Giftedness, a category of special education under the IDEA, is defined in many ways by different states. The State of Connecticut defines giftedness as “any exceptional child who…(B) possesses extraordinary learning ability or exceptional talent in the creative arts, the development of which requires programs or services.” The definition that will be used for this article will be based on the federal definition as specified in the 1994 reauthorization of the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act of 1988:…students, children, or youth who demonstrate high performance capabilities. in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic or leadership abilities, or in specific academic areas, and which require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop these abilities. (PL. 103-382, Title services to these students. For this reason, these students may not be able to fully develop their gifts. Conceptual theories of giftedness have been proposed by several people. Sternberg and Zhang proposed a theory, the Pentagonal Implicit Theory, which required a person to meet five criteria to be considered gifted. These criteria were (Turnbull, 197): 1. Excellence ~ the person must be superior in some dimension to his or her peers,2. Rarity ~ the person must have a high level of a rare attribute compared to their peers,3. Productivity ~ the person, as well as the dimension in which the person is evaluated as superior, must lead or potentially lead to the product... middle of paper ...... quality and talent. In Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education. (pp. 508-551). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall King. (2005) Meeting the social and emotional needs of twice-exceptional students. Teaching Exceptional Children (September/October), ages 16-20Maker, CJ, Udall, AJ (1985). Giftedness and learning disabilities. ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education.McGrail, L. (1998).Modifying Regular Classroom Curriculum for Gifted and Talented Students Gifted Child Today, Spring, 21-23National Association for Gifted Children, Giftedness and High Ability.State Notes on Gifted and Talented , Definitions of Gifted and Talented Turnbull, R. Turnbull, A. Shank, M. Smith, SJ, (2004). Giftedness. In Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools (pp. 194-224). New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.