This study examined the conceptions that 85 gifted elementary and middle school students had of academic fun, using repertory grid techniques. In general, similarities across age and gender were found, though sex differences were found in attitudes toward technology and computer activities and age differences in attitudes toward mathematics.…

This study compared 26 students identified as gifted and talented who transferred to nonresident schools through Minnesota's Open Enrollment program with 60 transfer students not so identified. Academic and educational concerns were the main reasons gifted students chose to transfer. Few members of minority groups chose to transfer. Parental…

Outcome-based education (OBE) is a reform movement that puts equity in the forefront, ties excellence to outcomes, and recognizes giftedness only as it is expressed by achievement. Gains brought about by pull-out, mentoring, and compaction programs may be lost if needs of gifted students are not recognized under OBE. (JDD)

This article describes effects of four reform efforts on the role of the gifted and talented specialist in Oregon including Oregon's Educational Act for the 21st Century, adoption of both site-based decision-making models and integrative education models, and Oregon's Talented and Gifted Mandate. The emerging collaborative consultant role is…

This article explores the effects of labeling children as gifted, including possible sex differences in labeling effects, effects on self-concept and self-esteem, and effects on family and peer relationships. The need for empirical data regarding the process of labeling; the labeling event; and the changed or modified expectations of parents,…

This paper examines the impact of multiple grade skipping on social adjustment and self-esteem of extremely gifted students. A survey of the literature and research in Australia and the United States on well-planned and carefully monitored radical acceleration finds no evidence that students suffered social or emotional problems; to the contrary,…

A survey of 139 teachers and 138 parents identified educational level and family income as predictors of attitudes toward gifted education. Analysis of extracted principal components found that socioeconomic status and contact with giftedness explained 12% and 10%, respectively, of the variance in attitude scores. (Author/DB)

This paper discusses changing aspects of gifted education in the past 40 years in relation to definitions, identification, and service provision. The field is seen to have broadened to a more holistic and dynamic approach in which the complexity of human potential is accepted and the equal importance of family, community, and school is recognized.…

Experts discuss the approaches used with the nations's gifted and talented students. Among the reasons for program problems is the on-again, off-again interest from the U.S. public and policymakers. Highlights milestones in gifted education; theories of acceleration vs. enrichment; and the controversial option of residential schools. (MLF)

No differences are found in scientific hypothesis formulation ability of 36 male and 50 female gifted ninth graders, but investigation of related variables indicates that hypothesis formulation may be independent of intelligence for high-ability students. A positive relationship also exists between quality and quantity of student responses. (SLD)

An Australian survey found that early childhood teachers were very supportive of early identification of gifted and talented children, though many had only a fuzzy definition of giftedness and suggested teacher observation as the best identification technique. Teachers who had been involved in gifted education recommended more specific…

The Summer Mathematics Enrichment for Minority Students program was piloted during 1990 by the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas. The program provided 19 mathematically talented minority junior high students with rigorous academic instruction, role models, on-campus residence, and social/recreational…

A Better Chance, Inc. (ABC) is a national academic talent search agency that identifies gifted minority children and provides them with college preparatory education. ABC uses multiple assessment techniques, including objective factors such as scores on the Secondary School Admission Test, and subjective factors, such as an independent mind and a…

This article describes the development, over 13 years, of the Minnesota Young Inventors Program and Fair, focusing on its program components, including invention instruction and exhibit judging, the inventors fair, exhibit opportunities, plans for the future, and administration. The involvement of community businesses and corporations,…

Questionnaire responses from 6 samples totaling about 2,000 third- and fourth-grade teachers were analyzed regarding the extent to which gifted and talented students receive differentiated education in regular classrooms. The study found that teachers made only minor modifications in the regular curriculum, with provision of thinking and…