Sigma Alpha Iota

18 Summer 2024 • sai-national.org Education Giedness in Music and Beyond R ecently, I was able to present the session, "Giedness in Music: Identifying Students and Meeting eir Needs," at the Kentucky Association of Gied Education annual conference. Having taught for over 30 years, including my time as an Associate Professor of music education working with preservice music teachers, I felt confident in my ability to work with students who are gied in music. However, I wanted to attend this conference to gain a greater understanding of Gied and Talented education in general, in order to help prepare my students for their own careers. Originally passed in 1988 as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Jacob Javits Gied and Talented Students Education Act is the only federal program dedicated to such students. It was reauthorized through the Every Student Succeeds Act. Although Gied and Talented education is recognized at this federal level, local districts do not receive funding from the act and each state addresses giedness a bit differently. In Kentucky, there are five areas recognized as giedness: general intellectual ability, specific academic aptitude, creative or divergent thinking, leadership, and the visual or performing arts. According to the Kentucky Administrative Regulation (KAR) 704 KAR 3:285, Section 1 (34), "Visual or performing arts ability" means possessing either potential or demonstrated ability to perform at an exceptionally high level in the visual or performing arts and demonstrating the potential for outstanding aesthetic production, accomplishment, or creativity in visual art, dance, music, or drama." Gied students are recognized as exceptional in Kentucky and all exceptional students are required to have an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). Since there is usually only one (if any) Gied and Talented Coordinator per district, it is nearly impossible to create an IEP for every gied student, so Kentucky has developed the Gied Students Services Plan (GSSP) instead. Most districts require at least three pieces of evidence for giedness, collected in a portfolio, such as nomination forms, letters of recommendation, music resumes, performance philosophies, student performance samples, auditions, compositional recordings, photographs, videos, and any special considerations. Some districts have rubrics that measure particular aspects of musicality. Despite the laws in Kentucky concerning gied students, it is oen difficult to find an individual school board's policy related to these laws. When assessing musical giedness, some areas hold workshops instead of auditions to observe a student's musical process in real time. ey do this because it takes away the pressure of an audition and allows the assessor to compare the process and the musical product. In most areas, students are considered gied in music if they demonstrate the following: an early interest in music, ability to match pitch or rhythm, ability to play an instrument or read music easily, ability to create or compose music, a deep emotional response to hearing music, asking to listen to music, ability to identify wrong notes or poor intonation, the ability to improvise, and other musical skills. For those assessing students, it is important to remember that music is a broad art form. Students who are gied in bluegrass music or other genres passed down through aural tradition should not be dismissed because of their lack of experience with what is more typically learned in school. Despite what we know about giedness, there are still myths that exist. Many people believe that all children are gied, come from middle classed families, or will challenge themselves without individualized attention from their teacher. Others believe they are always well- behaved, and make straight A's, but suffer from social-emotional problems. ere are also those who believe that students with special needs cannot be gied. In actuality, gied students vary in confidence, introversion/extroversion, rule following, emotional intelligence, social ability, and in many other ways. Gied students can be twice exceptional. For example, they may be gied musically but have dyslexia, making it difficult for them to read music notation. To effectively teach these students, teachers must communicate with each other regularly, especially the gied coordinator and special education teachers. Dr. Julia Roberts, the Executive Director of the Center for Gied Studies at Western Kentucky University (and my favorite presenter at the conference) said, "Every child should learn every day in school." As I reflect back to my own education as a gied student, I remember that this was not always the case. When we do not challenge our gied students, we do them a disservice. ough our schools are filled with stickers, pizza parties, and other rewards for students who behave well, Dr. Roberts recommends celebrating growth in class rather than good behavior. Because gied students oen experience boredom and frustration, they sometimes behave poorly in class. ey also have high rates of suicide and are oen underachievers because they have never had to work hard for success. Others are obsessed with perfectionism and have a fear of failure. Educators must look beyond behaviors and other outside factors and help all students reach their full potential. Two final areas to consider when studying giedness are equity and communication. Students in foster care or those with other disturbances in their lives may not be identified as gied due to moving from school to school. Parents or guardians who work full time or are not aware of services for gied students may not ask for their children to be assessed. All those in education should show support for gied students and share knowledge of opportunities with parents and the community regularly. Dr. Michele Paynter Paise was initiated as a charter member of Eta Tau in 1991. She is an advisor for the Gamma Upsilon Chapter at Morehead State University and is President of the Morehead Alumnae Chapter in Morehead, KY.

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