This book presents a model of curriculum development for gifted students and offers four parallel approaches that focus on ascending intellectual demand as students develop expertise in learning. The parallel curriculum's four approaches include: (1) the core or basic curriculum; (2) the curriculum of connections, which expands on the core…

The article describes five diverse secondary schools with successful programs to provide responsive instruction based on individual learning styles. Schools include a school for gifted students in Minnesota, a middle school in New Jersey, and three schools in New York. (DB)

"Let's Celebrate Uniqueness" is a one-semester whole class program designed for fourth to seventh grade gifted and non-gifted students. Specific activities are suggested for the four program steps: (1) understanding the concept of uniqueness, (2) recognition of uniqueness of self, (3) recognition of uniqueness of others, (4) and valuing uniqueness…

This paper addresses the unevenness of the existing knowledge base on development and individual differences, and presents a structural model diagraming organismic and environmental influences on development. The model identifies sets of conditions which can result in gifted performance, the development of giftedness, and the maintenance of…

Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences offers educators a comprehensive framework for identifying giftedness in diverse student populations. A definition of problem types is presented that, when combined with varied intelligences, forms a problem-solving matrix for designing assessment procedures and developing curriculum. (JDD)

This book is concerned with reinventing the learning process from a multiple intelligences perspective and urges explicitly teaching students about multiple intelligences to further their metacognitive understanding. The multiple-intelligence-based curriculum is intended to interface with the regular academic curriculum. An introductory chapter…

This paper discusses applications of intelligence tests in schools, considering Binet's original warnings that his tests were primarily useful for identifying students needing intervention and inappropriate for classifying normal students. American applications of Binet's work for ranking are seen as stages of shifting from remedial to custodial…

This document, a first "theme" issue of a projected quarterly publication on developments in gifted education, focuses on theoretical principles and practical suggestions concerning student identification for gifted programs in Texas. The first article, "Developing Defensible Identification Procedures," is by Tommie Sue…

This study sought to determine if parents of gifted and talented learning-disabled children differed from parents of other gifted/talented children in their expectations of educational programming and parent-school relations. Subjects included 265 parents who were members of The Gifted and Talented Association of Montgomery County (Maryland) or…

Thirty gifted education teachers were compared with 46 regular education teachers using the Teacher Perceiver Interview. Gifted teachers differed from regular teachers on six characteristics (Focus, Gestalt, Innovation, Mission, Rapport Drive, and Investment) but did not differ on two commonly cited characteristics of gifted teachers:…

This digest discusses the need for differentiating language arts instruction for gifted students in grades K-8. It begins by describing differentiation approaches, including acceleration, depth, complexity, challenges, and creativity. It then explains how teachers can differentiate the language arts curriculum in the following five areas: (1)…

The "Armstrong Diagnostic and Prescriptive Technique" of curriculum modification involves modifying the curriculum, first, to accommodate the shared learning characteristics of gifted students and, second, to accommodate individual differences. Use of the technique and checklist are illustrated by a case study. (DB)

Analysis of insights of parents of gifted adolescent boys (N=8) who committed suicide found retrospective clues for potential suicide such as: lack of recognition/acceptance of individuality; effects of competition on self-esteem; lack of coping skills; and suicidal behavior of friends. (CB)

The report describes Project UNIQUE (Underachievers Needing Individualized and Qualitative Unique Education) for gifted underachieving students in grades 3-6, stressing three major instructional components: (1) an affective curriculum; (2) a differentiated curriculum; and (3) a study skills curriculum. The program includes inservice involvement of…

Five expert teachers in gifted education and ten teachers without specialized training were compared on perceptions of and provision for gifted students. Responses differed markedly in allocation of responsibility for learning, depth of suggested activities, general organizational schema, programming of academic subjects, perception of the…