A Brief History of Gifted Education Timeline created by NAGC Presentation created by Brian Housand, PhD http://brianhousand.com

1. A History of Gifted Education

2. 1868
William
Torrey
Harris,
superintendent
of
public
schools
for
St.
Louis,
ins;tutes
the
earliest
systema;c
efforts
in
public
schools
to
educate
gi>ed
students.

3.
1869
Francis
Galton’s
seminal
work,
Hereditary
Genius,
is
published
indica;ng
that
intelligence
was
passed
through
successive
genera;ons.
His
biographical
study
of
over
400
Bri;sh
men
throughout
history
leads
him
to
conclude
through
sta;s;cal
methods
that
intelligence
was
derived
from
heredity
and
natural
selec;on.

4. 1901
Worster,
MassachuseHs
opened
the
first
special
school
for
gi>ed
children.

5.
1905
French
researchers,
Binet
and
Simon,
develop
a
series
of
tests
(Binet-­‐Simon)
to
iden;fy
children
of
inferior
intelligence
for
the
purpose
of
separa;ng
them
from
normally
func;oning
children
for
placement
in
special
classrooms.
Their
no;on
of
mental
age
revolu;onizes
the
science
of
psychological
tes;ng
by
capturing
intelligence
in
a
single
numerical
outcome.

6. 1908
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.

7. 1916
Lewis
Terman,
the
“father”
of
the
gi>ed
educa;on
movement,
publishes
the
Stanford-­‐Binet,
forever
changing
intelligence
tes;ng
and
the
face
of
American
educa;on

8. 1917
The
United
States’
entry
into
World
War
I
necessitates
the
mobiliza;on
of
a
large
scale
army.
The
Army
Alpha
and
Beta
were
created
and
administered
to
over
one
million
recruits,
further
legi;ma;zing
intelligence
tes;ng
in
both
academia
and
with
the
general
public.

9. 1918
Lulu
Stedman
establishes
an
“opportunity
room”
for
gi>ed
students
within
the
University
Training
School
at
the
Southern
Branch
of
the
University
of
California.

10. 1921
Lewis
Terman
begins
what
has
remained
the
longest
running
longitudinal
study
of
gi>ed
children
with
an
original
sample
of
1,500
gi>ed
children.

11. 1922
Leta
S.
Hollingworth
begins
the
Special
Opportunity
Class
at
P.
S.
165
in
New
York
City
for
gi>ed
students.
This
class
would
yield
nearly
forty
research
ar;cles,
a
textbook,
and
blueprints
for
Hollingworth’s
work
at
P.
S.
500,
the
Speyer
School.

12. 1925
Lewis
Terman
publishes
Gene.c
Studies
of
Genius,
concluding
that
gi>ed
students
were:
(a)
qualita;vely
different
in
school,
(b)
slightly
beHer
physically
and
emo;onally
in
comparison
to
normal
students,
(c)
superior
in
academic
subjects
in
comparison
to
the
average
students,
(d)
emo;onally
stable,
(e)
most
successful
when
educa;on
and
family
values
were
held
in
high
regard
by
the
family,
and
(f)
infinitely
variable
in
combina;on
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.

13. 1926
Leta
Hollingworth
publishes
Gi3ed
Child:
Their
Nature
and
Nurture,
what
is
considered
to
be
the
first
textbook
on
gi>ed
educa;on.

14. 1936
Hollingworth
establishes
P.
S.
500,
the
Speyer
School,
for
gi>ed
children
ages
7-­‐9.

15. 1944
G.I
Bill
of
Rights
making
a
college
educa;on
available
to
veterans
from
World
War
II
who
would
otherwise
not
have
had
the
opportunity
to
pursue
higher
educa;on.

16. 1950
J.
P.
Guilford
gives
the
key
note
address
at
the
annual
APA
conven;on,
challenging
an
examina;on
of
intelligence
as
a
mul;dimensional
construct.

17. 1950
Na;onal
Science
Founda;on
Act
provides
federal
support
for
research
and
educa;on
in
mathema;cs,
physical
sciences,
and
engineering.

18. 1954
The
Na.onal
Associa.on
of
Gi3ed
Children
is
founded
under
the
leadership
of
Ann
Isaacs.

19. 1954
Brown
vs.
The
Board
of
Educa;on
ends
“separate
but
equal
educa;on.”

20. 1957
The
Soviet
Union
launches
Sputnik,
sparking
the
United
States
to
reexamine
its
human
capital
and
quality
of
American
schooling
par;cularly
in
mathema;cs
and
science.
As
a
result,
substan;al
amounts
of
money
pour
into
iden;fying
the
brightest
and
talented
students
who
would
best
profit
from
advanced
math,
science,
and
technology
programming.

21. 1958
The
Na;onal
Defense
Educa;on
Act
passes.
This
is
the
first
large-­‐scale
effort
by
the
federal
government
in
gi>ed
educa;on.

22. 1964
The
Civil
Rights
Act
passes,
emphasizing
equal
opportuni;es
including
those
in
educa;on.

23.
1974
The
Office
of
the
Gi>ed
and
Talented
housed
within
the
U.
S
Office
of
Educa;on
is
given
official
status.

24. 1972
The
Marland
Report-­‐The
first
formal
defini;on
is
issued
encouraging
schools
to
define
gi>edness
broadly,
along
with
academic
and
intellectual
talent
the
defini;on
includes
leadership
ability,
visual
and
performing
arts,
crea;ve
or
produc;ve
thinking,
and
psychomotor
ability.
[Note:
psychomotor
ability
is
excluded
from
subsequent
revisions
of
the
federal
defini.on.]

25. 1975
Public
Law
94-­‐142
The
Educa;on
for
all
Handicapped
Children
Act.
This
Act
establishes
a
federal
mandate
to
serve
children
with
special
educa;on
needs,
but
does
not
include
children
with
gi>s
and
talents.

26. 1983
A
Na;on
at
Risk
reports
scores
of
America’s
brightest
students
and
their
failure
to
compete
with
interna;onal
counterparts.
The
report
includes
policies
and
prac;ces
in
gi>ed
educa;on,
raising
academic
standards,
and
promo;ng
appropriate
curriculum
for
gi>ed
learners.

27. 1988
Congress
passes
the
Jacob
Javits
Gi>ed
and
Talented
Students
Educa;on
Act
as
part
of
the
Reauthoriza;on
of
the
Elementary
and
Secondary
Educa;on
Act.

28. 1990
Na;onal
Research
Centers
on
the
Gi>ed
and
Talented
are
established
at
the
University
of
Connec;cut,
University
of
Virginia,
Yale
University,
and
the
University
of
Georgia.

29. 1993
Na;onal
Excellence:
The
Case
for
Developing
America's
Talent
issued
by
the
United
States
Department
of
Educa;on
outlining
how
America
neglects
its
most
talented
youth.
The
report
also
makes
a
number
of
recommenda;ons
influencing
the
last
decade
of
research
in
the
field
of
gi>ed
educa;on.
http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/toc.html

30. 1998
NAGC
publishes
Pre-­‐K-­‐Grade
12
Gi3ed
Program
Standards
to
provide
guidance
in
seven
key
areas
for
programs
serving
gi>ed
and
talented
students.
http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=546&terms=program+standards

31. 2002
The
No
Child
Le>
Behind
Act
(NCLB)
is
passed
as
the
reauthoriza;on
of
the
Elementary
and
Secondary
Educa;on
Act.
The
Javits
program
is
included
in
NCLB,
and
expanded
to
offer
compe;;ve
statewide
grants.
The
defini;on
of
gi>ed
and
talented
students
is
modified
again.
Students,
children,
or
youth
who
give
evidence
of
high
achievement
capability
in
areas
such
as
intellectual,
crea.ve,
ar.s.c,
or
leadership
capacity,
or
in
specific
academic
fields,
and
who
need
services
and
ac.vi.es
not
ordinarily
provided
by
the
school
in
order
to
fully
develop
those
capabili.es.

32. 2004
A
Na;on
Deceived:
How
Schools
Hold
Back
America’s
Brightest
Students,
a
na;onal
research-­‐based
report
on
accelera;on
strategies
for
advanced
learners
is
published
by
the
Belin-­‐Blank
Center
at
the
University
of
Iowa.