Transforming education or business starts with transforming one's mind, and that inner transformation starts with opening up to--indeed welcoming--the inevitable bursts of creativity available to everyone. Sidney J Parnes, one of the world's leading experts on creative problem-solving (CPSI), innovation and creativity, said, "I dream a dream,…

This column offers a perspective on suicidal behavior among gifted students that moves away from a wholly psychological perspective to more of a community-based perspective. This model does not undervalue the role of the field of psychology in explaining suicidal behavior, but speaks instead to the importance of the salient influences of culture,…

Although the implementation of effective instructional practice is paramount to the academic success of gifted music programs in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12), many learners in gifted music programs lack critical thinking skills, self-directed learning, a learner-centered paradigm, and learner-mentor relationship during instruction.…

James H. Borland, Ph.D. is Professor of Education in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. In this reflective conversation, he reflects on his experiences in an urban environment and the current challenges in gifted education. He argues for ongoing diagnosis of learners' needs without…

The New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) gifted-and-talented programs aim to support all students of exceptional learning potential within the public school system. Using proprietary data made available to us by the NYC DOE, we show, however, that substantial disparities exist in the rates of gifted-and-talented admission test taking,…

Gifted education is often faulted as compromising the principle of equity and perpetuating social inequalities. This article focuses on making gifted education socially defensible and educationally productive. To accomplish this goal, key values and priorities guiding policy and practice, such as excellence, selectivity, diversity, equity and…

This study examines differences, if any, between gender, level of motivation, and students' classification (typical learners, academic intervention services learners, and gifted) in scores upon DBQ (document-based questions) among the sixth grade students. 64 grade students were given a DBQ as part of their final examination. Students' scores were…

New York City's elite public specialized high schools have a long history of offering a rigorous college preparatory education to the City's most academically talented students. Though immensely popular and highly selective, their policy of admitting students on the basis of a single entrance exam has been heavily criticized. Many argue, for…

This is the remarkable story of the Hoffmann School for Individual Attention, where the principal believed in a diverse, challenging, and challenged group of students--with extraordinary results. With a definition of gifted that included all children, Ann Hoffmann embraced students that other schools had failed, and she helped them not just to…

Most companies need a steady stream of talent to enter, then move up in, the organization. But at most companies, the care and feeding of that talent stream is often a bit fragmented; recruitment is largely an HR function, while succession planning--to the extent there is any--is left in the hands of executive leadership. Development of the…

The involvement of 1,000 parents of gifted and talented children in the educational system was studied in New York and Cleveland. A questionnaire determined their involvement in 27 selected service, financial, and parent education practices. Contrary to some expectations, these parents were not very involved in school activities. (SLD)

The previous Historical Perspectives column focused on the foundations of gifted education and the influence that Francis Galton, Alfred Binet, and Cesare Lombroso had in shaping the field. This work seeks to extend the examination of the historical roots of gifted education by focusing on definitions and theoretical underpinnings of giftedness…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) is the ultimate child prodigy. It is said that Mozart, after attending a service at the Vatican, wrote down an entire sacred piece of music after one hearing. There are countless examples of the amazing feats that Mozart accomplished through his childhood, not to mention his huge compositional output throughout…

A TEST OF SCIENCE APTITUDE WAS CONSTRUCTED AND PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE OF ITS VALIDITY OBTAINED BY INDIVIDUAL ADMINISTRATION TO 58 GIFTED, 6- AND 7-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN. TWO FORMS OF A 91-ITEM HUNTER SCIENCE APTITUDE TEST WERE CONSTRUCTED. ITEMS INCLUDED IN THESE TESTS WERE DESIGNED TO MEASURE THE ABILITY--(1) TO RECALL SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION, (2) TO…

Reported are results of two surveys of gifted and talented education in New York State during 1974-1975, one sent to each local public school district in the State and another sent to each of the 46 Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). Major findings of the survey include: 92% of Boards of Education do not have a policy statement…