Identification of Creatively Gifted Students

Teachers may want to know how to identify creatively gifted students at school. The Center for Creative Learning has in-depth information on this subject. (Click on “Free Resources—CPS” under Quick Links on the right side of the homepage.) You will find

• Assessing Creativity: A Guide for Educators. This 121 page PDF file was originally published by the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, at the University of Connecticut. It is technical to read, but contains lots of good material.
• Database of more than 70 instruments used to assess creativity.

Before considering the assessment of student creativity, one should ask a few basic questions.

• What is the purpose of the identification?
• If a child is identified, will that child be treated differently?
• What areas of creativity are you assessing (i.e., scientific, art, music, school project development, general problem solving, oration)?
• Is your assumption that children are born creative or that only certain young people have that potential?

When we talk about someone being generally gifted, it is best to get more specific and state the area of high ability. The same is true for describing a person who is creatively gifted. We simply can’t expect any individual to be creative in everything. So, we must ask ourselves, what information do we expect to gain from these formal assessments?

As students advance in age and abilities, it is probably most beneficial to have experts in specific fields determine creativity, as only they will have enough knowledge compare these students with the general population and could give a more accurate determination than a written assessment would provide.

Pairing youngsters with others who are creative in similar ways is beneficial as these students will appreciate one another and feed off of each others' ideas. (Aside: Remember that it is possible to be creative in ways that are not acceptable, in which case you wouldn’t want to pair kids.)

One must also remember that it is good for all young people to frequently be offered opportunities to be creative both at home and at school. Creativity is not a static attribute and may be developed over time.