The purpose of this document is to highlight "what works" based on the curriculum development and research work of the Center for Gifted Education during the past 20 years. Areas of study include curriculum development, instruction, assessment, and professional development. Through the use of the Integrated Curriculum Model as a template for …

This article describes a model for curricular adaptations for gifted students. A distinction is made between non-significant curriculum adaptations that can be easily made by the regular teacher and significant curriculum adaptations that involve deep changes in aims, content, and evaluation criteria. (Contains references.) (DB)

Joyce VanTassel-Baska is the Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education and the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. For the past 20 years, the Integrated Curriculum Model, based on research of what works with gifted learners, has been the foundation of curriculum…

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…

This article proposes that teaching gifted students elegant problem solving in the arts and sciences requires curriculum that includes philosophical inquiry. Discussion focuses on a rationale for philosophical inquiry, philosophy within the humanities, philosophy as curriculum, and the need for theoretical models that are easily understood and…

The Multimethods Model organizes the learning activities of preschool classes for gifted children and assures a differentiated curriculum geared to the individual student. Model components include prescriptive instruction, acceleration of content, building self-direction, creative divergent problem solving, affective guidance, cultivation of…

This article reviews the development of gifted education in Taiwan and identifies some current problems such as negative effects of entrance examinations and unchallenging curricula. It describes the development of a pilot program using Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model. Findings related to curriculum compacting, group training activities, and…

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…

Discussion of the standards issue in gifted education stresses the value of program models characterized by academic freedom and development of creative expression and urges that lists of standards and high-stakes testing do not replace a rich curriculum. (Contains references.) (DB)

The Instructional Design Model is presented for planning effective curriculum for gifted learners. The model first focuses on what basic curriculum dimensions are necessary for serving gifted students and then clarifies the fundamental purposes of a gifted program. Next steps include identifying and assessing learning outcomes. (Contains 3…

This article describes "Thinking Actively in a Social Context," a multiphase model to assist in the development of problem-solving courses based on student needs and experiences. An example of such an interdisciplinary course (simulating a new settlement on another planet) for high ability children in grades five, six, and seven is detailed. (DB)

Discusses how three different models can be used to serve gifted children: separate classrooms, resource rooms, and the consultant-teacher model. How differentiated curricula can be used in inclusive settings and the characteristics of a differentiated classroom are highlighted. The need for appropriate professional development is emphasized. (CR)

Discussion of J. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad and School Enrichment Models finds them supportive of broader inclusion of students from diverse backgrounds yet notes the continued under representation of such students in programs for the gifted. It suggests that addressing the models' implications for access, generalization, long-range impact, and…

This book provides a detailed guide to implementing the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM), a research-supported model originating in special programs for gifted and talented students but not extended to school improvement across the full range of school types, levels, and demographic differences. Individual chapters address the following topics:…

A differentiated curriculum can provide the basis for discovering, serving, and nurturing academic talent across California's diverse student population. Differentiation provides tools to vary the curriculum or instruction so that students who have already mastered given material continue to progress and students who have a particular interest in…