In the summer of 2011, the Dutch Minister of Education, Culture, and Science presented a letter to the Cabinet, containing the policy objectives for the education of talented, gifted, and highly gifted students. In action plans for primary, secondary, and higher education, in addition to the development of teacher skills, specific measures were…

As the world becomes smaller in a small field like gifted education, cross-cultural research gives us a unique opportunity to understand top students and academic interventions in a deeper way. In this article, the author describes the importance of cross-cultural research as a way to serve gifted children globally. A description of a…

In 1999, the British government launched an education program for gifted and talented pupils as part of its Excellence in Cities initiative (EiC) that was initially designed to raise the educational achievement of very able pupils in state-maintained secondary schools in inner-city areas. Although some activities targeting gifted children had…

This article describes the support and education of gifted students in Poland. The author presents a definition of ability. Rudimentary documents and acts of the Polish Ministry of National Education regarding the education of gifted students are introduced. The systems of general and special education are discussed--including artistic and sports…

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the ways gifted and talented pupils are served in Finland. The trend toward individualism and freedom of choice as well as national policy affecting gifted education are discussed. Empirical research on Finnish teachers' attitudes toward gifted education with respect to the national…

This article will outline the current status of gifted education in Ireland. To fully understand the picture, one needs to look at the history of the Irish education system and how educational decisions are made in the country. Political climate is often an important factor in how people view special education programs and Ireland is no different…

Traditional classroom methods for identifying mathematically creative students have been inadequate. Identifying students who could potentially be mathematically creative is instrumental in the development of students and in meeting their affective and educational needs. One prospective identification tool is the use of model-eliciting activities…

Passion for learning (PFL) in children is a phenomenon that is little understood. The experience of PFL was studied with phenomenological and qualitative modes of inquiry. Case studies of six domains (acting, reading, filmmaking, spelling, math, and preaching) describe how the passion developed using the voices of children and parents. Their…

This article links research and practice through discussion of policy's conceptual aspects illustrated through real-world examples. Gifted education policy essentials, identification, curriculum and services, personnel preparation, and program management, assessment, and evaluation are described. Examples from studies of one state help the reader…

The issue of high school dropout has long concerned policy makers, educational professionals, and the general public. In the gifted literature, this concern is no less pressing. Student engagement is becoming an increasingly discussed construct for conceptualizing the dropout phenomenon and designing appropriate interventions to prevent this…

A search of the literature from the past 30 years reveals that there is a dearth of research surrounding effective interventions for intellectually gifted children in the early childhood years. The findings of 11 empirical studies of educational provisions for young gifted children were located and the methodological rigor of the studies examined.…

Gender differences in interests and preferences are among the currently accepted potential explanations for the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In an attempt to analyze the development of such preferences, gender differences expressed in essays written by gifted elementary students…

Despite the research supporting acceleration, some teachers are still hesitant to recommend acceleration for advanced students. The Teacher Attitudes Toward Subject-Specific Acceleration (TATSSA) instrument was designed to uncover the factors that influence teacher decisions to recommend students for subject-specific acceleration. First, we…

The demographics in the United States are rapidly changing and the school-aged population is growing at an even faster rate, particularly within the Mexican population. In 2008, 12.7 million Mexican immigrants lived in the United States which is 17 times the number in 1970. In addition, Mexican populations are younger than other U.S. populations…

The current study investigated the effects of a school enrichment program on the analytical, creative, and practical abilities of elementary gifted students. Forty-two students (N = 42) from the fifth and sixth grade of the Al-Shawkany School in Saudi Arabia were randomly chosen to participate in the study according to two criteria: (a) being…