The relationship between placement and social skills in gifted students

This study investigated the relationship between social emotional competency (SEC) and academic placement in gifted students. Data were collected on children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old (n=206) in three academic placement types - self-contained, cluster and content replacement. Social emotional skills were assessed by teacher report using the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment. Regardless of placements, the gifted students in this study were rated as having higher social emotional competencies than the standardization group of the DESSA. Gifted students in the cluster and self-contained settings demonstrated significantly higher scores in the area of Self-Awareness, which measures students' capacity to understand their personal strengths and weaknesses. When analyzed by gender, no significant differences were discovered between males; however, girls demonstrated significantly higher scores in the areas of Optimism and Self-Awareness in the self-contained and cluster settings. The results of the study have import for the development of gifted programs, especially for gifted girls.