Identification, Instruction, and Assessment of Gifted Children: A Construct Validation of a Triarchic Model

Abstract

This article presents a unified model — the triarchic theory of human intelligence — for the identification, instruction, and assessment of the achievement of gifted children. The article opens with a discussion of the need for a unified model of identification, instruction, and assessment. The triarchic model is then offered as one potential model. Next the article discusses how the triarchic model could be implemented in a variety of subject matter areas. Finally, it describes a construct-validation of the model in the context of one subject matter area, college-level psychology taught to high-school students. The results show promise for the model's use in gifted education. Students performed better when their triarchic ability pattern was matched, rather than mismatched, to instruction and assessment.