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Gifted education

Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. Youths are usually identified as gifted by placing highly on certain standardized tests. Many different educational authorities define giftedness differently - even if two authorities use the same IQ test to define giftedness, they may disagree on what gifted means - one may take top 2% of the population, another would take top 5% of the population. The theory of multiple intelligence would produce a different definition to the traditional IQ definition. Advocates of gifted education argue that gifted and/or talented youth are so perceptually and intellectually above the mean, it is appropriate to pace their lessons more aggressively, track them into honors, Advanced Placement, or International Baccalaureate courses, or otherwise provide educational enrichment.

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April 28, 2026

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