Marcia Gentry personified a life well-lived. In this tribute to her work and legacy, her early ideas are highlighted. The author describes her professional experiences with Marcia during the years when Marcia was a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut. Recalling her initial motivation for a more inclusive form of identification of…

Sternberg's transformational giftedness theory is visionary given its focus on GATE students being agents of change who use their gifts and talents in meaningful ways to address real issues. The theory merges seamlessly with several multicultural or culturally responsive theories and frameworks/models. We introduce the "culturally responsive…

This qualitative cross-case study explores gifted adolescents' perspectives on motivation in learning as a means to better understand their complex motivational and academic needs. Participants consisted of 6 students, ranging in age from 11 to 16, identified as gifted through holistic measures including cognition scores, interviews, and other…

A recent study claiming to provide a basis for gifted education to drop the construct of overexcitabilities in favor of the construct of openness to experience and align itself with the Five Factor Model and a talent development perspective on gifted education is shown to be without merit. An analysis shows that the study supports the conclusion…

This study investigates the process of identifying high-quality lessons for gifted learners that integrate the arts with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. These STEAM lessons have the potential to develop deep thinking, as well as develop creativity and visual--spatial skills that are necessary in the STEM…

In this article, I discuss two kinds of giftedness, transactional and transformational. "Transformational giftedness" is giftedness that is transformative. Transformationally gifted individuals seek positively to change the world at some level--in their own way, to make the world a better place. "Transactional giftedness" is…

This article focuses on research findings from multiple evaluation studies on the teacher use of differentiated practices for gifted learners that have implications for best practice in gifted education internationally. Research questions centered on what specific differentiation practices were employed with gifted learners and distinctions found…

The Primary Education Thinking Skills program (PETS) was implemented in three third grade classes and two kindergarten classes in a Title I school. The PETS program is a Talent Development program designed to teach students critical thinking skills and other gifted behaviors with the expressed goal of the program's creators that the regular…

This article focuses on cluster teachers' differentiation of their classroom instructional practices within an urban setting. Data were gathered from classroom observations of the learning task, questioning, and the classroom environment; ratings of observations using the "Classroom Instructional Practices Scale;" and interviews with…

An exploratory study of the efficacy of "The Word Within the Word" tested students' abilities to recognize, use, and recall vocabulary. Ten middle school teachers and their 493 students participated. Five teachers used "The Word Within the Word", and five used traditional vocabulary materials. Students completed an out-of-level…

While educators in gifted education and general education appear to share many goals, there are inadequacies in the implementation of complex educational practices that meet the needs of gifted students in general education classrooms and the goals of educational reform. This paper presents a theoretical framework, Teaching for Intellectual and …

During the year 2007, national education policy emphasizes the evaluation of students, teachers and schools based on students' test scores. While education professionals at all levels are charged with raising test scores, they are also expected to keep pace with current educational practices. The research presented in this article examines the…

Analysis of cognitive, psychoanalytical, and moral development theories of J. Piaget, O. Rank, E. Erikson, L. Kohlberg, D. Elkind, and C. Gilligan revealed teaching strategies for gifted adolescents which involve encouraging creativity and problem-solving skills; supporting student interests; developing students' positive self-esteem; exposing…

Research in cognitive neuroscience suggests that the brains of mathematically gifted children are quantitatively and qualitatively different from those of average math ability. Math-gifted children exhibit signs of enhanced right-hemisphere development, and when engaged in the thinking process, tend to rely on mental imagery. They further manifest…

Addresses the importance of integrating the intellectual and moral education of gifted students. A framework synthesized from the works of Dewey and Guilford explicates basic structural components of the intellectual and moral dimensions of development. Suggestions for facilitating complex learning through complex teaching and the complex…