Gifted students use their advanced language abilities and communication skills to participate in intellectual banter. How might educators encourage them to have more thought provoking discussions? Since gifted kids generally learn rapidly, retain information easily, see unusual relationships, and have strong needs to know, they should be provided…

As the mother of a gifted daughter, the author has worked diligently with teachers to nurture her child's talents and support the healthy development of her child's sense of self--one that is self-determined, has self-control, and creates feelings of genuine self-worth. Clearly, parents and teachers can work together to make a positive difference…

In 2000, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) faculty first proposed putting the course materials from all 1,800 MIT classes online, free of charge. The idea behind MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) was to use the Internet for more than just distance learning. When MIT began placing the course materials online in 2002 and 2003, the audience…

Students have used Cogito.org to pose and/or solve math problems and brain teasers, share their experiences in academic competitions, debate the pros and cons of using biofuels for energy, design an alien world based on sound scientific principles, and expand their cultural understanding by connecting with students from around the world.…

Having a gifted math or science student in the family or classroom is a fascination as well as a significant challenge and responsibility for many parents and teachers. In order to help maximize student learning, several questions need to be asked. What should be the role of technology? How well do traditional schools serve gifted students? What…

Maria, Sergio, and Steven, whose stories are described in this article, are gifted students whose needs were served through technology. Tapping into the Internet, these students, as well as other learners with varying needs, can be provided with appropriately challenging work that allows them to develop and make unique contributions to the class.…

Joyce VanTassel-Baska is the Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education and the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. For the past 20 years, the Integrated Curriculum Model, based on research of what works with gifted learners, has been the foundation of curriculum…

In the field of gifted education, those identified as at risk may include student groups who have been historically underrepresented--among them those who are poor, minority, and/or culturally and linguistically diverse. Typically, the most at risk students are considered those in poverty. Living in poverty often limits equity, access, and…

While people have learned much from special education about using an array of services, from the least restrictive to the most restrictive learning environments, public schools still base many instructional decisions on a child's chronological age. Are the child's interests best served by being grouped all day solely by the number of years lived?…

The field of gifted education has done an admirable job of raising awareness about underrepresentation and unique needs of gifted students from culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The efforts of the National Association for Gifted Children to reach out to teachers through the "Javits-Frasier Teacher Scholarship for Diverse Talent…

In most schools, the term "arts" represents visual arts (art appreciation, painting, clay, etc.), performing arts (including music, dance, and theater), creative writing, and media arts (i.e., photography, digital video, and traditional filmmaking). "Theater" and "drama" are often used interchangeably, but "theater" comprises all of the technical…

As educators of gifted students, the authors see more schools climbing aboard the differentiation wagon, and students who have been identified as cognitively gifted receiving services beyond logic worksheets. Everyone still has a long way to go, however. As classroom teachers become more familiar with characteristics of giftedness and begin to…

Through the arts, attributes such as artistic expression, cooperative working skills, and talent are developed. By exposing students to the arts, learners are exposed to new experiences that may guide them toward particular careers or deeply satisfying hobbies. The arts also encourage students to take chances; meet challenges; and overcome…

Data was released from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in the 1980s that showed a decrease in students' problem-solving abilities and conceptual understanding but an increase in performance on items requiring lower-ordered thinking skills. To address this decline in performance, leading disciplinary organizations, such as…

The Roeper School is a pre-kindergarten through grade 12, co-educational day school for gifted children that was founded in 1941. Admission criteria include parent and student interviews, student observation, and individual testing by a psychologist. The current emphasis on accountability and outcome measurements may be more about what governments…