Charleston (South Carolina) Southern University has developed a summer enrichment program for gifted and motivated middle school students focusing on the science-based and mathematics-based professions, especially engineering and research. The program provides special motivational advantages to young girls through individual attention and…

Ripon College (Wisconsin) has developed "colearner" classes as part of the Advance College Experience held each summer for academically able and motivated children. Two classes (in ornithology and computer programing/problem solving) were offered to 15 children and their adult partners (parents, other relatives, or friends). Special…

Educators, policy makers, and civic leaders are baffled and frustrated over the stubborn achievement gaps that exist between white students and students of color. On a consistent basis, African American students do not fair as well as white students on school-related measures such as proficiency examinations and standardized tests (e.g.,…

To close the achievement gap, the "No Child Left Behind" law calls for all students to make appropriate yearly progress. This presumably means that progress is being made by capable readers at the same time progress is being made by struggling readers. However, there appear to be unintended effects of "No Child Left Behind"…

While not all gifted children love reading and writing and they do not all have access to books or grow up in literary families the great majority of these children crave the rich and imaginative world that literacy has to offer. Differences in culture, age, and geography influence this love of storytellers, poets, songwriters, and novelists, but…

When an Idaho school district initiated computerized adaptive testing, it discovered that all the growth occurring in the district was limited to the lowest-achieving students. The more proficient students, which included both gifted and above-average learners, showed little or no growth. The assessment data showed a weak curriculum that tended to…

The importance of identifying and nurturing the gifts and talents of young people is now more widely accepted in New Zealand than it has been in the past. In this country the approach to meeting this challenge must reflect an understanding and acknowledgement of Maori conceptions of giftedness and talent. It is proposed here that the…

Possessing high intellectual ability is no guarantee of academic success. In fact, the relevant literature often reports problems of delays in academic progress, as well as hyperactivity and attention problems in students of high ability. It is therefore relevant to design programs which help toward attainment of academic success. In this paper we…

Every fall, approximately 300 gifted adolescents descend on the Ball State University campus to attend the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities (the Academy). The Academy is a state-funded residential school for academically gifted junior and senior high school aged students. It draws its students from across the state,…

The American Indian Teacher Training Program (AITTP), a Masters of Education program, aims to train American Indian and Alaska Native teachers to teach American Indian and Alaska Native gifted and talented students and to dispel stereotypes of these students among their colleagues. American Indian Research and Development, Inc. (AIRD, Inc.)…

This guide to residential state academies for academically gifted high school students discusses the history of this movement, student characteristics, curricula, faculty, outreach programs, and evaluation. The establishment of the nine existing state institutions is traced from the prototype, the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics,…

The history and current status of honors programs at the University of Maryland, College Park, are discussed, with some reference to special recent programming for gifted students. The following historical developments are covered: honors programs at Columbia College in the early 1900s, the idea of honors as a separate upper division program at…

Methods of eliciting writing from children are explored in this monograph, which includes samples of nine- and ten-year-old students' writing. The monograph offers four recommendations for improving writing skills: make writing a daily activity; take children's writing seriously; maintain flexible standards of form and language; and identify group…

Perspectives regarding education for the gifted and talented and excellence in education are addressed in this second volume of a 1982 public hearing. In addition to reports from Rhode Island, Maine, Connecticut, and New York, education of the gifted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is discussed, along with a study about programs for…

Perspectives regarding education for the gifted and talented and excellence in education are addressed in this third volume of a 1982 public hearing. Statements from professional associations and from the public concerning education for the gifted are provided. The following positions are taken: there must be increased development of fully-funded…