Marcia Gentry personified a life well-lived. In this tribute to her work and legacy, her early ideas are highlighted. The author describes her professional experiences with Marcia during the years when Marcia was a doctoral student at the University of Connecticut. Recalling her initial motivation for a more inclusive form of identification of…

Finding and developing talented youth from low-income backgrounds is an ongoing challenge for U.S. gifted education policy. These students face strong headwinds, whereas advantaged students enjoy favorable tailwinds, and these factors accumulate throughout K-12, higher education, and beyond. Jonathan Wai and Frank C. Worrell explain how talented…

In this article, I describe a few personal favorite contributions of Dr. Marcia Gentry, one of the most successful graduates from our doctoral program at the University of Connecticut, as well as a dear friend and collaborator. Marcia focused her life's work on the need to serve underserved and often-neglected populations in our field and…

The process of talent development with children and young adults who have participated in programs based on the Enrichment Triad and the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) has been the focus of research by Renzulli and Reis, as well as other scholars and colleagues, for over four decades. Periodic summaries of this extensive research have been…

To determine if a person is gifted or not, the government sets the criteria of identification since giftedness is an abstract concept. However, the standard has always been decided and affected by the attitudes of the education authority and the allocation of resources. The opportunities for some potential learners to participate in gifted…

Providing an optimal match in the pace of instruction and level of content increases student engagement and is essential for all students. And while the idea of optimal match makes sense educationally, it can be challenging to determine what pace and level of instruction is optimal for gifted students. Fortunately, there is an effective,…

Ellen Winner is a psychologist and a professor at Boston College. She specializes in psychology of art. In this interview, she answers the following questions including: (1) What are you currently working on, researching? (2) Could you elaborate on the intrinsic value of art education? (3) How might you compare your work today to earlier advocates…

For far too long, the United States has neglected and wasted an enormous amount of human potential--much of it among groups that have never been given the opportunities they deserve. We're talking about bright students, advanced learners, striving pupils, and those with high but untapped potential--especially those who are Black, Hispanic, Native…

Identifying and maintaining talent is important in any organization, but in a low-performing school, it is perhaps "the" most important component to achieving turnaround. Given the importance of teachers and leaders for students and schools, districts and states are wise to hone their efforts related to identifying, attracting,…

The goal of this article is to convey a summary of research and conversation on talent development on the part of a small group of European and American researchers who participated in the Inaugural American European Research Summit in Washington. In the final hours of the summit, participants discussed the state of research on talent development…

America has a tremendous need for talent. This executive summary examines which states have implemented policy changes that can help close excellence gaps. States can and should take the lead in promoting educational excellence and eliminating excellence gaps. Six recommendations to states are presented. [For the full report "Equal Talents,…

This article discusses three lessons that stand out as particularly poignant in the author's career working with high-ability students. The author recounts personal and professional experiences that influenced his thinking. The three lessons are that identifying high-ability students is not an easy business, the development of talent requires more…

While it's acknowledged that some children demonstrate giftedness in leadership and social domains, it's still one area often overlooked by educators and parents. Literature on leadership has been geared mostly toward adults, not children. What does exist for student leadership has been typically organized around situations that focus on adapting…

Parents and teachers may suspect early science talent in children, which frequently manifests itself through insatiable curiosity and an intense interest in one or more areas of science. However, sometimes they struggle with identification and then knowing what to do to nurture these talents. The author of this practical article provides a…

Whether or not it is conscious, parents, caregivers, and teachers are looking for indicators that a child is not "fitting in" with peers. In most cases, teachers and parents are looking for problems or learning difficulties that need to be addressed because the earlier a problem is discovered and diagnosed, the more likely an intervention or…