Providing challenging and engaging learning opportunities is one way to motivate students to learn. In this article, we discuss the contributions of the gifted education field to the development of enrichment pedagogy and identify several different types of these engaging instructional strategies, including interest-based learning pedagogy,…

The diversity of skills, talents, and interests of students that we serve in our schools requires a remarkable range of teachers' skills, time, and resources. This brief article focuses on differentiation and the ways that teachers can adapt and differentiate the regular curriculum to meet the academic needs of all of their students. Challenges…

This article describes current attempts and steps to expand both services and research about gifted education and talent development programs and educational opportunities for academically talented students in Italy. The laws, procedures, and policies that have been essential to this process are described, as is the outcome, which is the…

Although the relationship between creativity and ADHD is uncertain, recent studies examining how dimensionally assessed characteristics of ADHD relate to creativity and divergent thinking in adults suggest an occasional positive, linear relationship between the constructs. However, the executive functions proposed to underlie characteristics of…

Background: Creativity is increasingly recognized as an important skill for success in the field of engineering, but most traditional, post-secondary engineering education programs do not reward creative efforts. Failing to recognize creativity or creative efforts can have particularly negative effects for those students with attention deficit…

A critical need exists in engineering education to draw on the non-traditional divergent thinking and risk-taking necessary for making radical technological breakthroughs. Literature suggests that individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) characteristics demonstrate unparalleled creativity and risk-taking potential. While…

Remarkable advances in instructional communication technology (ICT) have now made it possible to provide high levels of enrichment services to students online. This paper describes an Internet-based enrichment program based on a high-end learning theory that focuses on the development of creative productivity through the "application" of knowledge…

What recent research has been conducted about gifted and talented students and their learning experiences in school? As we complete the first decade of the new century we are entering a time when much attention is focused on remediation and test preparation; it only seems appropriate to reflect upon what has been learned about gifted education…

This myth that the gifted constitute a single, homogeneous group is addressed by the authors in this article. They respond by saying that there is no single homogeneous group of gifted children and adults, and giftedness is developmental, not fixed at birth. Research in the past few decades has pointed to the ways in which gifts and talents vary,…

Teacher rating scales have been used widely throughout the United States as part of a comprehensive plan for identifying potentially gifted and talented students. The Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics for Superior Students (SRBCSS) are among the most frequently used teacher rating scales to assess the characteristics of and nominate…

This book provides a detailed guide to implementing the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM), a research-supported model originating in special programs for gifted and talented students but not extended to school improvement across the full range of school types, levels, and demographic differences. Individual chapters address the following topics:…

The Schoolwide Enrichment Model, originally designed for academically gifted students, is currently used to develop the gifts and talents of a much wider pool of students. One SEM component, the Total Talent Portfolio, focuses attention on student interests and learning-style preferences. This article explains how SEM, combined with curriculum…

This article describes the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) and examines the relationship between gifted programs and total school improvement using the SEM. Goals of SEM include a school SEM specialist, a strong research base, a broadened conception of human potential, and educational experiences grounded in a high-end theory of learning.…

A recent summary of research produced by a task force of psychologists and educational researchers associated with the National Association for Gifted Children and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented indicated that high-ability students are generally at least as well adjusted as any other group of youngsters. This research also…

In today's high-pressure atmosphere to "get the scores up," teachers and students find themselves faced with more and more highly-structured, prescripted lessons that allow for little creativity and exploration. However, both students and teachers deserve a balanced education that includes exciting opportunities to delve into areas of strong…