Children who are gifted are those who demonstrate an advanced ability or potential in one or more specific areas when compared to others of the same age.
The United States Department of Education under the direction of Public Law 91-30, Section 806, established the following definition for purposes of federal education programs.
Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who, by virtue of outstanding abilities, are capable of high performance. These are children who require differential educational programs and/or services beyond those provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contributions to self and the society.
Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas, singly or in combination:
General intellectual ability
Specific academic aptitude
Creative or productive thinking
Leadership ability
Visual and performing arts
Psychomotor ability
The state of Missouri defines gifted children as "those children who exhibit precocious development of mental capacity and learning potential as determined by competent professional evaluation to the extent that continued educational growth and stimulation could be best served by an academic environment beyond that offered through a standard grade level curriculum."
We define giftedness as a combination of factors that product special behavior. Those factors include superior ability and achievement, task commitment, and creativity. Superior ability and achievement are indicated by test data. Task commitment involves the students' willingness and ability to carry through on responsibilities and projects. In other words, to stay with a job until it is complete. Creativity involves planning, and often producing, something unique and unusual.