History of Giftedness

1868

Jan 1, 1868

Superintendent of public schools in St. Louis, Missouri, William Torrey Harris, implements the earliest system to educate gifted students (in America)

1911

Jan 1, 1911

Binet and Simon (French researchers) developed a test to evaluate intelligence in children

1950s

Jan 1, 1950

Gifted education classes began to develop in response to the USSR launching Sputnik and the US wanting to have a competitive edge.

1954

Jan 1, 1954

Ann Isaacs leads the establishment of the National Association of Gifted Children.

1970s

Jan 1, 1970

Marland commission revises definition of giftedness to be more broad; giftedness was expanded to include not only academic and intellectual skill, but also leadership or creative skills.

1991

Jan 1, 1991

Howard Gardner theorized that there are several types of intelligences; labels the variety of intelligences with the term Multiple Intelligences.

2002

Jan 1, 2002

No Child Left Behind Act changes the definition of giftedness in schools 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.”