Systematic observations of thousands of high school students in the California Mentally Gifted Minors/Gifted and Talented Education programs identified five principles underlying the development of high level thinking skills in this population: (1) Exceptional performance on any criterion requires mutually reinforcing antecedents, the effects of…

The paper, originally given at a 1986 Ethnic and Multicultural Symposium, discusses the continuing underrepresentation in gifted and talented programs of Black and Hispanic children and the need for early identification and nurturing of gifted Black and Hispanic students. The Program of Assessment, Diagnosis, and Instruction (PADI) is described.…

The paper provides guidelines to rural school districts developing community support and resources for their gifted education programs. The following seven questions are addressed: (1) Does your gifted/talented program and community need a formal community resource development team? (2) If so, how should it be developed? (3) How can you get other…

The report presents evaluation findings of a gifted and talented program serving elementary-secondary students in Des Moines, Iowa. A four-part evaluation design was implemented: structural interviews with students and staff; written reaction forms completed by students, staff, and parents; descriptive evaluation of a "culminating activity"…

The study investigated and recorded changes in selected psychomotor skills of an 11-year old gifted male with severe motoric problems identified as dysgraphia. A pre-post test design using videotape evaluation recordings was employed to determine changes in psychomotor performance, and a rating scale was designed to establish baseline and…

The unit provides information on the study of the human brain for students in grades 5-9 with suggestions for extending the lessons for gifted and talented students. Learning activities are offered for ten lessons (sample subtopics in parentheses); introduction to the unit (student pretest and posttest); brain growth; medulla-oblongata-reptilian…

The guide presents information on a creative writing course for verbally gifted senior high school students. Part I of the course consists of general exploration activities on literary forms: the journal, the poem, the short story, and a student selection from among such types as one-act plays, essays or by-lined articles, editorials, and TV (or…

Student leadership can become a malevolent force which can destroy or undermine individuals as well as the school community. Student leaders' roles in schools can also, however, be benevolent, leading to both personal development and school/community development. In schools for blacks in South Africa, black power and student power may combine to…

The keynote address from the proceedings of the 1988 Conference on Academic Talent is presented here. The address criticizes the current educational system for its concentration on college preparatory courses that have little or no hands-on experience. It argues that the existing system does not encourage curiosity, a problem seen as so pervasive…

Operational and organizational principles are suggested for guiding the establishment of networks to facilitate ongoing interactions between the practitioner and scholar communities in mathematics, science, and technology. These networks would define problems that need attention, carry out research on the problems, and incorporate the results of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the types of research methods used to study cognitive processing development in gifted learners, from 1975-1986. Of 870 research publications identified on giftedness, 522 publications (60 percent) dealt with cognitive processing development. Research designs used most frequently were causal-comparative,…

The guidelines presented in this publication focus on the education of gifted students within Catholic schools. Initial sections address the challenge of teaching gifted sudents and note the variety of gifts and talents. Goals are presented for educating gifted students in terms of three areas: (1) school (organizational options, directional…

Historically, two commonly held stereotypes of genius have been that precocity was associated with social failure, and that precocity bred early burnout. Later research on the gifted has refuted these stereotypes. The two studies in this paper investigate whether the stereotypes have changed in light of this new knowledge. In the first study, 66…

The study compared gifted achievers (N=50) and underachievers (N=50) with each other and with average ability achievers and underachievers. Subjects were obtained from the total standard 10 Afrikaans speaking cohort in the Orange Free State (Republic of South Africa). Ability/achievement discrepancy scores were calculated for the entire cohort,…

The paper describes the informatics curriculum (the study of computer hardware and software as a tool in problem solving) in a special school for gifted children in South Africa. The program's aims (including development of a structured approach to general problem solving and stimulation of pupil interest in technology) are listed and discussed. A…