Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: A Call for Equity in Gifted Education - Paperback

by Dina Brulles (Author), Kim Lansdowne (Author), Jack Naglieri (Author)

An accessible guide to identifying gifted students and creating equity and inclusion within gifted programs.

The Naglieri tests (the NNAT series) have long been a standard in the field of ability testing. Amid the calls for equity and inclusion within gifted education, the new Naglieri General Ability Tests aim to meet that need. This companion, Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests, offers educators administering the tests or who have students taking the tests a guide to the why, how, and what now.

Split into three parts, Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests covers:

• why there is a need for these new ability tests for gifted identification
• how these new tests and test data are used most effectively to identify gifted students from all racial, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds
• what educators can do now to create equity and inclusion within gifted programs and services.

Written by well-known gifted education experts Dina M. Brulles, Ph.D., Kimberly Lansdowne, Ph.D., and Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests provides administrators, gifted coordinators, and teachers with clear direction for answering the call for equity and inclusion in education.

Author Biography

Dina Brulles, Ph.D., is the gifted program coordinator at Arizona State University and the former director of gifted education at Paradise Valley Unified School District in Arizona. She recently served as NAGC's Governance Secretary and also as the board's school district representative.

Dina received the prestigious 2022 NAGC Ann F. Isaacs Founder's Memorial Award. She was also the recipient of the 2019 and the 2020 NAGC Book of the Year Award (for practitioners), NAGC's inaugural 2014 Gifted Coordinator Award, and the Professional Development Network Award in 2013.

Dina has actively supported and served as a mentor for the Javits Frasier Scholarship Program since 2010. Dr. Brulles' work emphasizes and encourages equitable and inclusive identification practices and programming in gifted education. By sharing her interests and experiences, Dr. Brulles supports others in their efforts to develop all our gifted learners' potential.

Kimberly Lansdowne, Ph.D., is the founding executive director of the Herberger Young Scholars Academy, a secondary school for highly gifted students at Arizona State University (ASU).

She received her doctorate at ASU and has a lengthy career in teaching and administration at universities, colleges, public and private schools. At ASU, she develops and teaches undergraduate and graduate level education classes on curriculum, instruction, testing, measurement, and special needs. Previously, Dr. Lansdowne was the director of gifted services at Scottsdale School District and now consults nationally with school districts on effective teaching strategies for gifted and talented students.

She lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., has held faculty appointments at Northern Arizona University, The Ohio State University, and George Mason University.

He is currently a research professor at the University of Virginia, senior research scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children, and emeritus professor of psychology at George Mason University.

Dr. Naglieri has developed many tests used by psychologists and educators such as the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test, the Cognitive Assessment System, Autism Spectrum Rating Scale, Devereux Student Strength Assessment, and Comprehensive Executive Function Inventory.

He is widely known for his efforts to increase participation of traditionally underrepresented students in gifted education and remains an active presenter on related topics. Dr. Naglieri is committed to equitable and valid assessment though high-quality tests and rating scales and a continual effort to help professionals make positive differences in the lives of the students they evaluate.

He lives near Washington, D.C.