Binet tested to find who needed help. Terman turned tests toward a gifted caste. Stanley returned measurement to a domain (maths) and lifted the ceiling. Every later national system picks a place on that triangle.
The timeline below follows dated arguments and institutions, not a national myth of genius and not a group ranking.
Origin
1905 Binet to 1971 SMPY · Paris / California / Johns Hopkins — Binet tested to find who needed help. Terman turned tests toward a gifted caste. Stanley returned measurement to a domain (maths) and lifted the ceiling. Every later national system picks a place on that triangle.
Timeline
- Binet–Simon
Find who needs help in Paris schools.
- Terman’s Stanford–Binet and Termites
US gifted longitudinal caste risk.
- Hollingworth’s classroom work
Needs, not only scores.
- SMPY founded
Above-level SAT-M at Johns Hopkins.
- Renzulli and Gagné models
Rings and catalysts against IQ-only.
- AIS founded
National sport ID in Australia.
- CTY / Duke TIP industrialisation
US talent search as a product.
- Korea 영재교육 / 예고 expansion
State gifted and arts high schools on a tutor market.
- USTC 少年班
China’s early-university maths/science pipe.
- Twice-exceptional advocacy
A hole in cutoff-only systems made official.
Eras
- Help test — Binet — Remedial origin.
- Caste test — Terman — The US gifted industry’s ancestor.
- Domain search — SMPY — Ceiling lifted in maths.
- Model era — Renzulli / Gagné — More than a number.
- National machines — AIS / 예고 / 少年班 — Policy as ID.
Shifts
- From IQ to above-level domain 1971 — Stanley.
- From score to profile 1978–85 — Rings and DMGT.
- From prestige to missed populations 2000s — 2e and referral bias as first-class problems.
Talent identification: keep the dates visible. Names of talents are younger than the work they try to capture.