Tracy L. Cross

Last updated
Tracy Cross
Born1958
Tennessee, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Scientific career
Fields Psychology, Gifted Education
Institutions College of William & Mary, Ball State University

Tracy L. Cross (born 1958, in Tennessee, United States) is an educational psychologist and developmental scientist. Since 2009 he has held the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education endowed chair at The College of William & Mary, has been the executive director for William & Mary's Center for Gifted Education (CFGE), and founded the Institute for Research on the Suicide of Gifted Students in 2012. Previously he served as the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Gifted Studies Ball State University (2000–2009), the founder and executive director of both the Center for Gifted Studies and Talent Development (2003–2009), and the Institute for Research on the Psychology of Gifted Students (2007–2009).

Contents

Over forty years, he made important contributions to the field of gifted education, including the development of the school-based conception of giftedness, [1] the information management model, [2] and the continuum of visibility, [2] and was also influential in applying social-cognitive theory and stigma theory to gifted children, [3] and created an ecological model of suicidal behavior of gifted students. [4]

Career

He is the executive director of the Center for Gifted Education, [5] and President Emeriti of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). [6] [7] Cross has published well over 300 articles and book chapters, and 14 books. He has been the editor of five journals in the field of gifted education (Gifted Child Quarterly, Roeper Review, Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, Research Briefs, and Journal for the Education of the Gifted. [8] ), and is the current editor of SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness. [9]

Academic work

Cross's research interests include the social and emotional lives of gifted children, the psychology of gifted children including personality differences, [10] the phenomenology of giftedness, [11] and suicidology concerns of gifted individuals. [12] His long-time collaboration with Dr. Laurence J. Coleman has resulted in many articles and two books. Coleman had adapted Erving Goffman's (1963) social stigma theory to gifted children, providing a rationale for why children may hide their abilities and present alternate identities to their peers. [13] [14] The first edition of Coleman and Cross's book, Being Gifted In School, is a widely cited reference in the field of gifted education. [15] In the chapter on Coping with Giftedness, the authors expanded on the theory first presented in a 1988 article. [2] According to Google Scholar, this article has been cited at least 220 times in the academic literature. [16]

The Stigma Paradigm of Giftedness

Erving Goffman's (1963) social stigma theory describes stigmatizing conditions as those attributes which do not conform to the expectations of society and result in social disapproval. Coleman and Cross identified giftedness as a stigmatizing condition, based on research with gifted students and, in part, on a book that was written and edited by 20 teenage, gifted individuals. [17] Psychologists had already known that adolescence is a time of identity development in which children struggle with the desire to have a unique identity yet still conform to the expectations of society. The fact that children viewed their own giftedness as a stigmatizing condition was a new perspective. Being gifted sets students apart from their peers and this differentness interferes with full social acceptance. Different social expectations that exist in the various social contexts that children must navigate and the value judgements that may be assigned to the child result in the child's use of social coping strategies to manage his or her identity. Unlike other stigmatizing conditions, giftedness is a unique type of differentness because it can lead to praise or ridicule depending on the audience and circumstances. Gifted children learn when it is safe for them to display their giftedness and when they should hide their giftedness to better fit in with a group.

The Information Management Model (IMM)

The Information Management Model (IMM) is a model of the process by which children decide to employ coping strategies to manage their identities. [14] [18] This model is based on Bandura's (1986) social-cognitive framework [19] and Goffman's work on the management of identity. [20] In situations where the child feels different, she or he may decide to manage the information that others know about him or her. Strategies include: disidentification with giftedness, trying to maintain a very low visibility (invisibility), or creating a high-visibility identity (playing a stereotypical role associated with giftedness). This range of strategies is called the Continuum of Visibility. [21]

Achievements and awards

In 2009, Cross received the lifetime achievement award from Mensa in recognition of a lifetime of contributions to the field of intelligence and related subjects. [22] [23] Mensa had previously recognized his work with four Mensa Outstanding Research Awards, one in 2008 [24] and two in 2007. [25] [26] [27]

Cross has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association for the Gifted and NAGC (2007), [28] the Early Leader Award (1996), [29] Early Scholar Award, [30] and Distinguished Scholar Awards from NAGC (1997). [31]

Related Research Articles

Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of an identity group or category, such as racial identity, ethnicity, caste, social class, sexual orientation, gender, religion, age and/or disability status, that is often different from their own. Passing may be used to increase social acceptance in order to cope with stigma by removing stigma from the presented self and could result in other social benefits as well. Thus, passing may serve as a form of self-preservation or self-protection in instances where expressing one's true or prior identity may be dangerous. Passing may require acceptance into a community and may also lead to temporary or permanent leave from another community to which an individual previously belonged. Thus, passing can result in separation from one's original self, family, friends, or previous living experiences. While successful passing may contribute to economic security, safety, and stigma, it may take an emotional toll as a result of denial of one's previous identity and may lead to depression or self-loathing. When an individual deliberately attempts to 'pass' as a member of an identity group, they may actively engage in performance of behaviors they believe to be associated with membership of that group. Passing practices can also include information management where the passer attempts to control or conceal any stigmatizing information that may reveal disparity from their presumed identity.

Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, with various consequences studied in longitudinal studies of giftedness over the last century. There is no generally agreed definition of giftedness for either children or adults, but most school placement decisions and most longitudinal studies over the course of individual lives have followed people with IQs in the top 2.5 percent of the population—that is, IQs above 130. Definitions of giftedness also vary across cultures.

Gifted education is a sort of education used for children who have been identified as gifted and talented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labeling theory</span> Labeling people changes their behavior

Labeling theory posits that self-identity and the behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent in an act, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms. The theory was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and some modified versions of the theory have developed and are still currently popular. Stigma is defined as a powerfully negative label that changes a person's self-concept and social identity.

Julian Cecil Stanley was an American psychologist. He was an advocate of accelerated education for academically gifted children. He founded the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), as well as a related research project, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), whose work has, since 1980, been supplemented by the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent (SET), which provides academic assistance to gifted children. Stanley was also widely known for his classic book, coauthored with Donald Campbell, on the design of educational and psychological research - Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research.

Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, race, socioeconomic class, age, sexual orientation, body image, physical disability, intelligence or lack thereof, and health. Some stigma may be obvious, while others are known as concealable stigmas that must be revealed through disclosure. Stigma can also be against oneself, stemming from negatively viewed personal attributes in a way that can result in a "spoiled identity".

Center for Talent Development (CTD), established in 1982, is a direct service and research center in the field of gifted education and talent development based at Northwestern University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lubinski</span> American psychology professor

David J. Lubinski is an American psychology professor known for his work in applied research, psychometrics, and individual differences. His work has focussed on exceptionally able children: the nature of exceptional ability, the development of people with exceptional ability. He has published widely on the impact of extremely high ability on outputs such as publications, creative writing and art, patents etc. This work disconfirmed the "threshold hypothesis" which suggested that a certain minimum of IQ might be needed, but higher IQ did not translate into greater productivity or creativity. Instead his work shows that higher intelligence leads to higher outcomes with no apparent threshold or dropping off of its impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracking (education)</span> Separation of students by ability

Tracking is separating students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. It may be referred to as streaming or phasing in some schools.

Miraca Una Murdoch Gross (1944-2022) was an Australian author and scholar recognised as an authority on the academic, social and emotional needs of gifted children.

Jonathan Plucker is the Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University, where he works in the School of Education and the Center for Talented Youth. He previously served as Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Education at the University of Connecticut and as a professor of educational psychology and cognitive science at Indiana University. A scholar of creativity, intelligence, and education policy, he is the author of over 200 papers and author or editor of four books: Critical Issues and Practices in Gifted Education with Carolyn Callahan, Essentials of Creativity Assessment with James Kaufman and John Baer, and Intelligence 101 with Amber Esping. Plucker has also led the development of a popular web site on human intelligence. He was the 2007-2008 president of the American Psychological Association's Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

The term twice exceptional, often abbreviated as 2e, entered educators' lexicons in the mid-1990s and refers to gifted students who have some form of learning or developmental disability. These students are considered exceptional both because of their giftedness and because they are disabled or neurodivergent. Ronksley-Pavia (2015) presents a conceptual model of the co-occurrence of disability and giftedness.

Social stigma of obesity is broadly defined as bias or discriminatory behaviors targeted at overweight and obese individuals because of their weight and a high body fat percentage. Such social stigmas can span one's entire life, as long as excess weight is present, starting from a young age and lasting into adulthood. Studies also indicate overweight and obese individuals experience higher levels of stigma compared to other people.

Stigma management is the process of concealing or disclosing aspects of one's identity to minimize social stigma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James L. Moore III</span>

James L. Moore III is the Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer of The Ohio State University. He also serves as executive director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male and is the inaugural College of Education and Human Ecology Distinguished Professor of Urban Education. Moore co-founded the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education. From 2015 to 2017, Moore served as the rotating program director for Broadening Participation in Engineering in the Engineering directorate at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. In 2018 the Dr. James L. Moore III Scholars Program, established by Missy and Bob Weiler, was created to support undergraduate students transferring from Columbus State Community College to Ohio State University.

Disability Studies in Education (DSE) is a field of academic study concerned with education research and practice related to disability. DSE scholars promote an understanding of disability from a social model of disability perspective to "challenge social, medical, and psychological models of disability as they relate to education". A DSE perspective situates disability within social and political context and is concerned with the civil and human rights of students with disabilities, including issues of equity, access, and inclusion in educational settings, curricula, and activities. DSE emerged as a part of the broader, interdisciplinary Disability Studies movement and as a critique of special education. Special education (SPED) in the United States emerged after the signing of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975, marking the shift in educational rights by explicitly making the refusal of educational access illegal. Over the past few decades, special education has grown into an established academic curriculum and program which aims to enhance individuals with disabilities' performance by focusing on changing their given educational environments and the limitations placed on them to foster growth and opportunities. SPED aims to build a caring society that accepts and celebrates different abilities without stigmatizing individuals with disabilities. Through SPED, students should be able to engage in learning and have opportunities for growth through education each and every day. Though SPED has good intentions for creating learning opportunities for students, there is a constant tension between DSE and SPED, primarily around the idea that disability studies in education should be inclusive of students with and without disabilities in order to best foster awareness and understanding of disability studies. SPED lacks the challenge of the social model of disability which is seen in DSE.

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Tracy L. Riley is an academic dean and professor of education at Massey University. She specialises in gifted education.

Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity is a 1963 book by Erving Goffman.

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References

  1. ↑ Cross, Tracy L.; Coleman, Laurence J. (2005). "School-based conception of giftedness". In Robert J. Sternberg and Janet E. Davidson (ed.). Conceptions of giftedness (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Angleterre: Cambridge University Press. pp. 52–63. ISBN   978-0521547307.
  2. 1 2 3 Coleman, L.J.; Cross, T. L. (1988). "Is being gifted a social handicap?". Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 11 (4): 41–56. doi:10.1177/016235328801100406. S2CID   210811281.
  3. ↑ Henshon, Suzanna E. (2007). "High‐ability perspectives from a prominent investigator and gatekeeper:An interview with Tracy L. Cross". Roeper Review. 29 (3): 153–158. doi:10.1080/02783190709554402. ISSN   0278-3193. S2CID   144218393.
  4. ↑ Cross, Tracy L.; Cross, Jennifer Riedl (2021). "An ecological model of suicidal behavior among students with gifts and talents". High Ability Studies. 32 (1): 105–123. doi:10.1080/13598139.2020.1733391. ISSN   1359-8139.
  5. ↑ "About the Director". College of William & Mary. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ "NAGC". NAGC.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Cross elected NAGC President". College of William and Mary. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Journal for the Education of the Gifted". SAGE. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  9. ↑ "SENGJ: Exploring the Psychology of Giftedness". William & Mary Libraries. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
  10. ↑ Cross, T.L.; Cassady, J.C.; Dixon, F; Adams, C. (2008). "The psychology of gifted adolescents as measured by the MMPI-A". Gifted Child Quarterly. 52 (4): 326–339. doi:10.1177/0016986208321810. S2CID   145225648.
  11. ↑ Cross, T.L.; Stewart, R.A.; Coleman, L.J. (2003). "Phenomenology and its implications for gifted studies research: Investigating the Lebenswelt of academically gifted students attending an elementary magnet school". Journal for the Education of the Gifted. 26 (3): 201–220. doi:10.1177/016235320302600304. S2CID   142845947.
  12. ↑ Cross, T.L.; Gust-Brey, K; Ball, B. (2002). "A psychological autopsy of the suicide of an academically gifted student: Researchers' and parents' perspectives". Gifted Child Quarterly. 46 (4): 247–264. doi:10.1177/001698620204600402. S2CID   3992538.
  13. ↑ Coleman, Laurence J. (1985). Schooling the Gifted. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
  14. 1 2 Coleman, L. J. & Cross, T. L. (2001). Being Gifted in School. Prufrock Press.
  15. ↑ "Google Scholar Search" . Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  16. ↑ "Google Scholar Search" . Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  17. ↑ The American Association of Gifted Children (1978). On Being Gifted. Walker and Company.
  18. ↑ Delisle, James R. (2002). Information Management Model in Google Books Version of Being Gifted in School. ISBN   9781882664795.
  19. ↑ Bandura, Albert (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice Hall.
  20. ↑ Goffman, Erving (1986). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity (1st Touchstone ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-0-671-62244-2.
  21. ↑ Cross, Tracy L. (2004). On the social and emotional lives of gifted children :Issues and factors in their psychological development (2nd ed.). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. ISBN   978-1593630027.
  22. ↑ "MENSA Lifetime Achievement Award Description". American Mensa. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Tracy Cross, MENSA Lifetime Achievement Award Winner 2009". American Mensa. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  24. ↑ Cross, T. L.; Cassady, J. C.; Dixon, F. A.; Adams, C. M. (2008). "The Psychology of Gifted Adolescents as Measured by the MMPI-A". Gifted Child Quarterly. 52 (4): 326–339. doi:10.1177/0016986208321810. ISSN   0016-9862. S2CID   145225648.
  25. ↑ "MENSA Award Description". American Mensa. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  26. ↑ "MENSA Awards in Excellence Winners 2007-2008". American Mensa. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  27. ↑ Cross, T. L.; Cassady, J. C.; Miller, K. A. (2006). "Suicide Ideation and Personality Characteristics Among Gifted Adolescents". Gifted Child Quarterly. 50 (4): 295–306. doi:10.1177/001698620605000403. ISSN   0016-9862. S2CID   144171278.
  28. ↑ "Distinguished Service Award Recipients". NAGC.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  29. ↑ "Early Leader Award Recipients". NAGC.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Early Scholar Award Recipients". NAGC.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Distinguished Scholar Award Recipients". NAGC.org. Retrieved May 1, 2012.

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