It is difficult to say exactly when or how ideas originate and if and why they earn acceptance, but this author believes his theories evolved because of his background as an educator and a pragmatist who believes "validating" an idea through practical implementation is as important as the idea itself. For the author, there are considerable…

Why and how should a society devote special resources to the development of giftedness in young people for the twenty-first century? If we agree that the goals of gifted education and talent development are to maximize young people's opportunities for self-fulfillment and increase society's reservoir of creative problem solvers and producers of…

This response to an article regarding the tension between talent development and personal growth in gifted education argues that dissociation of these two aspects is conditional, not a constant state of affairs. Contingencies and processes responsible for the dissociation are identified and ways to integrated these two perspectives are discussed.…

The main argument of this article is that human living systems are open, dynamic, intentional systems and, therefore, are capable of building ever more complex behaviors through self-organization and self-direction. This principle underlying general human development is also applicable to the development of gifted and talented behaviors. These…

The Multiple Menu Model is a practical set of planning guides that can assist developers of curriculum for gifted students to combine content with instructional strategies. Planning menus in the areas of knowledge, instructional objectives, student activities, instructional strategies, instructional sequences, and artistic modification and a…

This article presents a general theory for developing creative productivity in young learners by examining interactions among: the learner (abilities, interests, learning styles); the curriculum (content and methodology of a discipline, structure of a discipline, appeal to the imagination); and the teacher (knowledge of the discipline,…

This article reviews research on the Schoolwide Enrichment Triad Model, which combines the previously developed Enrichment Triad and Revolving Door Identification Models of gifted education. Research reviewed addresses: model effectiveness, creative productivity, personal and social development, underserved populations, self-efficacy, curricular…

The author discusses his opposition to gifted curriculum developed largely by teachers and suggests that real problems should be the focus of gifted programing. Two curriculum models are described according to four variables: the roles of students, knowledge, creativity, and teachers. (CL)

Educators are encouraged to build advocacy for gifted education through the program itself by demonstrating the high quality products of participating students, and through continued commitment to public relations. Factors common to programs that have survived the economic downturn in New England are identified, including sustained advocacy…

Students' preferences for creating potential products were explored through use of "My Way ... An Expression Style Inventory". Analysis of data from 3,532 students allowed examination of content and construct validity for the instrument. The article suggests practical applications for the inventory in talent-development programs such as those…

This article on the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (a consortium of universities, state departments of education, parent groups, and school districts) addresses problems in research on gifted education, the Center's rationale and mission, its component parts, its research on typically underrepresented populations, and its…