The gifted remain an often misunderstood and underserved population. In this interview, Dr. Pfeiffer discusses these concerns and provides practitioners with timely information on who exactly the gifted are and the various ways in which they are unique. In this reflective conversation, Dr. Pfeiffer, a noted authority on gifted and talented…

The Hope Scale is an 11-item teacher-rating instrument designed to help identify academic and social components of giftedness. It provides insights from teachers who work with students on a daily basis, which may differ from the type of information yielded through achievement and ability tests. The Hope Scale development was made possible by the…

In this reflective interview with Terry Friedrichs--a hands-on academic-learning specialist and researcher with gifted students with Asperger Syndrome--he defines these pupils, describes their "straightforward" and confusing traits, and recounts his initial and later instructional experiences with them over several decades. The piece…

In this reflective conversation, Ugur Sak discusses the current "state of the art" of gifted education in Turkey. He reviews the use of enrichment, discusses acceleration and reviews curricular procedures in Turkey. He responds to questions about the identification of gifted students and discusses the age old debate of talent versus…

This article is an interview with award-winning author and gifted children consultant, Deborah Ruf, PhD. In the interview, Ruf emphasizes the importance of parental planning for gifted children's growth and development. She speaks to children's social, emotional, and cognitive abilities and needs as factors in developing a balanced plan.…

James H. Borland, Ph.D. is Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. In this reflective conversation, he reflects on his experiences in an urban environment and the current challenges in gifted education. He argues for ongoing diagnosis of learners' needs…

Always regarded as somewhat of an "outsider" (the child of an English-speaking (Catholic) mother and an Afrikaans (Protestant) father in an exclusively Afrikaans milieu) and growing up extremely poor, seeing the hardship of others and realising how much talent was going to waste, Kobus Maree took a particular interest in gifted disadvantaged…

In an increasingly multicultural world, with increasing access to other countries and opportunities for foreign travel, gifted students need to be able to communicate with other students and other individuals around the world. If they engage in business endeavors, gifted entrepreneurs need to be able to communicate both verbally and in writing…

In this interview, Dorothy Sisk discusses gifted education, teacher education, gifted identification, encouraging gifted girls, on-line teacher education, and support services for beginning teachers, family involvement, social and emotional needs of the gifted, gifted minority students, vocational occupational awareness for gifted students,…

In this interview, Seokee Cho, the Director of the Research Center on the Education of the Gifted and Talented, discusses the implementation of gifted education in Korea, key issues in gifted education, the role personality plays in giftedness, the importance of mentors, parental involvement, ability identification, and fostering giftedness. (CR)

Robert J. Sternberg, director of the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise, reviews current concerns regarding giftedness and reflects on his work. He laments the use of programs whose efficacy has not been shown and stresses the need to identify giftedness in all its forms. (CR)

Discusses issues in gifted education in the context of the coming turn of the century. These include: (1) mentoring (with emphasis on problem solving and cooperation between mentor and child); (2) results of ongoing brain research comparing gifted and regular students; and (3) the increasing importance of technology and computers in education of…

This article presents results of several studies examining differing perceptions of influential factors on gifted children's development. Parents, teachers, and gifted children were asked what factors, behaviors, and attitudes they saw as contributing to "giftedness." Implications for instruction and assessment are explored. (Author/PB)

The paper reviews literature on the process of mentoring the creative child, adult, or prodigy, and discusses differences in mentoring the "creatives" as opposed to other proteges. Emphasized are the importance of early identification of the creative child and the role of parents as mentors. (Author/JDD)

This paper addresses personality issues and personological variables relevant to the process of mentoring gifted children and adolescents. Guidelines from the literature address the mentor-mentee relationship and the importance of matching temperament and intellectual style. Needed research areas include mentoring styles and appropriate mentors…