19).

             This definition takes into account the socio-emotional support that gifted children require when identified as gifted or talented. Harrison (1995) further recognises that this support does not come solely from the parents or the school but the community as well. The Board of Studies guidelines for accelerated progression (1991) distinguishes between giftedness and talent as follows: .

             Gifted students as those with the potential to exhibit superior performance across a range of areas of endeavour, and 'talented" students as those with the potential to exhibit superior performance in one area or another (p. 3).

             How then are certain students singled out from the rest as being gifted and or talented, and placed in acceleration programs? What benchmarks and tests do educators use to classify individuals for 'acceleration" programs?.

             It could be argued that early identification of the gifted or talented child is essential for reasons such as, 'the provision of appropriate learning experiences, determining appropriate educational provisions and also developing understanding and a sense of belonging" (Harrison, 1995, p. 49). Harrison (1995) also claims that children can be classified as gifted or in three areas. The first area is physical development, whereby gifted children reach physical development milestones sooner than their same age peers. Secondly, cognitive development, where combinations of factors such as alertness, advanced play behaviour, exceptional memory, rapid pace of learning, mathematical ability and probing questions are all deemed to be highly developed. The final area is language development, where signs of highly developed language include early speech, interest in the sound of language, the use of complex sentences and extensive vocabulary and finally, creating rhymes and stories. Having discussed characteristics of gifted and talented behaviour it becomes useful to determine how educators select students for acceleration programs.