EXCEL is an enrichment program for highly able students in grades K-2, designed to provide a nontraditional method of identifying young gifted and talented students, especially economically disadvantaged students, as well as to increase the ability of classroom teachers and parents to develop the potential of these students. EXCEL utilizes a…

Evaluation of an instrumental enrichment program with 80 gifted children (ages 10-12) from culturally disadvantaged backgrounds and a follow-up study 4 years later showed: (1) generalization effects on verbal and nonverbal thinking tasks, and (2) durability of effects on thinking tasks and broad generalization in school achievement. (Author/DB)