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,…

This article focuses on the underrepresentation of African American males in gifted and talented programs, and offers a number of key recommendations to practitioners and researchers who seek viable strategies to circumvent this problem. Beyond the focus on underrepresentation, several additional topics for discussion are excogitated to provide a…

This article explores the inner and outer forces that energized the lives of Charlotte Bronte and Virginia Woolf and influenced their talent development. Similarities in their lives, including adversity, autodidactism, practice of the writing craft, search for a mother figure, influence of place, loneliness, emotional support, and a philosophy of…

Research findings at the Center for the Study of Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley, reveal that adequate data for meaningful research on talented women are unavailable. The findings also imply that (1) the most talented and creative college women apparently leave colleges in which they first enrolled before the end of four…

This article discusses the need for competitions and contests in schools to develop and enhance talents in academics, fine and performing arts, leadership, and service learning. An academic contest school assessment checklist is included. Information on several national contests for children and youth is presented. (CR)

This monograph presents abstracts of 32 papers on the development of general versus specific abilities and their relationship to diversity in gifted and talented students. Sample topics include: creative development at the college level; cultural and linguistic differences in gifted children; Project High Hopes, a program for gifted students with…

The value of the social context present in some specialized education environments to promote the optimal development of children who are gifted and talented is discussed. Issues and variables that might be considered when conducting research on social context in specialized environments are also considered. (SW)

This study identified early conditions of successful adults, via a historical analysis of psychological traits and childhood environments of 38 notable 20th-century American women writers. The study rated multiple traits and conditions representing cognitive, affective, familial, and educational aspects. Results focus on the degree of persistence…

A talented child's motivation and artistic gift can suffer when the environment at home and at school are inadequately supportive. It's crucial, therefore, for parents and teachers to understand that any child's involvement in the arts can enhance overall success in academics and in later life. It's just as important to learn about the many ways…

This paper offers a model of the nature and development of talents, which views genetic factors as determining potential strengths and setting limits and views abilities, aptitudes, and intelligences emerging as a result of experiences, motivations, and styles. Specific talents are characterized by precocity, creative insight, a functional…

This book and video are based on a symposium of leaders in the fields of gifted education and middle-level education, which was held to identify and explore areas of agreement in often contrasting philosophies. Emphasis is on identifying areas of agreement between the fields, areas of tension, and promising directions that could engage educators…

Art education in the United States has never been on a firmer footing than at the present time. It faces a future secure in the knowledge that during the past 10 years its social, economic, and educational values have been demonstrated and acknowledged and generally put into practice. Educational leaders no longer ignore it; rather one finds an…