Identifying Artistically Talented Students in Four Rural Communities in the United States

Abstract

Project ARTS was designed as a research and development project to identify high-ability, artistically talented third graders from four different ethnic backgrounds in seven rural schools and to implement differentiated arts programs for them. Locally designed identification measures, developed by teachers and community members, were found to be appropriate by teachers and staff if several different measures were used. In research about identification of students for Project ARTS, scores on the Torrance Tests of Creativity, Clark's Drawing Abilities Test, and state achievement tests were found to be correlated. Except at one site, gender was not found to be a significant variable on these tests. It was recommended that local measures, the CDAT, and achievement tests be used to identify artistically talented students in rural communities with populations similar to those in Project ARTS.