The Chemistry/Physics Program at Evanston Township High School was designed to provide an environment for the rigorous teaching of advanced science and mathematics to accelerated students. This type of student makes up the bulk of students in the Advanced Placement Chemistry and Physics classes. However, there is a small number of students who…

This study investigated the reliability and structural validity of Elementary Reading Attitude Survey ([ERAS]; McKenna and Kear, 1990) scores in 575 academically talented students attending an academic summer program. Results indicated that ERAS Academic and Recreational scores had satisfactory internal consistency coefficients, and that…

Which are the characteristics leading teachers to judge a child as "gifted"? To answer this question 384 German primary school teachers were asked to describe a gifted child in their own words as well as on a 90 item rating scale. A total of 192 teachers, who declared they had never instructed a gifted child, described a fictitious…

Maximum academic achievement for gifted and talented students can only be accomplished when teachers are given the tools, support, and training needed to strengthen instructional skills and develop knowledge of the social and emotional needs of the students they serve. Providing meaningful professional development to develop or enhance these…

Traditional conceptions of talent generally emphasise the construction of threshold values and the development of relatively unitary abilities, and this approach still dominates talent development programmes for elite sport. Most researchers on high ability, however, now favour domain-specific, multidimensional conceptions of ability that stress…

This article contrasts two major attempts at educational reform with regard to literacy. Starting with a brief background to the introduction of the National Literacy Strategy, together with an analysis of research into effective literacy teaching, it presents qualitative research carried out in the form of a comparative study of the National…

Research shows that social circumstances influence the development of an individual's high abilities. This paper identifies the micro-social1 factors in the development of entrepreneurial giftedness. Specifically, the paper considers the family milieu, 'significant others' and great contemporaries in the case of Richard Branson, the most…

This study is part of an ongoing, funded project, which seeks to develop workable criteria for the identification of talented pupils in physical education. Using interviews with teachers and qualitative data analysis, it focuses on the experiences of practitioners in the secondary phase of schooling in one English city. The study found a…

The Pathways to Teaching Careers Program was a national recruitment effort started in 1989 to bring teachers of color into the teaching profession. This effort was instrumental in forging the investment of some $50 million for a series of grants that included 26 programs in 66 colleges and universities, located in 43 cities in 26 states (the…

This issue of the Center's "Systems Newsletter" will be the last one published under the aegis of Dr. JoyceVanTassel-Baska, the Center's founder and current Executive Director. As of this August Dr. VanTassel-Baska will officially retire from the College of William and Mary and the Center. She will still be an integral part of the Center…

The Williamsburg/James City County (WJC), Virginia School System employs a wide variety of professional support personnel (PSP). Little has been done to properly evaluate and monitor PSP or programs with which they are involved as the focus is on classroom teacher evaluation. PSP are reluctant to be evaluated by persons who have little knowledge…

These conference proceedings consider the unique needs of gifted and talented individuals, focusing on state-of-the-art knowledge regarding school reform initiatives, cooperative learning, creative achievement, social-emotional development, differentiated curriculum, charter schools, and parenting issues. Summaries are provided of the following…

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (1983) suggests that human cognitive competence is best described as a set of abilities, talents, or mental skills. All human beings possess each of these intelligences to some extent, but individuals differ in the levels of development and nature of their combination. The seven intelligences…

This conference presentation begins with an outline of the assumptions involved in a theoretical model for the teaching of creatively gifted young children. The assumptions include: (1) creativity is continuous, not dichotomous; (2) creativity is a dynamic, interactive, and multidimensional process; (3) creativity may encompass intentionality but…

The Self-Description Questionnaire-II (SDQ-II) was used to assess the self-concept of 148 very talented students during an intensive summer academic program. The domain of Physical Abilities was the only area in which students' mean scale scores were below the mean. In fact, a significant number of students (approximately one-third) scored two…