When a program for gifted children in Massillon, Ohio, was being developed, the planning team built into the program proposal a provision for staff development for classroom teachers. The goal of this training of third through sixth grade classroom teachers was to facilitate the bridging experience for the identified gifted students and to provide…

The paper reviews programs for gifted students in various countries, with particular attention to definitions of gifted students, identification procedures, program offerings, and evaluation procedures. The paper examines these aspects of programing in the following countries (sample subtopics in parentheses): Australia; the Union of Soviet…

The study was designed to provide background information on which to base a program for gifted and talented students in Alberta. Questionnaires, on-site visits, and interviews were used to compile non-statistical and descriptive data on current programs for the gifted throughout Canada and the United States. report contains sections on the…

The guide presents six papers designed to help people become effective advocates for gifted and talented children. In "Effective Advocacy: Understanding the Process and Avoiding the Pitfalls," P. Mitchell considers such obstacles as using an adversarial rather than a persuasive approach and being impatient. She charts a procedure for more…

A rationale is presented for teaching gifted students to gain computer literacy, learn programing, use utility software (e.g., word processing packages), and use interactive educational courseware containing drills, simulations, or educational strategy games to develop higher level and creative thinking skills. Evaluation of courseware for gifted…

Life goals and commitment are integral to developmental processes and satisfactions in adulthood and aging. Yet the maintenance and pursuit of appropriate goals and commitments during the aging years may pose particular challenges for the individual within the social context of normal aging. This study examined goals, activity participation, and…

The paper reviews the paradoxical nature of idiots savants, persons who, although retarded, have exceptional skills in certain areas. Various explanations for the phenomenon are discussed, such as a specific genetic endowment, a specialized compensatory response to general intellectual deficiency, and possession of an eidetic memory. Various…

This report summarizes data gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics on the number of special education degrees conferred from 1980-81 to 1985-86. This time period showed an uninterrupted decline in the combined number of bachelor's and master's degrees conferred. Most dramatic losses occurred in the areas of physical handicaps,…

The work of "A Better Chance," a Boston (Massachusetts)-based national talent search and referral agency is described in this document. The agency seeks out academically able minority students and places them in private preparatory schools or select public secondary schools. The program involves identifying and recruiting students, matching…

The study concerning ways in which gifted and talented adolescents cope with their giftedness had three purposes: (1) to identify those strategies used by gifted adolescents to cope with the sense of feeling different from peers; (2) to examine any patterns of change in strategy use that might occur in various circumstances at particular ages; and…

Five papers look at facets of leadership and its development in the schools. The first paper, "The Development of Pupil Leadership" by Joe Cawood, looks at definitions of giftedness which include leadership, and offers an inverted pyramid model of leadership development in schools. The second paper, "Class-Based and Subject-Related…

The handbook is intended as a guide to help teachers and coordinators in programs for gifted and talented students. Sections present situations and suggestions for action in the following topic areas with sample situations: school administration (refusal of district administration to apply for state aid); coordination responsibilities (request by…

Deductive reasoning problems were presented to 72 public elementary school students, half of whom were identified as gifted (mean age of 9.6 years) and half of whom were regular education students (mean age of 9.3 years). They were used to test an hypothesis that gifted children who score significantly higher than average on standardized…

A program director at an Ontario school for the blind discusses the phenomenon of giftedness in blind students. A section on identification addresses factors involved in IQ measurement, language, creative and productive thinking, high capacity for seeing diverse relationships, goal oriented behavior, sensitivity to expectations and feelings of…

This research report provides an evaluation of a screening program to identify potentially gifted or handicapped children among new entrants to New York City schools. Chapter 53 of the New York State Education Laws (1980) requires screening of students in the areas of physical development, cognitive skills, receptive and expressive language,…