Identification of gifted students by teachers: reliability and validity of the Cognitive Abilities and Learning Scale

Abstract

Teachers play a relevant role in screening and identifying gifted and talented students. However, many times teacher´s assessments may be biased by personal beliefs about giftedness. In these cases, the quality of screening and identification can be enhanced through the use of measurement devices that present good psychometric properties of validity and reliability. This study presents the examination of the precision and factor validity of the Cognitive Abilities and Learning Scale (CALS: Escala de Habilidades Cognitivas e de Aprendizagem – EHC/A; Almeida, Olivira &Melo, 2000), with a sample of 262 students from fourth and fifth grades. Results suggest the existence of only one factor, not confirming the theoretical model of three factors (intellectual ability, motivation and creativity) that supports the scale. Principal components analysis for three factors shows some problems with item specification for ability and creativity. These problems contrast with high reliability coefficients obtained when arranging items according to the dimension they would theoretically be linked to. These findings suggest the need to include new items with more specificity in terms of the cognitive dimensions of giftedness.