This survey of 43 governors' schools for talented youth focuses on student recruitment and selection procedures, such as ages included, eligibility criteria, efforts to achieve balanced representation, and selection criteria. The paper concludes that student selection should consider three perspectives: talent development, egalitarian factors, and…

An inquiry-based high school science class was developed to create a learning environment that would facilitate the development of scientific talent in students in a comprehensive high school. The class was designed to motivate students to pursue a sophisticated, substantial, independent scientific investigation over 2-3 years. (JDD)

Explains that although society views gifted students as not in need of special assistance, these students do experience difficulties, many of them become droputs, and require extra help. Offers 10 broad proposals, such as placing more emphasis on talent development, for reaching out to at-risk talented students. (MKA)

A study of six talented males in an urban high school found they had a strong belief in self that was influenced by the following factors: relationships with supportive adults; involvement in extracurricular activities, sports, special programs, and summer school experiences; and family support. (Contains extensive references.) (Author/CR)

In Hardin (Montana) schools, where 55% of students are American Indians, the same identification methods are used to identify gifted students among all cultural groups. These methods include nonverbal standardized tests and subjective recommendations based on the Frasier Talent Assessment Profile. Other equitable practices include equal…

Describes the School Enrichment Model (SEM), a systematic set of strategies for increasing student effort, enjoyment, and performance and for integrating varied advanced learning experiences and higher-order thinking skills into existing curriculum or school organization patterns. SEM enhances three key school-improvement dimensions: the act of…

This interview with Joyce VanTassel-Baska discusses the growth of talent search programs to identify highly gifted students via the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the role of computer technology in what can be offered to gifted students. Also identified are key characteristics of gifted elementary, middle, and secondary school programs. (CR)

This article describes recent developments in gifted education in New Zealand. Government initiatives that have resulted in professional development programs and the creation of a gifted and talented community within the Ministry of Education's Online Learning Center are discussed, and recommendations by the Working Party on Gifted Education are…

Presents three viewpoints on how Russian pre-service teachers should be trained in order to successfully educate gifted children. Believes that the teachers should be talented themselves and explains that this ideology is adhered to in training future teachers by the collectives of pedagogical training schools in Cheliabinsk Oblast (region). (CMK)

This article describes Camp Invention, a summer one-week day camp program for students in grades 2-6 that is designed to develop creativity in gifted students. The curriculum of the camp features hands-on, interactive activities in science, history, math, and the arts. Examples of activities undertaken in 2001 are provided. (Contains one…

In this essay the practical functions of the arts and crafts, in general, have been furnished as empty places into which specific practices can be put. The essay unfolds as two interlocking narratives. The first is the story of epistemological ambiguity inherent in the representation of knowledge. The second is the tale of political exclusion of…

One of the most important experiences in a child's life begins when he starts formal school, most often at age 5. Going to kindergarten is thrilling and sometimes scary but always an adventure. At this time, children come together from all walks of life; all types of families; at all levels of development; and with a vast array of skills,…

This article describes several initiatives in which Creative Problem Solving, in combination with career exploration and mentoring, has been used successfully to identify and develop the talents of "at-risk" populations. During the past decade, the Lost Prizes project helped turn around the lives of talented but troubled high-school…

If the academic needs of the most profoundly gifted students can be met through the use of existing educational practices, specialists in gifted education can assume that the educational needs of less able, but still academically talented, students can also be met by using some combination of these strategies as well. This paper illustrates the…

The identification of academically gifted children from the perspective of aptitude theory is discussed. Aptitude refers to the degree of readiness to learn and to perform well in a particular situation or domain. The primary aptitudes for academic success are (a) prior achievement in a domain, (b) the ability to reason in the symbol systems used…