Issues in Gifted and Talented Education
Keeping your finger on the pulse of best practices in the field of gifted education or current events that are driving instruction across the country isn't always easy. Let us help you by pulling together ideas and resources all in one convenient location. Our current hot topics include:
Equity in Gifted Education
Students who are limited English proficienct, disabled, or from minority or low-income backgrounds have been overwhelmingly underrepresented in advanced classes and programs for students identified as gifted.
Click here for an overview of the issue.
Click here to read more about the legislation.
Click here for more about assessment and identification practices.
Click here for more about instruction modification and teacher training.
STEM: Meeting a Critical Demand for Excellence
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are critical to our economy, our national security, and our global leadership in innovation and research. Our key resource lies in students with mathematical and scientific promise, those with potential to become leaders in STEM fields. This includes students who traditionally have been identified as gifted, talented, bright or precocious in mathematics or science as well as those students with potential who may have missed out on the rich opportunities that have accompanied this recognition. Many of our students with the greatest aptitude are underachieving, languishing in repetitive, unchallenging classes. As with all students, these special needs students deserve a learning environment that lifts the ceiling to currently unknown heights and allows them to make continuous progress throughout their academic careers. In this competitive, technological world, we cannot afford to waste the talents of students with the greatest potential to lead us to creative and productive futures in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering.
Click here to see STEM White Paper, November 2008
Go to the STEM information page
Young Gifted: Potential and Promise
Young gifted learners (ages 3-8) are typically underserved. Very few gifted programs exist for children this age, and few teachers have the training necessary to support this group. The challenge is finding how to best serve and identify this population. Click here to learn more about the issues facing young gifted learners.
Differentiation of Curriculum and Instruction
Because no two students are the same, differentiation is often necesasary to meet students' learning needs. Differentiation involves modifying the content, process, product, and/or learning environment to tailor curriculum and instruction to the individual needs of each learner. Click here to learn more about how differentiation can help teach and challenge today's gifted learners.
Identification Practices in Gifted Education
The results of the identification process can have far-reaching effects on students, schools, and communities. Designing and implementing an identification process is a complex undertaking. Click here to learn more about how and why identifying children for services and programs is important, and what to consider when developing a comprehensive and cohesive identification process.