The word "talent" is used across many sport disciplines -- to describe an athlete's prowess (i.e. "he is talented"), as a term for what is sought after during assessment and selection (i.e. talent selection camps) or in reference to players to be developed (i.e. "a group of talents"). While the term has received…

We talk about our spatial thinking skills all the time, maybe without knowing that there is an entire domain of cognitive skills that connect these observations. Educators can also recognize these skills in our students. These include students who seem to have an intuitive understanding of computer-aided design and create complex and efficient 3-D…

We talk about our spatial thinking skills all the time, maybe without knowing that there is an entire domain of cognitive skills that connect these observations. Educators can also recognize these skills in our students. These include students who seem to have an intuitive understanding of computer-aided design and create complex and efficient 3-D…

For many years there has been ongoing, lively debate about the use of the term "gifted" when referring to able, talented, and creative students, or students who have the potential to achieve at a high level. Pro-giftedness supporters who use the term appear to lean on the fact that the term "gifted" has been successfully used…

Universal screening is one of the most-common topics and well-accepted best practices within the field of gifted and talented education. There appears to be little disagreement that universally screening all students as part of a gifted and talented identification process results in fewer missed students. But surprisingly, there is little guidance…

Talent identification and development systems (TIDS) adopt a deterministic perspective (i.e. athletes' future state/performances can be predicted by observations of their initial state/performance), which encourages early identification and specialisation in sport. In this framework, the main aim of sport systems is to enhance predictability and…

Debates over identification procedures for gifted and talented students dominate the field and serve as the topic of many of its internal and external debates. We believe this is due to a lack of commonly accepted criteria for how to evaluate identification procedures. In this article, we present the Cost, Alignment, Sensitivity, and Access (CASA)…

Giftedness is usually conceived of in trait-like terms. But it often is expressed in the world in state-like terms--in response to challenging but often unpredictable situations where it is unclear who will rise to the challenges or even how we could know in advance who would be able to address the challenges at hand. Whereas traits tend to be…

This article describes a three-step process by which behaviors are associated with the concept of "giftedness." In the first step, a three-way interaction of a person x task x situation leads to some kind of excellence in a societally significant performance. In the second step, that performance is identified as excellent and societally…

This chapter presents stories of one academic leader's lifelong lessons in learning how to lead. Her experiences span 40 years through multiple stations in life from a young female soldier, to a teacher, and then as an academic. Lessons learned include crafting her leadership values of recognizing others' talents, ensuring inclusivity of all,…

This article discusses concepts related to character strengths and positive youth development and how these ideas can be applied to improve outcomes among gifted young people. A theory with roots in public health, The Theory of Triadic Influence (TTI), is discussed with examples applied to gifted populations. Practitioners and researchers from…

While grades and course load are the top factors in the college admission decision, highlighting special talents or skills can help students stand out in a crowded applicant pool. Counselors and students must put considerable thought into how an applicant will highlight their talents in a college application. Students should start by identifying…

Academic disciplines and professional fields need to engage in ongoing evaluation of their purposes and conceptual frameworks. The complex field of gifted education can benefit from such evaluations, and the refinements that can emerge from them. This article is a discussion between two of the most prominent scholars in the field. The discussion…

Enderun School was a palace educational institution designed for the training of administrative and military staff in the Ottomans. The Enderun School had an important role in the success of the Ottoman Empire. Enderun, a school where especially civil and military administrators were trained, was established to create the necessary manpower…

In this article, we explore how school psychologists who adopt a talent development perspective can play a larger role in cultivating the talent of academically gifted students. Utilizing the talent development megamodel and Ackerman's model of expertise, we outline how school psychologists can consult with school administrators, teachers, and…