ABSTRACT
The study of teachers’ conceptions about giftedness is a critical issue in the field of gifted education. This idea is based on the assumption that teachers play a fundamental role in the identification of students for gifted services, as they are in a unique position to recognize students’ competence and potential in the classroom beyond the information provided by achievement and performance tests. Teachers are generally supportive of different approaches to gifted education. Specifically, teachers tend to believe that acceleration is a particularly appropriate strategy to address the academic needs of gifted students. Nevertheless, educators seem to be more favorable toward certain methods of identification, such as standardized tests, teacher nominations, portfolios, performance assessments, and observations, in detriment to others. A survey questionnaire was developed by the researchers to examine teachers’ conceptions of giftedness in Kazakhstan in a multi-stage process.
