Talent Spotting list

Please be aware that this tool is not part of the selection and admission process for a talent program or an honors Program. Instead, this screening tool helps identify more students who could possibly be interested in and suited for a talent program, but who might be unaware of the programs that are offered or who might not consider themselves suitable candidates for such programs. As a teacher you play a critical role in making students aware of the programs offered and in encouraging them to apply for an Honors Program.

The Talent Spotting List is best suited for you if:

• your class size is 30 students or less
• you have known all students for at least one period already

Before filling out the Talent Characteristics Spotter List, please make sure that you have all the students in your class in mind. Therefore, please put a name list of the students in your class in front of you or have it displayed on your monitor while filling out the tool.

On the following pages, different characteristics of students are described. Below each characteristic, examples for behaviors are listed that point to these abilities/qualities/characteristics. In the blank lines marked with “obvious talents”, please fill in the names of all students that show this kind of behavior, regardless of whether you think they would like to participate in talent program (an honors program) or not. Please also fill in the blank space behind “hidden talents” with the names of those students where you strongly suspect these characteristics, but have not observed them yet. In case of doubt, naming too many students is much better than omitting a student. 

If you feel that a certain talent aspect from your domain or study track should be considered and is not yet on the list, you can add this at the end of the Talent Spotting List and, like before, fill in the names of students with obvious and hidden talents.

When you are finished with all characteristics, please take a few more minutes to re-read your list and to reflect about whether you have considered all students in your class and have not missed anyone.

For a visual overview of your assessments, please fill in the table from the last section. Copy the names of all students who show or whom you suspect of possessing a certain characteristic into the respective cells. The resulting table shows you a pool of possible candidates for talent programs. Please inform all students on your list (both “obvious” and “hidden” talents) about the respective talent programs and refer them to the relevant contact persons. If you want to forward your completed list to other colleagues in your institution, please keep in mind possible restrictions and data privacy regulations.