An appropriate education is one that identifies students' educational needs and then provides a curriculum that addresses those needs (Benbow & Stanley, 1996). All students, even those identified as gifted, deserve a personalized education. However, many educators outside gifted education believe that "giftedness" is a fancy label and that gifted…

Two mentors in a math mentoring program for gifted students offer principles for developing such a program. Topics covered include mentor qualifications, getting started, finding materials, preparing for the first mentoring session, frequency and length of meetings, student behavior, and planning. (DB)

Described is a community Hobby and Interest Night which provides children and adults with an opportunity to display hobbies, collections, and interests. Such a program is particularly valuable for gifted students who are able to display their achievements, be exposed to new interests, and meet possible mentors and resource people. (DB)

The guide presents six papers designed to help people become effective advocates for gifted and talented children. In "Effective Advocacy: Understanding the Process and Avoiding the Pitfalls," P. Mitchell considers such obstacles as using an adversarial rather than a persuasive approach and being impatient. She charts a procedure for more…

This digest offers guidelines for group advocacy efforts on behalf of gifted education. Four potential pitfalls are identified: using an adversarial rather than a persuasive approach; assuming that people in administrative and political positions are not too bright or not very knowledgeable--or both; being impatient; and ineffectively coping with…

This guide offers guidance for mentoring programs and relationships serving gifted and/or talented students from multicultural and/or disadvantaged environments. After an introductory chapter which defines the mentor concept, Chapter 2 considers the mentoring relationship, racial/cultural differences, characteristics of economically disadvantaged…

This handbook was developed to help decision makers and others interested in gifted/talented education to address the challenge in two major ways: by designing new programs that successfully incorporate the principles and practices of community education and by improving existing programs using a community education approach. The seven programs…