Assessment of Intellectual and Creative Potential: Challenges for Identifying Brazilian Gifted Children

Identifying gifted children for placement in special educational programs is challenging for Brazilian teachers, as they are unprepared or insecure to make nominations. Therefore, this study aims to verify if the Battery of Intelligence and Creativity (BAICI) could be used to complement the teachers’ nominations to identify gifted children. The sample consisted of 328 Brazilian children (141 F, 187 M), aged from 8 to 12 years (M = 10.17; Sd = 1.37), attending private (32%) and public schools (68%). The total number of children previously nominated by their teachers as gifted was 164 (53 F, 111 M). The ANCOVA results indicated that BAICI scores could discriminate gifted from regular children regarding intelligence and creativity, except for memory and figural creativity. The intelligence tests significantly correlated with creativity scores (r = .361 to r = .381). Therefore, it is possible to use this battery to substitute for or complement teachers’ nominations of gifted children.