifted:
Motivation, Interests, Communication Skills, Problem-Solving
Ability, Memory, Inquiry, Insight, Reasoning, Creativity and Humor
Check out your handout to see specifics that go with each
characteristics

Gifted vs. Bright

While many of our students may be bright, they
are not all gifted.
Each group has several strips of paper that
identify either a bright student or a gifted student.
Take a minute or two with your groups and decide
which category your students falls under.
Once you have decided, take the strip underneath
the column you believe it belongs to

Identifying Gifted: CISS

"Since the concept of giftedness must look beyond the
schoolhouse door, identification procedures used to
identify gifted students must surely include measures
other than IQ and academic achievement" (76).
Students characteristics must
presented as follows:

Superior
Consistent
Not always positive
Students who qualify may not be
currently in TAG
(Consider atypical students)

What does that even mean?!

Superior: Think about our bright vs. gifted list
Consistent:
Titus may have shown signs of excellent or superior
reasoning skills during a few selective activities or
assignments, however, the quality is inconsistent &
therefore is not considered a characteristic that
would be checked during the CISS process
Students who qualify may not be currently in
TAG: Consider all students. Just because a
students has not been identified as gifted YET,
doesnt mean they arent gifted. Dont forget about
your ESOL and IEP (Possibly twice-exceptional)!

What does that even mean?!

Not always positive (Consider atypical students):
"When teachers assume that the only gifted child in their classes are
those who reveal their abilities in ways that reflect the teachers'
implicit definitions of giftedness, atypical gifted students from
underserved populations are denied access to the kinds of services
they need to fully develop their talents" (Krisel 87).
-Think about your students who give you a headache! Are they
constantly asking questions, even if they dont completely align with
your lesson? INQUIRY! Are they always reading comics during your
class? Lunch? The hallway? INTEREST! Do they sing songs/raps all the
time with perfect memory of lyrics? MEMORY!

Lets try to identify some

characteristics
As the cartoons appear on the screen, consider
which CISS characteristics might be displayed in
the cartoon
Hint: use your handout to help you remember the
characteristics and their varied components!

Inquiry

Motivation or ProblemSolving

Motivation or Interest

Creativity

Humor

Interest

Memory

Reasoning

Lets wrap it up
There are 10 characteristics used when identifying
students as gifted. Students must have 5 of the
characteristics checked in order to be considered for
testing
Students must exhibit these characteristics at a superior
level and consistently
Make sure you consider students who are not currently in
TAG
Dont overlook your behavior issue kids! They may be
exhibiting these characteristics in unconventional ways!