To date, counseling is far behind many other helping professions in terms of producing scholarly literature highlighting and informing gifted Black male students' needs and how to meet them. In particular, very little has been written about opportunity gaps that disproportionately place gifted Black male students at an academic disadvantage.…

Obsession is multifaceted and may be a catalyst for important development of the person. The author discusses the concept of obsession and how educators might successfully guide the young gifted person who experiences obsessive periods.

There is a discrepancy currently in public schools when comparing the identification and instruction of underachieving students with gifted and talented (GT) students. A three-tiered identification and instructional model was developed out of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (2004) with emphasis coming from the No Child…

This qualitative study explored student and parent perspectives on the extent to which gifted and talented programs met the educational needs of gifted students in Grades 4 to 7. Fifty-two interviews were conducted with students and parents from 10 public schools including seven neighborhood schools and three magnet schools. Participant…

After 30 years in the field of gifted education, and, more specifically, 30 years of studying the psychology of gifted students, author Tracy Cross has come to believe that the single greatest threat to the psychological well-being of gifted students is the mismatch between the school's curriculum and the student's needs. Cross argues in…

The concept of school choices has been historically referenced as options in educational philosophies, learning theories, curriculum designs, and program structures. Throughout time, "schools of choice" were defined by areas such as the Three Rs, the progressive movement of student-centered self-selected interest topics of study, classical…

What do you do with the student who says she hates history, yet watches The History Channel every night? What do you do with the student who is underachieving in social science but has visited every battlefield in Virginia? Our curriculum frameworks and pacing guides suggest a chronological, fact-based approach to teaching and learning history,…

In this column, the author uses the analogy of baseball to describe the lives of gifted children as a vehicle to think about similarities and differences. The author states that he has experienced how educators often gloss over the powerful and all-inclusive living conditions of high-ability students from financially impoverished backgrounds. In…

A gifted student-athlete, Charlie Bloomfield is introduced to athlete's journals by his coaches at Burke Mountain Academy (Vermont), an elite American ski school. Used by Olympians and professionals alike, journals provide athletes with ways to organize and reflect on training and competitions. Athlete's journals help gifted male athletes address…

Research indicates there may be a relationship between gifted learners and insomnia, fear, and anxiety. This article discusses current research on Dabrowski's overexcitabilities, asynchronous development, perfectionistic tendencies, and common fears of gifted learners. Suggestions for parents and teachers of gifted children are offered to help…

In this article, the authors discuss Governor's Schools as an alternative for gifted students. When the word school is used, people typically think about traditional schooling. But Governor's Schools are different in the type of schooling provided and the type of students served--they educate predominantly gifted children, teach a wide array of…

Gifted learners face many challenges in urban settings. Limited access to enriching life experiences, the challenges of coming from a second language background, lack of exposure to classical ideas, and financial constraints can each individually impose barriers to academic success. On the other hand, the urban setting can offer advantages to…

The author's introductory course, "Nature and Needs of the Gifted," was unusual in the Fall semester this year because for the first time in a long time, most of her students had no background at all in gifted education. Teachers in her class were highly motivated and wanted to learn. They seemed to care about meeting the needs of the gifted, but…

The history of the world could be told through countless biographies, as Carlyle said, and these biographies undoubtedly would represent gifted individuals and their contributions at different times in different cultures of the world. The Greeks and Romans recognized the value of talent, as did the tribes of the Bible, responding to the parables…

Urban gifted children encounter many forces that derail the development of their full potential. A report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises found that more than a million children in poverty rank in the top quartile academically, but few of these children will find adequate opportunities to fulfill such potential in urban…