What we've learned from Talent Search research

The Talent Search programs, based upon the pioneering work of Julian Stanley, have produced a large number of research findings that help to increase our understanding of the characteristics of talented adolescents. One basic finding is that the talent search process has been enormously popular-the four regional talent searches have grown dramatically over the past 15 years. In addition, the talent search process is a valid one; although participation is voluntary and based strictly upon standardized test performance, the students identified are comparable to students identified as talented in a variety of other ways. Additional evidence confirms the rationale for the use of the 97th percentile on an in-grade standardized test as the cut-off for initial selection. In-depth studies of trends in the talent search over the past 15 years reveal that while overall scores on the out-of-level tests (the SAT and the ACT) have remained fairly constant, the large gender gap in performance on math tests has declined markedly, due largely to the improving performance of females. The gap between white and black students has also narrowed, moderately. Nevertheless, the gap between the scores of rural and suburban students is of comparable magnitude, calling into question the validity of some current explanations of group differences (and especially racial differences) in academic performance.