Academic self-concept of gifted students: When the big fish becomes small

Students' self-concept is developed primarily on the basis of a sense of belonging to the group (an assimilation effect) and a comparison of competency with other students (a big-fish-little-pond effect). A total of 840 fourth and fifth graders were divided into five groups: (l) 29 gifted students instructed together in a gifted program, (2) 29 gifted students and (3) 31 non-gifted students instructed together in a gifted program, (4) 30 non-gifted students instructed together, and (5) 721 all other students. The self-concept scores for Group 1, were higher than for Groups 3, 4, and 5, but Group 2 did not score significantly higher than Group 3. The results suggest that gifted students are not homogeneous in respect to academic self-concept. Thus caution in grouping arrangements should be exercised. Copyright © 2004 World Council for Gifted & Talented Children.