The Emotional Damage of Skipping a Year in Super-gifted Students
Gifted students or students with High Intellectual Abilities (HIA) learn astonishingly; their high IQ allows them to absorb information like a sponge. As a teacher, I have verified their admirable cognitive abilities. However, schools confront several challenges in providing the care these students require. Students with high intellectual abilities learn faster than their peers at the same educational level (Dávila, 2016). Therefore, they may feel frustrated, bored, misunderstood, or different when interacting or relating to their classmates and teachers. In this article, I share a protocol for detecting and caring for students with high intellectual abilities. This protocol considers the student’s school and family environment, the guidance of psychopedagogy professionals, specific tests for detecting high skills, the student’s cognitive, emotional, and social profile, and the support of specialized external institutions.
According to Steven I. Pfeiffer (2016) of Florida State University in the USA, the field of study of gifted people is at least 125 years old. For a long time, high IQs (intellectual quotients) have been linked with people with high abilities. This correlation has been very useful as a starting point for understanding the evolution of this area of knowledge. However, today, researchers suggest that it is essential to consider factors related to the HIA individual’s environment, such as education, family, opportunities, motivation, concerns, and interests, because, throughout their lives, these elements determine the type of young people they will become.
School and family environment of gifted students
In education, gifted students face unique challenges in the classroom. Many teachers do not know how best to support them in their school education. Students who learn faster must experience academic challenges through more difficult activities and tasks to motivate them to continue learning. In my experience as a teacher, HIA students demand a lot from themselves and have difficulty managing their frustration when they make a mistake or fail. Remember that these students are developing and growing regardless of their IQ. Hence, they must also learn to manage their emotions as they mature. Therefore, it is essential that teachers work as a team with psycho-pedagogical professionals to provide the guidance and support that these students need.
For parents or guardians of gifted students, the experience generates high levels of anxiety because they do not know exactly how to support them. Often, their children are victims of bullying or rejection by their peers, which generates high stress and concern among students and their families.
My experience teaching HIA students
I have taught HIA and regular students the “Spanish Language and Literature” subject at the Lidia Sevilla León Private Educational Unit in Ibarra, Imbabura Province, Republic of Ecuador. I have a 13-year-old HIA student in the second year of Baccalaureate (high school) whose classmates are 16-year-olds. This student’s classification as HIA was endorsed by the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, and they benefit from the school’s flexible curriculum. The student’s high intellectual ability is in logical-mathematical thinking, so their curriculum prioritizes subjects such as Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, which are their most enjoyable subjects.
However, in my Spanish Language and Literature class, the student needed critical reading activities and literary research projects with elevated difficulty in the topics, activities, and tasks. Using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) pedagogical approach has been very useful in motivating the learning of my gifted students. As a teacher, I have had to research, design, plan, and try to universalize the curriculum so that the topics interest the students and motivate them to learn more every day. Likewise, communication with their family is crucial for their integral learning process.
Teachers who suspect they have a gifted student should advise them to request support from the institution’s Department of Educational Psychology. It is advisable to evaluate the student’s learning skills and abilities thoroughly, including IQ tests and tests that assess reading comprehension, attention tests, psychometric tests, and tests for managing emotions and tolerance to frustration.
Protocol for detecting and caring for students with High Intellectual Abilities (HIA)
1. Gather evidence
- Objective: To identify signs of high abilities in the student through observations and records.
- Measures to follow:
- Observe the student’s academic and social performance in different subjects and situations.
- Record indicators such as learning speed, creativity, critical thinking, autonomy, curiosity, intense, high-level reasoning, and emotional sensitivity.
- Request a report from the faculty on the student’s performance and behavior in class.
- Apply checklists or scales for detecting high abilities (such as the Renzulli Test or the Castelló and Batlle Scale for identifying Students with High Abilities).
- Review the student’s academic history to identify performance patterns.
2. Talk to parents or guardians
- Objective: To obtain information about the student’s development, interests, and behavior at home.
- Measures to follow:
- Summon parents or guardians to discuss the student’s development and possible needs.
- Inquire about their early development, learning habits, interests, level of autonomy, and possible signs of frustration or boredom at school.
- Explain the process of identifying HIA and clarify questions about the implications.
- Provide guidance on how they can support the student’s development at home.
3. Request support from the school department of educational psychology
- Objective: To conduct a more in-depth evaluation of the student by educational psychology and psychopedagogical specialists.
- Measures to follow:
- Refer the student to the educational psychology department of the institution.
- Apply specific tests for detecting high abilities, such as intelligence tests (WISC-V, Raven, Stanford-Binet) and creativity tests (Torrance).
- Analyze the student profile comprehensively, considering cognitive, emotional, and social factors.
- Prepare a psycho-pedagogical report with results and recommendations.
4. Consider skills assessment
- Objective: Identify specific areas of strength and potential challenges to the student’s learning.
- Measures to follow:
- Assess advanced academic skills to identify the student’s actual level of knowledge and skills.
- Compare student performance to curriculum standards to determine whether enrichment or acceleration is required.
- Consider strategies such as flexible grouping, curriculum compaction, or participation in enrichment programs.
5. Define a school action and support plan for the HIA student
- Objective: To design educational care strategies appropriate to the student’s needs.
- Measures to follow:
- Develop an Individualized Care Plan (ICP) with teachers, educational psychologists, and the family.
- Implement enrichment strategies and curricular differentiation or acceleration if necessary.
- Assign a teacher or tutor to follow up with the student.
- Offer extracurricular activities or research projects to stimulate their potential.
- Periodically evaluate the student’s progress and adjust the plan if necessary.
6. Provide a contact with the Talent Service Center of the country in question
- Objective: To provide students with specialized development opportunities through external institutions.
- Measures to follow:
- Inform the family about the programs available in specialized centers, such as the Center for Attention to Talent (CEDAT) in Mexico or the District Unit for Support to Inclusion (UDAI) in Ecuador.
- Manage the contact and support of the student and family during the admission process.
- Facilitate the articulation between the school and the Center for Attention to coordinate support strategies.
- Maintain communication with the specialized institution to evaluate students’ progress and fortify their development.
Gifted students who skip school years may experience emotional damage.
The Ministry of National Education in Ecuador designed the Instructions for the Educational Attention to Students with Superior Endowments/High Intellectual Abilities in the National Education System. This manual sets out the measures that can be taken to address and strengthen the meaningful learning of HIA students. One measure is skipping a year, i.e., accelerating the school year because the HIA student has already mastered the skills and contents of the subjects taught in their year of study. This measure can be carried out as often as deemed necessary per the criteria of the psycho-pedagogical specialist who follows the diagnosed student.
In Spain, the same measure is applied but with specific limits. The student can only be accelerated once per school level, i.e., they can skip a year in primary education, a year in secondary education, and a year in high school.
In Ecuador, there is no limitation. Students can be accelerated up to more than three times per school level. Thus, eight-year-old students might attend school with twelve-year-old classmates or twelve-year-old students with sixteen-year-old classmates.
In the United States, students may skip years with specified limits. In addition, that country’s ordinary curricular measures include grouping. High-ability students are grouped in the same room according to their level so they can interact and learn from each other.
In Mexico, outstanding students can progress through the curriculum with a faster acceleration model than established in the Mexican National Education System. The acceleration model comprises two types: 1) Early admission to an educational level and 2) Omission of a school grade without changing educational level. Considering the student’s family, school, and social context is essential.
While gifted students can easily learn and master the syllabus because they grasp knowledge faster than the average student, their intelligence and emotional development lag their older classmates. It is a challenge for the teacher. The gifted student, chronologically younger than their classmates, has different interests; they continue to live in their childhood stage, while their classmates, already adolescents, have superior emotional development. Sometimes, this generates ridicule and bullying, which becomes a behavioral management challenge in the school.
Reflection
Skipping a grade (sometimes more than once) can be a source of anxiety, frustration, or sadness for gifted students who are rejected by their chronologically older classmates. Accelerating an individual’s normal vital development can be counterproductive and lead to irreparable psychological damage. One consideration would be to evaluate the actions and models of the countries mentioned in this article because limits to acceleration in educational periods seem ideal.
The task of the teacher and educational institutions is to guide their students inclusively, considering all the diversities that may coexist in a classroom. In my experience, I have had students with HIA, intellectual disability, brain immaturity, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), etc., in the same course. There, the true pedagogue realizes that their task is to teach everyone regardless of their neurodivergence, designing the curriculum to be universal and affordable so that all students acquire the knowledge they need and can learn at their own pace.
About the Author
Pablo Daniel Virgili Benítez ([email protected]) is a teacher of Language and Literature and an Educational Psychology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) expert. His research focuses on the pedagogical relevance of reading comprehension for students’ meaningful learning. His academic articles have been published in the Spanish journal EDUCACIÓN 3.0.
References
Dávila, C., Ruíz, A. (2016). Proposal of Good Practices of Virtual Education in the University Context. Journal of Distance Education RED, 49(12), 1-21.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE EDUCATIONAL CARE OF STUDENTS WITH SUPERIOR ENDOWMENT/HIGH INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES IN THE NATIONAL EDUCATION SYSTEM (Ministry of Education of Ecuador, 2020-2021)
Rosero Changuán, M. (2021). High abilities, an educational need that teachers have not yet identified. Mundo Diners Magazine, Ecuador. Retrieved from:
Reche Morales, G. (2019). High intellectual abilities: conceptualization, identification, evaluation and educational response. Portal region of Murcia, Spain. Retrieved from:
Yepez Gómezjurado, E.F (2016). DETECTION AND CARE OF GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS IN ECUADOR, AN ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE. Multidisciplinary Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journal PENTACIENCIAS. Vol. 5, No. 2. (Special Edition 2023) p. 666-678.
UNIR, The University on the Internet. (2016, February 4). Interview with Steven I. Pfeiffer on the Talent and Role of Parents | UNIR OPENCLASS [Video]. Retrieved from
Editing
Edited by Rubí Román ([email protected]) – Editor of the Edu bits articles and producer of The Observatory webinars- “Learning that inspires” – Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education at Tec de Monterrey.
Translation
Daniel Wetta
This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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