The article describes private evaluation and consultation services provided to parents of young gifted children, and discusses the benefits of private consultation and the potential role of school personnel in meeting the needs of this population. (Author/JDD)

Third World countries need to produce permanent leadership talent from their own citizens instead of leasing temporary talent from outside sources. This paper describes the low cultural self-image which creates reluctance to support gifted education. A model program is proposed, calling for establishment of a network for exchanging information and…

Comparison of the social behaviors of intellectually gifted and typical three-to five-year-olds in a university laboratory school found no difference in the two groups on a social development scale, but found that gifted children exhibited cooperative play to a much greater extent. (MSE)

Ten outstanding and 10 average teachers of the gifted were interviewed. Outstanding teachers, identified by a panel of experts, differed from average teachers on several critical competencies, including: enthusiasm, self-confidence, being a facilitator, being able to apply knowledge, having a strong achievement orientation, building program…

This study evaluated a mentorship program which involved classroom instruction and actual mentorship experiences for gifted juniors and seniors. A survey of 103 former mentorship students found that the students derived numerous benefits from the mentorship program in the areas of personal, academic, and career development. (JDD)

Results of research in a fifth grade classroom on the characteristics of leaders emerging in four different small group situations found that student leaders (for both verbal and nonverbal activities) tended to be the most verbal students with the most ideas. (DB)

The article describes two approaches, based on the ideas of Jerome Bruner, to helping gifted students handle the social-emotional tasks involved in actualizing their abilities. One approach stresses developmental principles of Bruner while the other applies Bruner's principles to personal and group empowering. (DB)

The family systems of 45 underachieving and 45 achieving gifted male adolescents were compared on the variables of family functionality, family satisfaction, family environment (conflict, achievement orientation, independence, and expressiveness), and achievement satisfaction. Achievement satisfaction and family satisfaction differentiated…

Comparison of the self perceptions of 146 gifted children in grades five through seven in Western Australia with those of nongifted children found that gifted students perceived themselves as more competent than nongifted peers in the cognitive and general self-worth areas but not in the physical and social areas. (Author/DB)

The research investigated what characteristics distinguish high ability/learning disabled (LD) intermediate grade students from average ability LD and high ability students. High ability/LD students were more creative than average LD students but cause the most classroom disturbance and perceive themselves as less efficacious in academic tasks.…

This research review indicates that gifted children demonstrate greater factual knowledge about how their minds work and a greater tendency to generalize strategies to divergent tasks, but do not show a greater tendency to use strategies on their own, maintain strategies over time, or use strategies on tasks similar to the original tasks. (PB)

Meeting the needs of gifted students within the regular classroom requires appropriate uses of cluster grouping, where small groups of students with similar learning needs are assigned to a particular teacher; an extended support system for the teacher; and educational differentiation to meet student needs. (JDD)

Three levels of staff development were provided to 300 elementary teachers to train them in curriculum compacting for high ability students. Teachers eliminated about half of the content for targeted students. Teachers receiving the most intensive training created higher quality compactor forms for students and used more replacement strategies and…

This article describes the internship program developed by the Jackson (Mississippi) Public School District's Academic and Performing Arts Complex. Visual arts internships allow junior or senior students to get on-the-job experience (two hours on each of three days for six weeks) at sites including museums, television stations, and photography…

This article describes the implementation in Brooklyn, New York, of the Diagnostic Testing and Prescriptive Instruction mathematics instruction model, which establishes the level of knowledge of each student and then offers instruction at the student's pace. Implementation involves teacher training, student selection, curriculum development, and…