Refocusing the Lens: Using Observation to Assess and Identify Gifted Learners

Abstract

Reconceptualized definitions of intellectual competence and giftedness have been proposed as have student-centered methods of assessment that inform classroom practice. Yet methods used to assess and identify the gifted have remained constant through the years and these methods reflect neither new definitions or current assessment understandings. A process that embodies new ideas, the DISCOVER assessment process, is described and presented as a method to use to document students' problem-solving abilities in several of Gardner's intelligences.