In its various forms, acceleration continues to be an evidence-based and widely used service provided to gifted students but remains controversial and unsupported in legislation in most states. Case studies, current legislation, interviews with state directors of gifted education programs, and a deep dive into the 2018-2019 State of the States in…

Whole-grade acceleration moves a student up one or more grades in response to that student's academic needs. Although grade-skipping is supported by decades of research, this type of acceleration is not often used. Acceleration policies make whole-grade acceleration available to more students who would benefit, encourage more educators to use the…

Policy and funding influence equitable education for students who are gifted. The concept of equity is examined through variations in policy and in funding at the state, district, and local levels. Challenges and barriers to equity in policy and funding include policy structures, where policy provides guidance without accountability measures, or…

The purpose of this study is to examine teacher perceptions of the long-term transformative impact of Piirto's Creativity Model and personal creativity exploration on teachers. Creativity training has been part of Ashland University's Talent Development program for over 20 years using Piirto's creativity model. The course encompasses multiple…

In this article, we focus on two components of the Online Curriculum Consortium for Accelerating Middle School (OCCAMS) project: the curriculum frameworks and the curriculum development process. The frameworks include the Integrated Curriculum Model (advanced content, unit themes, and process/product), culturally responsive curriculum, and talent…

A critical part of implementing a new instructional program is professional learning. Multifaceted training was planned and delivered to teachers in a Midwestern urban school district prior to and during implementation of an online accelerated English language arts curriculum in four middle schools. Working in partnership with two universities,…

Educators have sought to understand and address the disproportional representation of students from certain student subgroups in gifted education. Most gifted identification decisions are made with national comparisons where students must score above a certain percentage of test takers. However, this approach is not always consistent with the…

In 2015, the U.S. Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that included provisions to support gifted and talented learners. The U.S. Department of Education's Consolidated State Plan template only required states to directly address the inclusion of gifted education under Title II, Part A: Supporting Effective Instruction (Section…

In Ohio today, approximately 250,000 students--rich and poor alike--are formally identified as gifted. Yet all too often, they sit in "grade-level" classrooms, bored with material they already know and held back by a system that too rarely challenges them. In this paper, Lyman Millard of the Bloomwell Group profiles Menlo Park Academy, a…

Conventional expectations about subcultural groups can be undermined by unusual performances of some individual members. Several recent movies have concerned people of exceptional ability who unexpectedly excelled at prestigious centers of learning. "The Man Who Knew Infinity," "The Imitation Game," and "The Theory of…

In this study, the researchers highlight differences in district level value-added growth data of gifted students in urban and suburban districts, as categorized by the Ohio Department of Education. In addition to analyzing the difference between the academic growth of urban and suburban gifted students, the researchers sought to synthesize…

In the realm of education, much attention is paid to making sure that all students reach a minimum level of achievement. Raising the performance of those who struggle academically is a worthy and necessary goal. But in order to provide all students with an excellent education, attention must also be paid to the students on the other end of the…

Legislation and policy lead to action. In the absence of law or policy, situations are addressed on a case-by-case basis or they are sometimes ignored. Legislation and policy become extremely important when they relate to groups that have traditionally been marginalized, such as students with disabilities or students with gifts and talents, and…

Approximately one quarter of American students attend rural schools; however, the needs of these students are often overlooked in education policy despite well-documented limited financial resources and pervasive poverty. Relatively little is known about the experiences of gifted students in rural areas and even less about the teachers serving…

A greater understanding of students identified as gifted, and the unique social, emotional and behavioral issues they may face is a pivotal element of a comprehensive school counseling program. While numerous conceptual publications have devoted attention to the social, emotional, and behavioral issues of the gifted student, little has been…