Teacher training is fundamental to the success of gifted and talented education (GATE). Unfortunately, in sub-Saharan Africa, which is still in the early stages of practicing inclusive education, knowledge about GATE is limited because preservice teacher training programs have yet to prioritize this subject area. The aim of this exploratory study…

In a national survey of U.S. adults, the number of close friends increased with age and 76% reported having three or more. However, 8% reported having none. There are limited parallel data for gifted learners but the survey provided an opportunity to compare the two groups. The numbers of close friends for gifted learners appears to increase from…

Agriculture teachers are responsible for the education of a mixed ability classroom, in which there may be students identified as gifted. It is unclear how much preservice preparation agriculture teachers receive in order to challenge this population of students or what inservice teacher professional development needs exist. This study aimed to…

This article explores higher education's role in supporting gifted students and how these institutions might collaborate with high schools. Multidimensional roles that universities can play include helping gifted students transition from high school through individual support from faculty such as mentorships to offering specialized opportunities…

This Quick Facts document provides a snapshot of facts about Alabama school systems and public schools; Alabama students; Alabama educators; National School Lunch Program lunches served; Alabama school buses; Alabama gifted students; total personnel; average daily attendance; graduation rate; average ACT score; AMSTI schools; ACCESS virtual…

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine the relationship among student achievement factors, gifted and talented status and post-secondary readiness. The study included a review of archived data obtained from a large district in the southeastern region of Texas consisting of a purposeful sample of AP students' who took an…

As an alternative to the current paradigm of gifted education, Ziegler and Phillipson proposed a systemic approach and argued that factors in the current mechanistic model of giftedness are not good predictors for exceptionality. They pinpointed that a single factor identified as an indicator of giftedness, ineffective measures, inappropriate…

In "Towards a systemic theory of gifted education", Ziegler and Phillipson offer a useful critique of current research and the current paradigm in gifted education. They provide an interesting and useful merging of systems theory with their actiotope model, and using this paradigm they suggest many fruitful areas for future research. However, the…

Without a doubt the authors' proposal of viewing gifted education in systemic terms is a promising one. In fact, it is most refreshing to read something eclectic like this with an aim to synthesize a field of research and practice which for too long has lacked consensus in both practice and theory. The author agrees with them that a mechanistic…

Ziegler and Phillipson (Z&P) advance an interesting and ambitious proposal, whereby current analytical/mechanistic theories of gifted education are replaced by systemic theories. In this commentary, the author focuses on the pros and cons of using systemic theories. He argues that Z&P's proposal both goes too far and not far enough. The future of…

In this commentary on Ziegler and Phillipson's article, "Towards a Systemic Theory of Gifted Education" (this issue), the author commends their attempt to discuss gifted education from a systemic and contextual perspective, which she considers inspiring in terms of theoretical advancement and practical reconsideration. However, Cheng finds the…

Connecting innovation with gifted education is a necessity not only in the current political climate but also because it is a field with deeply held beliefs about the importance of problem solving, creativity, imagination, and invention--all critical components of innovation. In this address, the author focuses on three key ideas. First, she…

This article presents an interview with James H. Borland, Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he directs the graduate programs in the education of gifted students. Dr. Borland is the author of numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and miscellanea. He has won…

The commentaries to our target article "Towards a systemic theory of gifted education" differed in their assessments of the various arguments we put forward. Of the more than 40 responses to our target article, 27 responses were chosen as being representative of all commentaries. We grouped the responses according to the main points in our target…

This article introduces the Special Class for the Gifted Young (SCGY), an early college entrance program in mathematics and science in China, which has been a focus for media coverage and public discussion of accelerated education in China. We first describe the admission policy and academic programming of SCGY and delineate its distinct features.…