Is article 13 of “ educational directive for gifted and talented students in universities” a valid rule?

Abstract

Background: Iranian talented university students who take semester averages below 17 for at most two times can't use facilities provided for Gifted and Talented students in Universities through Ministry of Health (MOH) directive regarding gifted and talented student.Purpose: To examine the validity of article 13 of this directive.Methods: Renzulli's three ring concept of giftedness was chosen as giftedness definition. Obtaining Grade Point Averages equal or more than 15 was regarded as "above average ability". A questionnaire, based on “Scales for Rating the Behavioural Characteristics of Superior Students” was designed for "creativity" and "task commitment" evaluation. Score 3.00 or more in "creativity" and "task commitment" evaluation was regarded to be sufficient to keep the student in the program. Students who were admitted in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences during 1997-1999 and recognized as gifted initially by MOH were included in our study.Results: 147 students were included in this study, of which 50% were female. From the study group, 20 student reports, done by 39 students were evaluated. Of these 39 students, 31 would have been left out based on article. Out of 31 students, 18 met all three criteria of Renzulli's definition.Conclusion: There may be gifted student who are denied the opportunity of using the facilities provided for gifted student based on enforcement of article 13 of IGCT directive. Further study to devise better measure foridentification of gifted student seems to be warranted.