-
The Beginning of Gifted Education in America
William Torey Harris institutes the earliest effort to educate gifted children in the public school system. [http://us-education.net/987-harris-william-torrey-18351909.html] -
Hereditary Genius
Francis Galton publishes Hereditary Genius. His premise is that intelligence is derived from heredity and from natural selection. -
The First School For Gifted Children opens in Worcester, Mass.
It was officially recognized that gifted and talented children needed services outside of the regular classroom. -
The Binet-Simon Intelligence Test is developed.
Although their work would lead to tests used to identify gifted children, that was not their intention. Binet and Simon were trying to identify below average children with in order to separate them from their higher functioning classmates. [http://childpsych.umwblogs.org/intelligence-testing-2/binet-simon-scale] -
Henry Goddard brings the Binet-Simon test to America
Henry H. Goddard, a prominent psychologist and eugenicist, brings the Binet-Simon test to America. Goddard marketed the test to Americans and intelligence testing began to spread across America. [http://www.apa.org/monitor/2009/01/assessment.aspx] -
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test is developed.
While at Stanford University, Lewis Terman revises the Binet-Simon Intelligence Test and changes the face of American Education.
[http://www.intelltheory.com/terman.shtml] -
Lewis Terman Studies Gifted Children
Lewis Terman conducted what is still the longest running longitudinal study of gifted children consisting of 1,500 children. -
The Gifted Child Nature vs. Nurture
Leta Hollingsworth writes what is considered to be the first textbook on gifted education in America - The Gifted Child, Nature vs. Nurture. She is also credited with starting the first "special opportunity class" for gifted students at PS 165 in New York City.
[http://www.gifteddevelopment.com/highly-and-profoundly-gifted/leta-hollingworth-birthmother-pg] -
Ann Isaacs starts the National Association of Gifted Children
-
The Office of Gifted and Talented Becomes Official
The Office of Gifted and Talented, housed with in the US Office of Education receives official status. Now there will be oversight and funding for gifted education. -
A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform
Ronald Reagan's Commission of Excellence in Education warns that the nations best and brightest students are failing to compete with their international counterparts. The commission recommends policies and practices for dealing with gifted children.
[https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/risk.html] -
Gifted Standards are Published
The National Association for Gifted Children published standards for gifted programs servicing pre-k through 12th grade. -
No Child Left Behind Act
NCLB increased federal involvement in education holding schools responsible for the academic progress of their lowest achieving students. The act focused mainly on minority, low income, special ed, and ELL students. The act did nothing to promote or fund gifted education and caused many states to dramatically cut funding to their programs.
[http://www.davidsongifted.org/Search-Database/entry/A10361]
