Professeur titulaire de Psychologie (retraité, UQAM)
Full professor of Psychology (retired, U of Quebec at Montreal)
TRACKING TALENTS
DESCRIPTION
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Tracking Talents is a pair of nomination forms that aim to gather information from multiple sources about multiple abilities. The multiple sources are the students themselves, their peers in the same classroom or grade, and their teacher(s). This is why Tracking Talents is described as Peer, Teacher, and Self-Nomination Forms (or PTSNFs). The multiple abilities include not only the usual cognitive abilities and academic talents, but social and physical abilities, as well as technological and artistic talents.
Tracking Talents is the end-product of a five-year research project, named "Projet PAIRS" (French for peers). It began in the early 1990s and produced a number of scientific publications. It eventually became a commercial product offered by Prufrock Press around the turn of the century. When its sales did not meet expected levels, the publisher eventually took it off its catalog, giving back the publishing rights to the author. Judging that some educators and researchers might be interested in using it for research or practical purposes—as was the case with the OGE—, I decided to make the materials freely available to the gifted education community. You will find below the necessary information to use the Tracking Talents nomination forms.
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USERS’ MATERIALS
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Gagné, F. (1999). Tracking Talents User’s Manual. Brossard, QC: Author.
Its five chapters describe the instrument, explain how to administer it, then compute and interpret the nomination scores. The final chapter summarizes the research behind Tracking Talents. Unfortunately, there is no French version.
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TT nomination forms (English and French)
Gagné, F. (1999). Tracking Talents: Forms A & B. Brossard, QC: Author.
Gagné, F. (1992). Sur la piste des talents : Versions A et B. Brossard, QC : Auteur.
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A FEW RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS
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The psychometrics of peer nominations
Gagné, F. (1989). Peer nominations as a psychometric instrument: Many questions asked but few answered. Gifted Child Quarterly, 33, 53-58.
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About friendships in the classroom
Gagné, F. (1992, November). Friendships and giftedness. Unpublished presentation at the 39th annual conference of the National Association for Gifted Children, Los Angeles.
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About sex/gender differences in gifts and talents
Gagné, F. (1993). Sex differences in the aptitudes and talents of children, as judged by peers and teachers. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 69-77.