The 15 essays in this collection examine and challenge the assumptions and beliefs underlying the theory and practice of gifted education today. Essays are grouped into three sections which consider first, reconceptualizations of giftedness; second, gifted education and equity; and third, the practice of gifted education (identification, curriculum and programming). The essays are: (1) "A Developmental, Evolutionary Perspective on Giftedness" (David Henry Feldman); (2) "Beyond General Giftedness: New Ways To Identify and Educate Gifted, Talented, and Precocious Youth" (John F. Feldhusen); (3) "Beyond School: In Search of Meaning" (Mary Anne Heng); (4) "An Essay on Rethinking Theory as a Tool for Disciplined Inquiry" (Laurence J. Coleman); (5) "Rethinking Gifted Education: A Phenomenological Critique of the Politics and Assumptions of the Empirical-Analytic Mode of Inquiry" (Tracy L. Cross); (6) "Talent Development for Rural Communities" (Aimee Howley and others); (7) "The Death of Giftedness: Gifted Education without Gifted Children" (James H. Borland); (8) "Equity, Excellence, and School Reform: Why Is Finding Common Ground So Hard?" (Mara Sapon-Shevin); (9) "Desegregating Gifted Education: Seeking Equity for Culturally Diverse Students" (Donna Y. Ford); (10) "What's Missing in Gifted Education Reform" (Margie K. Kitano); (11) "Curriculum Policy Development for Gifted Programs: Converting Issues in the Field to Coherent Practice" (Joyce VanTassel-Baska); (12) "Reconsidering Regular Curriculum for High-Achieving Students, Gifted Underachievers, and the Relationship between Gifted and Regular Education" (Sally M. Reis); (13) "Issues in the Assessment of Talent Development" (Susan K. Johnsen); (14) "Why Not Be Creative When We Enhance Creativity?" (Jonathan A. Plucker and Ronald A. Beghetto); and (15) "Beyond Bloom: Revisiting Environmental Factors that Enhance or Impede Talent Development" (Rena F. Subotnik and others). (Contains approximately 660 references.) (DB)