A public school superintendent, as the chief executive officer in a district, is in a unique position to influence the programs addressing the needs of gifted students in that district. A superintendent's beliefs could impact program content, resource allocation, and priority status. This study looked at superintendents' perceptions of the North Carolina Academically or Intellectually Gifted Program Standards. It examined the level of importance each assigned to these standards and related practices and then compared each superintendent's responses to the practices actually found in his/her district AIG plan. In addition to determining this correlation between perceptions and content, the study hypothesized that superintendents with more connections to gifted education, such as being identified as gifted as a child or holding AIG certification, would have closer matches between their perceptions of gifted education practices and the level of implementation of those practices in local plans. Overall, there was significant dispersion by set and by district, but forty-four percent of respondents achieved a correlational strength considered as moderate to high. The results suggested that superintendents having two or more connections to gifted education were more likely to have higher correlations. [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.]