IQ-Only Standard for Gifted Programs Sparks Debate in Ga.

By Lynn Schnaiberg

For years, some educators in Georgia have been working to change the way that schools select students for gifted-education programs. But now, just when state officials seemed poised to take definite action, the effort has become bogged down by confusion over how giftedness should be measured and what a new state law demands.

Currently, Georgia students are deemed eligible for gifted programs solely on the basis of their scores on IQ tests--a strategy that only a handful of states still rely on, said Peter D. Rosenstein, the executive director of the Washington-based National Association for Gifted Children. Critics of the IQ-only standard say it eliminates students who are intellectually gifted but don't test well on the measure, as well as those who may be gifted in specific areas.

And federal civil-rights investigators say the standard may violate federal anti-discrimination law because the state's reliance on IQ scores seems to contribute to a racial skewing of the...