Academic self-concept predicts students' future goals and is affected by a student's relative success compared with his or her peer group. This exploratory study used structural equation modeling to examine the contributions of the perceived level of difficulty of the curriculum, in addition to the contributions of social comparison and…

Despite the potential of differentiated curricula to enhance learning, limited research exists that documents their impact on Grade 3 students of all ability levels. To determine if there was a difference in achievement between students involved in 16 weeks of predifferentiated, enriched mathematics curricula and students using their…

This Methodological Brief gives an overview of statistical methods used to gauge academic growth and discusses issues surrounding the measurement of growth in gifted populations. To illustrate some of these issues, we describe a growth model that examines differences in summer lag between gifted and nongifted students. We also provide…

This study examined the average effects of schools' third through fifth grade gifted programming policy in mathematics and reading on overall school achievement, on gifted students' achievement and academic attitudes and on nongifted students' achievement and academic attitudes. Data and results represent a broad, national look at school…

Lack of theoretical coherence in the field of gifted education has given rise to multiple attempts at a grand unification, including most recently the work of Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell (2011). The authors argue that the incoherence is an inevitable consequence of the fundamental incompatibility of theoretical and definitional…

In education, most naturally occurring data are clustered within contexts. Students are clustered within classrooms, classrooms are clustered within schools, and schools are clustered within districts. When people are clustered within naturally occurring organizational units such as schools, classrooms, or districts, the responses of people from…

This article provides a conceptual introduction to the issues surrounding the analysis of clustered (nested) data. We define the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the design effect, and we explain their effect on the standard error. When the ICC is greater than 0, then the design effect is greater than 1. In such a scenario, the…

The present study explores teachers' attitudes toward the gifted and gifted education. Specifically, the authors examine whether teachers tailor their responses about attitudes toward the gifted to fit the perceived interests of the researcher. In addition, the authors examine several potential predictors of attitudes toward the gifted: training…

This study examined whether gifted high school achievers (n=122) and gifted underachievers (n=56) differed in their general academic self-perceptions, attitudes toward school and teachers, motivation and self-regulation, and goal valuation. The two groups differed in all measured areas except academic self-perceptions. Group membership was usually…

This article reviews and analyzes three decades of research on the underachievement of gifted students in an attempt to clarify the present state of research. The problems inherent in defining and identifying underachieving gifted students are given special attention. Suggestions for future research are included. (Contains extensive references.)…