The Kingore Observation Inventory

1. The Kingore Observation Inventory Berti Kingore, Ph. D. Resource: Recognizing Gifted Potential Planned Experiences with the KOI C. Jones 2009

2. What is the purpose of the KOI? • Enrich classroom environments to enhance levels of thinking, production, and challenge for all students • Assess all students’ needs/responses to help plan and implement appropriate differentiation practices • Identify advanced or potentially gifted students needing challenges beyond the core curriculum • Provide a standard for teachers’ analytical observations

3. What are the target behaviors? • Advanced language • Analytical thinking • Meaning motivation • Perspective • Sense of humor • Sensitivity • Accelerated learning

4. Advanced language • Extensive vocabulary; multisyllabic words • Asks questions about words (in print or oral language) • Uses figurative language (similes, metaphors) • Modifies language for less mature children • Expresses similarities and differences • Uses technical language

5. Analytical thinking • Demonstrates complex/abstract thinking • Observes intensely; interprets observations • Takes apart and reassembles ideas/objects • Makes connections between diverse ideas • Thinks clearly and logically • Analyzes cause/effect, consequences • Creates songs, stories, riddles related to learning experiences • Organizes collections or ideas in unique ways

6. Meaning motivation • Philosophical; pursues issues atypical of agemates • Asks penetrating, intellectual questions; intense need to understand • Is curious; innovatively experiments • Remembers! Displays in-depth information in one or more advanced areas • Intrinsically motivated to pursue areas of interest • Wants to do thing independently

7. Perspective • Interprets another’s point of view • Conversations are filled with “but what about…” to pursue different perspectives of issues • Develops unique graphics, products or patterns • Adds interesting components to enhance total effect of product • Demonstrates that directionality is relative to position

8. Sense of humor • Laughs at incidents, puns that agemates don’t understand • Catches an adult’s subtle or sophisticated humor • Uses figurative language for humorous effect • Develops a humorous idea to the extreme

9. Sensitivity • Exhibits intense concern for human issues • Acts spontaneously to help someone in need • Shows nonverbal awareness of another’s needs and feelings • Expresses empathy through words or art • Displays a strong sense of fairness and justice • Expresses high expectations of self/others • Exhibits superior ability to interpret nonverbal clues

10. Accelerated learning • Requires minimum repetition for mastery • Exhibits substantial growth spurts in reading and math once learning begins • Categorizes by multiple, often less-obvious attributes • Comprehends symbolic representations (musical, numerical, alphabetical, mapping) • Reads and interprets at an advanced level • Creates advanced products • Accesses data with ease with an unexpected variety of tools (technology)

11. How are these behaviors elicited? • Teachers conduct “planned experiences” which are designed to bring out these behaviors • Resource teachers will supply needed background information and materials required for the experiences • Resource teachers observe students’ behaviors and tally those behaviors that are advanced and atypical of agemates