This paper reports on a 2016-2019 study of 123 students in the most academic Year 9 class in a large, high-achieving New Zealand state boys' secondary school. The study asked the question: "What aspects of society, schools and teachers, home environment and your own intrapersonal qualities helped or hindered your achievement in at least one…

Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS) is an evidence-based model for building on and extending the characteristics of gifted learners, enabling them to develop their exceptional talents. The purposes of this study were to (a) identify teachers who implemented the method at a high level of fidelity and (b) describe their ways of…

Exceptional talent includes the ability and willingness to solve varied, complex problems, and having a knowledge structure that facilitates problem solving and creativity. The purpose of this study was to determine changes in students' knowledge structures resulting from fidelity of implementation of Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving…

Teaching is more effective when students are taught through research-based teaching approaches that have been found to be successful in producing the outcomes they advocate. However, use of an effective instructional strategy does not ensure learning, because the success of a sound approach is determined by how well it is implemented. The purpose…

The purpose of this study was to explore general education teachers' perceptions of their experiences while implementing the Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS) model. REAPS is an evidence-based teaching model for challenging and engaging gifted students in a variety of settings. Twenty-three teachers answered 7 semi-structured…

Associate Professor Margaret Plunkett, Federation University, Australia, has over 30 years' experience in education. She currently coordinates and lectures in a range of courses and programs in both secondary and primary education, related to gifted education and professional experience. Margaret has won a number of awards for teaching excellence…

This study investigated the provisions and other support measures available to gifted students in rural and remote Queensland high schools through a systematic website and document analysis. The aims of the study were to identify those provisions and measures being implemented for identified gifted students in rural and remote Queensland high…

Moral development in gifted education is an issue of imperative importance due to the potential of gifted students to change the world. In consideration of this issue and the lack of research on the topic, this study examined the extent to which moral development was present within the senior secondary English curricula at an academically…

There is a considerable gap in empirical research on the prevalence rates of twice-exceptional students in Australian schools. Governments expect statistics when developing education policy and implementing funding support, so it is therefore imperative, as far as practicable, to quantify the number of twice-exceptional learners in Australia.…

Academic underachievement among children and young people is an area of considerable concern, and it is often linked to particular groups. Two groups that have attracted concern when it comes to underachievement are gifted children and boys. This study examines the intersection between the underachievement of these two groups by examining…

This article is drawn from a doctoral study that investigated initial teacher educators' views of giftedness and the apparent consequences of those views for pedagogical practice in early years educational settings. The aim of the study was to describe teacher educators' understandings and meanings of giftedness because their perspectives can…

The complex learning and socio-emotional profiles of students who are twice exceptional are often accompanied by challenges to their identification and support in the primary school. This exploratory research project, conducted in a primary school in New South Wales, Australia, focused on developing and trialling a comprehensive and useful…

In February 2018, a full-time provider of gifted education opened in New Zealand with its initial cohort of children. This provider catered for learners from ages 1-15 years who did not 'fit' in mainstream education settings. This paper reports on a research project that focused on the effectiveness of the learning approach at this school in its…

Radical subject acceleration, or moving students through a subject area faster than is typical, including skipping grades, is a widely accepted approach to support students who are gifted and talented. This is done in order to match the student's cognitive level and learning needs. This case study explored radical subject acceleration for gifted…

In 2019, New Zealand advocates for gifted education created a shared position statement on the roles of specialist teachers of the gifted. The statement acknowledges that all teachers are teachers of the gifted, and require formal and informal learning about giftedness; it also outlines teaching, coordination, advocacy, and leadership roles which…