This identification system therefore also attempts to activate a much broader range of services and teaching practices that are specifically designed to develop a variety of talents in young people. It is also firmly based on the assumption that there should be congruence between the criteria used in the identification process and the goals and types of services that constitute the day-to-day activities that students will pursue. It takes into consideration the fact that there is no perfect identification system. Grounded in the Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness and the Enrichment Triad Model, and supported by a thorough review of research dealing with the underlying theories, it is flexible enough to accommodate talent potentials in different domains, and it will respect regulations made by district policy makers and state departments of education. It is designed to be economical in terms of the time and paperwork required for identification, to provide access to special services for both traditionally high scoring students and those students whose potential may only be recognized through the use of a more flexible range of identification criteria. This monograph presents an identification system that attempts to address the excellence, equity, and economic issues. In most identification systems that follow the traditional screening-plus-selection approach, the "throw-aways" have invariably been those students who qualified for screening on the basis of non-test criteria.
Controversy about which students should be selected for participation in programs for the gifted and talented has existed since the inception of special services for this segment of the school population.