This timeline shows some events and people that have impacted education, and gifted education in particular. It is a work in progress--not all important events and people are included, yet...;xNLx;The colored bands reflect the categories, which you can see listed on the top left of the page. If you click on any entry, you can find out more about it.;xNLx;The years are across the bottom, and you can advance by using the arrows on your keyboard.;xNLx;The little wrench in the bottom on the right allows you to search for certain items by title or category or to view only certain categories of items at a time. ;xNLx;The little 2D in the bottom left of the screen allows you to view the timeline in 2 dimensions.
In ancient Greece, Plato recognized the importance of education for democracy and established a free school for intellectually gifted young men and women
China's Tang Dynasty educated child prodigies at the imperial court to prepare them for a life of civil service
Children of Samurai were well-educated and received training in a number of areas, including history, classics, and martial arts. Lower class children received training in obedience and loyalty instead of the traditional school subjects learned by the upper class students
The Renaissance marked the rebirth of all forms of arts and education. Gifted and talented artists, architects, poets, authors, singers, and many more received both private and public patronage, allowing them the freedom to explore and grow their talents.
The first gifted school to select the most able youngsters within the Ottoman Empire and to educate them to become the members of the ruling class.
Concern grew for equity and conformity. Private tutoring was considered the birthright of male children of aristocracy and wealthy families. Thomas Jefferson recommended using public funds for education of the brightest males.
William Torrey Harris, superintendent of public schools for St. Louis, institutes the earliest systematic efforts in public schools to educate gifted students: The St. Louis Plan: flexible promotion in the St. Louis schools.
Wrote Hereditary Genius and is credited with the earliest significant research and writing devoted to intelligence
Some form of tracking for instruction was begun in schools in the late 1800s in Elizabeth, NJ, Cambridge, MA, and Santa Barbara, CA (Click on the map to see places marked)
beginning of special progress classes; junior high could complete three years work in two years
First special schools for gifted in the U.S.
French researchers, Binet and Simon, develop a series of tests (Binet-Simon) to identify children of inferior intelligence for the purpose of separating them from normally functioning children for placement in special classrooms. Their notion of mental age revolutionizes the science of psychological testing by capturing intelligence in a single numerical outcome.
1905 Paris, France: Alfred Binet and his colleague, Theodore Simon, created the first lasting intelligence test to predict which youngsters would succeed in the primary grades
Henry Goddard studies in France with Binet and is introduced to the Binet-Simon measurement scales. Subsequently, he ferries the test back to American in order to translate it into English and disseminate it to American educators and psychologists.
Development of the Army Alpha and Army Beta intelligence tests to test large numbers of recruits for WWI
E.Paul Torrance, often called the Father of Creativity, did much to infuse creativity into classrooms. His major accomplishments were: The development and publication of his tests of creative thinking The creation of the Future Problem Solving Program The creation of the Incubation Curriculum Model And, numerous research studies
Adapted Binet's test for students in the U.S. and published it as the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale (he was at Stanford University). It was later called the Stanford-Binet.
Lulu Stedman establishes an “opportunity room” for gifted students within the University Training School at the Southern Branch of the University of California.
These principles established that high schools should create separate courses of study for college preparatory and vocational interests
schools selecting by mental ability tests were created in Louisville, KY; New York City; Urbana, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Berkley, California
Dean Worcester called the 1920s the "age of the common man" or "the age of mediocrity" in relation to gifted education. It was a time where teachers and educators focused on students all being at the same level, accomplishing the same standard, but were not concerned with pushing students above the standard, or to their highest potential.
Lewis Terman begins what has remained the longest running longitudinal study of gifted children with an original sample of 1,500 gifted children. The results from the study have been published in five books, a monograph, and dozens of articles. Lewis Terman publishes Genetic Studies of Genius, concluding that gifted students were: (a) qualitatively different in school, (b) slightly better physically and emotionally in comparison to normal students, (c) superior in academic subjects in comparison to the average students, (d) emotionally stable, (e) most successful when education and family values were held in high regard by the family, and (f) infinitely variable in combination with the number of traits exhibited by those in the study. This is the first volume in a five-volume study spanning nearly 40 years.
experimental classes for gifted children at P. S. 165 and studies of the highly gifted
Leta Hollingworth publishes Gifted Children: Their Nature and Nurture, which is considered to be the first textbook on gifted education. The full book is available at the link.
Leta Hollingworth opened Public School 500 in New York City, known as the Speyer School, in 1936. This school was established for gifted children between the ages of seven and nine. The school was culturally diverse in an attempt to represent the population of the area.
Fraser was the founder of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development in the College of Education at UGA. She played a huge role in the way that children are assessed to receive gifted services by creating the Fraiser Talent Assessment Profile.
G.I Bill of Rights making a college education available to veterans from World War II who would otherwise not have had the opportunity to pursue higher education.
George and Annemarie Roeper established the City and Country School of Bloomfield Hills. They later transformed this school into one of the first schools for gifted children.
Importance of researching and nurturing creativity
Brown vs. the Board of Education ends “separate but equal education.”
The National Association of Gifted Children is founded under the leadership of Ann Isaacs.
The College Board came up with different tests that allowed advanced high school students to earn college credit before entering college.
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth. In a single stroke, this 184-pound object brought into question the United States' pre-eminence in science, industry, and military power.
The National Defense Education Act passes. This is the first large-scale effort in gifted education by the federal government. In response to the perceived threat of Sputnik, this was passed to provide funding for emphasis in science and math.
The Civil Rights Act passes, emphasizing equal opportunities including those ineducation.
The International Baccalaureate foundation is started. This allowed gifted students to take college credit courses in high school. This is because an international curriculum outline was created.
The Marland Report-The first formal definition is issued encouraging schools to define giftedness broadly, along with academic and intellectual talent the definition includes leadership ability, visual and performing arts, creative or productive thinking, and psychomotor ability. [Note: psychomotor ability is excluded from subsequent revisions of the federal definition.]
The Office of the Gifted and Talented housed within the U.S. Office of Education is given official status.
Public Law 94-142 The Education for all Handicapped Children Act establishes a federal mandate to serve children with special education needs, but does not include children with gifts and talents.
Howard Gardner proposed this theory in his book "Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences". He suggests eight different intelligences: musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic.
James R. Delisle, Ph.D. has contributed to the field of gifted education from the 1980s until present. He has authored over 200 works including books and articles in the Gifted Quarterly. He has made both practical and theoretical contributions in the field. Dr. Delisle continues to advocate for gifted students by sharing their artwork, journal reflections, and experiences during his presentations to educators and parents of gifted students.
A Nation at Risk reports scores of America’s brightest students and their failure to compete with international counterparts. The report includes policies and practices in gifted education, raising academic standards, and promoting appropriate curriculum for gifted learners.
The University of Georgia College of Education created a service, research, and instructional center concerned with the identification and development of creative potential and with gifted and future studies named in honor of E. Paul Torrance.
Congress passes the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act as part of the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
National Excellence : The Case for Developing America's Talent, issued by the U.S. Department of Education, outlines how America neglects its most talented youth. The report also makes a number of recommendations influencing the last decade of research in the field of gifted education. You can download a pdf of the full text at the link.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is passed as the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The Javits program is included in NCLB, and expanded to offer competitive statewide grants. The definition of gifted and talented students is modified again: "Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities."
A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students, a national research-based report on acceleration strategies for advanced learners is published by the Belin-Blank Center at the University of Iowa. Download the full report at the link.
2006 NAGC publishes national gifted education standards for teacher preparation programs and knowledge and skill standards in gifted education for all teachers. (The standards were revised in 2013.)
The standards were revised in 2010 as Pre-K-Grade 12 Gifted Programming Standards. Read about the standards and download them at the link:
The revised standards report on Knowledge and Skill Standards in Gifted Education for All Teachers, as well as standards for teachers of the gifted and advanced standards. You can read/download all standards from the link.
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