Failure to identify gifted students is an important, yet under acknowledged problem facing our nation's schools (Miller, 2009; Webb, 2000). It is important for teachers to be aware of typical and atypical or, unexpected characteristics of gifted students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify factors that influenced elementary general education teachers' decisions to refer a student for a gifted evaluation. Specifically, the current study sought to discover whether or not teachers recognized Dabrowski's (1964) five overexcitabilities (OE) commonly associated with gifted students as indicators of giftedness, or if such characteristics are a reason for teachers refraining from referring a student for a gifted evaluation. This study included 30 elementary general education teachers teaching in a large suburban school district in central Pennsylvania. Data was collected using an online survey developed by the researcher which was adapted from Bouchard's (2004) ElemenOE observation tool. The survey presented student scenarios based on the five OEs. The survey included Likert scale, forced-choice and open-ended questions. Voluntary follow up interviews were conducted with select participants to further explore survey responses. Three themes emerged from the data. The first theme revealed teachers tend to refer a student demonstrating typical gifted characteristics for a gifted evaluation. The second theme revealed participants refrained from referring a student demonstrating unexpected gifted characteristics, specifically Dabrowski's five OEs. The third theme showed teachers wanted more information or training before making a decision to refer a student for a gifted evaluation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]