The Universal High School Program (UHS) is a pilot secondary program in the St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colorado. It is designed to address the needs of a small niche educational group: highly able students who do not fit well into the mainstream of the educational system. These students are at risk educationally, but not for the…

In this article, the author discusses how Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY) seeks and nurtures students with high academic talents in Baltimore. The mission of CTY, since its founding in 1979, has been to identify students with high academic abilities and to provide challenging and innovative programs that are appropriate…

To some teachers, the term "differentiation" means to do different things for the students who need remediation or who have disabilities. To other teachers, differentiation refers to any provision for student differences, including for those students who are more capable than average. There are also many teachers who do not use differentiation at…

Student motivation is highly influenced by the general context in which the student lives, ranging from the norms and influences of the culture at large to the experiences within the family. For students who have high interest and passion on a selected task, motivation seems to be a very internal process. Without effort, the student persists in…

The International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) was developed for students between the ages of 3 and 12 years. It is a transdisciplinary program designed to foster the development of the whole child, not just in the classroom but also through other means of learning. The IBPYP focuses on the total growth of the developing child,…

This article features the University School at The University of Tulsa, which was established in 1982 as a private, full-school program for gifted students from age 3 through 8th grade. The mission of the University School is to serve as a local and national model of excellence in gifted education. The goal is for students to maximize their…

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…

This article features the Challenge School, a magnet school in the CherryCreek School District in Colorado that focuses on academically advanced, motivated, and gifted students. The school was developed as an alternative to best meet the needs of these students. The Challenge School focuses on high student achievement and commensurate academic…

The media calls them the wizards of tomorrow, the fix-it-kids, athletes of the mind, star players, and champs. These are the young people who compete and win academic, artistic, leadership, and service related competitions. Competitors spell words as difficult as autochthonous, make new scientific discoveries, compose poetry, publish their short…

Differentiated instruction allows each student to learn at the depth, complexity, and pace that is most beneficial to him. Differentiating curriculum and instruction is a rich and effective strategy to use when providing the needs of gifted and talented students--especially when those students spend most of their time in regular classrooms. A…

"Options". "Opinions". "Challenges". These are the key words used by a group of gifted 3rd- and 4th-grade students when asked what they want out of math. Although not surprised by the desire for challenges, most of the author's colleagues are intrigued by the students' wishes for options and opinions in math. After…

All adults are needed to support and advocate for kids to provide a solid base on which they can grow. Gifted children are no exception. In order to effectively advocate for gifted children, one must know about national, state, and local laws and about policies providing effective programming and services for this population of students.…

Foreign language instruction is known to develop better critical thinking skills in children. Therefore, the teaching of foreign languages should be promoted so that "all" students may attain better creative, divergent, critical, and analytical thinking skills. Research done in past years on cooperative learning models has consistently shown that…