...about their abilities, practice raking the standardized test they will eventually rake for college admittance, obtain information about educational opportunities, and become eligible for rigorous summer and weekend education programs with similarly gifted peers. Very little information is available from the perspectives of students and parents regarding what it is like to take these tests as a 7th or 8th grader. We surveyed 909 students and their parents about their reasons for participating in one of the regional talent searches, the ways in which they prepared for the test, and their feelings while raking the test. Results suggest that students participated in the talent search primarily to gain experience raking the r est and to learn about their abilities. Students and parents repotted that raking the test was a positive experience for the student. Parents reported being proud that their children were invited to take the test and felt that participation was an honor.

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The talent search was developed by Julian Stanley at the Johns Hopkins University Study of Mathematically Precious Youth (SMPY; Stanley, 1977-78) as a way to identify differences in math and verbal reasoning ability among gifted seventh and eighth graders who had already demonstrated high ability on standardized grade-level tests. Annually, over 150,000 students take the ACT or SAT through a talent search (Wendler, Ninneman, & Feignenbaum, 2000) sponsored by one of the four regional talent search programs: the Center for Talent Development (CTD) at Northwestern University, the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) at Johns Hopkins University, the Rocky Mountain Talent Search (RMTS) at the University of Denver, and the Talent Identification Program (TIP) at Duke University; In addition to the regional talent searches, some students participate in local talent searches such as the one sponsored by the Belin & Blank Center at the University of Iowa.

Talent search is a two-step procedure to identify highly gifted students. In the first step, students who have scored above a certain percentile (e.g., 95th for TIP and 97th for CTY) on a grade-level standardized test are notified that they are eligible to participate in the talent search. In the second step, these students register with the talent search organization to take an out-of-level test, that is, a test designed for older students. Students participating in a regional talent search typically take either the SAT or ACT.

When administered out of level, the SAT and ACT college entrance examinations identify individual differences within the gifted and talented population (Benbow & Wolins, 1996). Students who had scores in the top 95th to 97th percentile obtain scores on the out-of-level tests that result in a normal distribution of scores with a similar range to that obtained by high school seniors (Benbow & Wolins, 1996; Olszewski-Kubilius, 1998a; Olszewski-Kubilius, Kulieke, Willis, & Krasney, 1989). This wider range of scores helps to identify students with exceptional performance from those with high performance, allowing for better identification of students with the highest levels of potential (Van Tassel-Baska, 1986). Further, performance on the out-of-level test is often attributed to differences in students' reasoning ability; rather than to differences in achievement since students who participate in talent searches have typically not received instruction in the advanced topics that are measured by the ACT and SAT (A ssouline & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 1997).

The results of the out-of-level test provide information about students' specific reasoning abilities, predict success in courses with accelerated content and learning pace, and predict achievement in high school and college (Olszewski-Kubilius, 1998a; Olszewski-Kubilius et al., 1989). Differences in SAT-M scores of 13-year-old students have been related to academic and vocational indicators and level of accomplishment 10 years later (Benbow, 1992; Van Tassel-Baska, 1983). Similarly, students responding to a survey conducted 7 years after participating in the Academic Talent Search (ATS) at California State University reported high academic achievement, plans for achieving advanced degrees, and notable career objectives (Terry, 1993). In general, talent search participants who obtain scores on the SAT or ACT similar to those of college-bound seniors exhibit high achievement and high educational aspirations in high school and college (Barnett & Durden, 1993; Benbow & Arjmand, 1990; Benbow & Stanley, 1983; Burt on, 1988; Olszewski-Kubilius & Grant, 1996)

In addition to a broad research base to support the utility of the talent search model in identifying gifted students, the approach has also been shown to facilitate appropriate instructional interventions for students. Students who achieve scores above predetermined cut-off scores on the SAT have been shown to perform better in fast-paced, teacher-led, summer literarure enrichment courses than comparable students with lower scores (Olszewski-Kubilius et al., 1989). Similarly, studies have shown that students with scores greater than 600 on the SAT-M successfully completed accelerated math programs: two high school math classes in 50 hours of instruction (Bartkovich & Mezynski, 1981) and a 4-year high school math curriculum in 2 years (Benbow, Perkins, & Stanley, 1983). Similar results of successful completion of highly accelerated coursework by students identified through talent searches have been reported in the area of science (Lynch, 1992). The diagnostic information that results from participating in a t alent search can positively impact programming and curricular planning by supporting acceleration and enrichment, including precollege programming for high school students (Cohn, 1991; Van Tassel-Baska, 1986).

Reasons for Participating in a Talent Search

The talent search organizations serve students by identifying academic talent, providing academically gifted students with information about their abilities, and providing opportunities to participate in programs with other highly academically gifted children (Brody, 1998). Identifying academic talents, especially those that are significantly more developed than those of same-aged peers, can result in educational opportunities and influence course and vocational choices (Assouline & Lupkowski-Shoplik, 1997; Olszewski-Kubilius, 1998 b). Students who participate in a talent search receive the report that is issued to all ACT and SAT test takers, as well as feedback from the talent search program regarding their performance in comparison to the other students who participated in that specific talent search. Talent search participants also receive information about contests, competitions, and scholarships, and they may be invited to participate in award ceremonies (Brody; Olszewski-Kubilius).

However, despite the fact that so many students participate in talent searches, little empirical data are available describing why students and parents choose to take part in them. Each of the stakeholders in the process--parents and students--may have different reasons for supporting student participation in a talent search program. In fact, only one study (Wilder & Casserly, 1988) has investigated the specific reasons that middle school students and parents give for taking the SAT as part of a talent search. Parents and students reported that students participated in the talent search "to see what it was like," as practice for taking the SAT, because their school encouraged it, and to qualify for special programs. Parents of talent search participants noted that the benefits of participating in a talent search included learning about their child's abilities,...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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