This article introduces the Special Class for the Gifted Young (SCGY), an early college entrance program in mathematics and science in China, which has been a focus for media coverage and public discussion of accelerated education in China. We first describe the admission policy and academic programming of SCGY and delineate its distinct features.…

The author--artist, scientist, educator, and visual-spatial thinker--describes the genesis of, and provides insight into, an innovative, strength-based, visually dynamic computer-aided communication system called Chandelier©. This system is the powerful combination of a sophisticated, user-friendly software program and an organizational…

This article provides further evidence of the often observed sensitive nature displayed by children who are gifted. It also addresses the positive and negative effects that this sensitivity can have on these individuals. Earlier, the authors explored this concept through an analysis of the works and life experiences of Geoffrey, aged 9, a prolific…

This study examined relationships between five personal traits and adolescents' creative activities and accomplishments in five domains--music, visual arts, creative writing, science, and technology. Participants were 439 tenth graders (220 males and 219 females) in China. The relationships were examined using confirmatory factor analysis.…

This article investigates downgrading from the highest level of secondary education in The Netherlands. "Downgrading" is defined as continuation of secondary education at a lower level. We conduct a longitudinal case study of downgrading in the first 3 years of a secondary school. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses are…

Gifted students with spatial strengths have areas of remarkable talent but are often overlooked, underidentified, and underserved in American schools. Their preference for learning through imagistic reasoning conflicts with traditional verbal instructional techniques typically used in schools. To better serve these students who have the potential…

Some terms of Dabrowski's theory are misleading. The construct of level and the concepts of integration and disintegration mean different things. The concept of primary integration as a starting point for personality development is untenable in light of research on child development. In its place, Level I as a type of development that is…

Though anchored in cross-cultural comparisons, this study aims to identify the key factors that impacted the talent development of successful dancers from childhood through adulthood. Case studies of eight Finnish and Singaporean ballet and contemporary dancers exemplify the qualities of successful dancers in terms of their career achievements and…

Observable behavior, such as test scores, is the gold standard by which we make judgments about levels of function, grade placements, and the presence/absence of pathology. Individual differences in test performance have long intrigued researchers and clinicians, and some have noted how people can come up with essentially the same answers using…

As neuroimaging technologies increase their sensitivity to assess the function of the human brain and results from these studies draw the attention of educators, it becomes paramount to identify misconceptions about what these data illustrate and how these findings might be applied to educational contexts. Some of these "neuromyths" have…

LeoNora M. Cohen is an emeritus associate professor in the College of Education at Oregon State University. She began the Mentally Gifted Program for Philadelphia Schools, founded the Conceptual Foundations Network of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), and initiated theory summits to bring together theorists from around the world…

This article revisits the 1986 Feldhusen, Proctor, and Black recommendations on grade skipping. These recommendations originally appeared as 12 guidelines. In this article, the guidelines are grouped into three general categories: how to screen accelerant candidates, how to engage with the adults in the acceleration process (e.g., teachers,…

Researchers of the gifted have traditionally advanced the theory, though they are often without data to support it, that an association between intellectual and/or creative giftedness and mood disorders exists. This assumed association is often referred to as the "mad genius theory." This article explores the origins and development of…

Gifted education is often faulted as compromising the principle of equity and perpetuating social inequalities. This article focuses on making gifted education socially defensible and educationally productive. To accomplish this goal, key values and priorities guiding policy and practice, such as excellence, selectivity, diversity, equity and…

Severe socioeconomic inequality strongly suppresses and distorts the discovery of aspirations and the concomitant development of talents among the gifted. More comprehensive understanding of this suppression and distortion is available through a wide-ranging interdisciplinary search for research findings and theories that illuminate economic,…