Evaluation of Intelligence Tests Used in the BİLSEM Identification Process According to the Views of Psychological Counselors and BİLSEM Teachers

Abstract

The first step in the education of gifted students is to identify them. Identifying gifted students is of great importance in terms of providing them suitable education. The earlier the talents of a child are realized, the more he can be kept away from the factors that dampen his capacity and the more chances he finds to improve his talents. In order to educate the gifted students, hidden treasures of their countries, they must be identified. In our country, there is no identification method commonly agreed on. The present selection activities are carried out without receiving the opinions of educators, families and students. This study aims to clarify the identification process and tools of gifted students by defining positive and negative sides of identification tools and it also aims to determine the factors which help to carry out the process more healthily. This study was conducted through case study, one of the qualitative methods. 18 Art and Science Center (ASC) teachers and 15 psychological counselors participated in the study. A fixed interview form developed by researchers was used as a data collection tool. Data was analyzed through descriptive and content analysis. According to views of psychological counselors it was found out that (i) no intelligence test is used in the identification process of pre-school children and implementations differ from city to city, (ii) group identifications must be done at the same time and centrically to ensure objectiveness and justice, (iii) WISC-R test is hard to implement and takes a lot of time, (iv) since it becomes easier to access the test and its reliability decreased, it needs revision (v) they have positive views for the implementation of WNV instead of WISC-R, (vi) they criticize the lack of quality of the verbal section of WNV, (vii) the implementation process of WNV undergoes healthily, (viii) despite its lack of a verbal section, WNV is found quite sufficient in determining the giftedness. According to the views of ASC teachers it was found out that (i) the acceptance age for ASCs must be started as early as pre-school period, (ii) there is no difference between the students who are formerly selected by basic capabilities test and who are selected by group identification process in terms of mental performance and orientation process, (iii) there are some problems in the identification methods used by ASCs to select students, (iv) ASC teachers are not informed about WNV test, (v) though WISC-R is highly sufficient in identifying giftedness, it is preferable to implement a more up-to-date test.