The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship, among gifted students, between scores obtained on the Structure of Intellect-Learning Abilities (SOI-LA) test and two measures of achievement: teacher assigned grades and scores obtained on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). This study was based on the assertion that academic abilities should be linked to specific cognitive abilities measured by the SOI-LA subtests. Significant, positive relationships between academic abilities and SOI-LA subtest scores would imply that curricula based on the Structure of Intellect theory, in areas identified as deficient by the SOI-LA tests, may increase achievement among the gifted population. One hundred fifty-seven academically gifted students enrolled in grades 5 through 7 during the 1984-1985 school year were selected for this study. All of the participants qualified for admittance into the Gifted and Talented (GAT) program in a south central Kentucky school district. The SOI-LA and CTBS were administered between November 1984 and April 1985 by one of two GAT teachers; classroom teachers additionally provided grades in reading, language arts, and mathematics. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that: Convergent Production of Semantic Systems (NSS) alone was the best predictor model for teacher assigned math grades. Cognition of Semantic Relations (CMR) and Divergent Production of Semantic Units (DMU) together provided the best predictor model for teacher assigned reading grades. None of the SOI-LA test variables proved significant predictors of teacher assigned language arts grades. The combination of Evaluation of Symbolic Classes (ESC), Cognition of Semantic Relations (CMR), Convergent Production of Figural Units (NFU), Memory of Symbolic Implications (MSI), Convergent Production of Symbolic Systems (NSS), and Cognition of Symbolic Relations (CSR) provided the best predictor model for CTBS math scores. The combination of CMR and CMU was shown to be the best predictor model for CTBS reading scores. The best predictor model for CTBS language scores was Convergent Production of Symbolic Transformations (NST), ESC, Memory of Symbolic Units-Visual (MSU-V), DMU, MSI, CMR, and NFU. Pearson product-moment coefficients were additionally calculated to facilitate the interpretation of the multiple regression analyses. An explanation for the SOI-LA test's relatively poor predictive power for teacher assigned grades, compared to standardized test scores, may be the subjective nature of the assigned grades rather than the validity of the SOI-LA test.

<p> Who are talented and gifted (TAG) students and how do we meet their unique needs in the elementary school setting? The body of literature clearly articulates the unique intellectual, social and emotional needs and characteristics of TAG students. Additionally, the literature supports the implementation of differentiated teaching strategies and affective curriculum to help meet these unique needs. This descriptive phenomenological study allowed gifted children, in fifth grade from a Pacific Northwest suburban elementary school, to share their lived experiences through reflective narratives and art. The data collected generated a central theme of Friends and general themes of Awareness, Feelings, Learning, and TAG Programming. Experiences that included friends were, by far, the most commonly shared; however, the participants also shared stories of wanting to be challenged and how they appreciated teachers who were more creative in curriculum delivery. Delisle (2012), Jessiman (2001) and Bergmark (2008) assert that in order to make progress in school reform and/or improvement we need to listen to our consumers and by consumers they are referring to our students. This study captures the gifted child's experience in elementary school and allows their voice to be heard.</p>

<p> High school students in accelerated academic curricula including Advanced Placement (AP) courses and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs are faced with unique challenges associated with their rigorous academic demands, in addition to normative adolescent stressors. Because of the increasing popularity of AP and IB among high-achieving youth and benefits realized by students who successfully manage such curricula, there remains a need to better understand the experiences of stress and coping among this population. The current study used longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons to (a) investigate the degree to which students in accelerated curricula experience environmental stressors and employ coping strategies to manage academic stressors, and (b) determine which stressors and coping strategies were associated with student success. The longitudinal sample consisted of 184 students from six high schools within three school districts who completed the six-factor Student Rating of Environmental Stressors Scale (StRESS) and 16-factor Coping with Academic Demands Scale (CADS) at Time 1 (grades 9-11) and one year later, at Time 2 (grades 10-12). The cross-sectional sample included 2,379 students (grades 9-12) from 19 high schools within five school districts who also completed the StRESS, CADS, and the Students Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS); grade point averages (GPAs) were gleaned from school records. Findings indicate that AP and IB students reported more frequent stressors specific to academic requirements over time, while older students (e.g., 11^th and12^th grade) also reported experiencing more frequent stress due to academic and social struggles and financial issues than their younger counterparts. Regarding coping strategies, findings from longitudinal and cross-sectional comparisons suggested students tend to respond to higher stress by increasing their use of maladaptive strategies including reliance on substance use, reduce effort on schoolwork, and deterioration. Predictive analyses indicated that environmental stressors explained 4-7% and 17-23% of the variance in academic achievement and life satisfaction, respectively. High-achieving students' stress due to academic requirements was related to greater academic success, while it did not appear to compromise life satisfaction. Moreover, while stress due to academic and social struggles was predictive of diminished life satisfaction, stress within this domain was not predictive of poorer academic outcomes. Coping strategies used to manage academic demands accounted for 13-20% and 23-32% of the variance in achievement and life satisfaction, respectively. Students who employed time and task management, sleep, and deterioration to cope were more likely to experience higher academic achievement, while those who coped by seeking academic support, skipping school, engaging in social and creative diversions, using substances, reducing effort on schoolwork, and handling problems alone were less likely to be academically successful. Additionally, those who used cognitive reappraisal, turning to family, and social and athletic diversions were more likely to experience high life satisfaction, while those relying on creative diversions, reduce effort on schoolwork, handle problems alone, and deterioration were less likely to have high life satisfaction. Implications of findings for key stakeholders, including schools psychologists, and future directions for research are discussed.</p>

<p> Research shows that biases exist in regard to teacher nominations for gifted programs in the areas of student gender, ethnicity, and SES. On the other hand, there is a lack of research regarding behavioral characteristics of the student and the impact of those characteristics on teacher nominations to a gifted program. Additionally, there is a paucity of research that has examined the collective impact of behavioral characteristics of the student in conjunction with other student attributes such as gender, ethnicity, SES, and teacher nominations to gifted programs. For purposes of this study, the behavioral characteristics discussed were positive and negative gifted characteristics found in the literature. This was a quantitative research study using survey research where participants were asked to read and respond to a case vignette. Participants were 633 elementary education teachers from two mid-size school districts in the Southeastern United States. Each participant was randomly assigned one of 16 case vignettes. Eight of the vignettes depicted a student displaying positive gifted characteristics, while the other eight depicted a student displaying negative gifted characteristics. The other student characteristics of gender, ethnicity, and SES were interchangeable among the 16 vignettes. The results of this study show that the student's behavior does play a significant role in the teacher's nomination decision for the gifted program. Results indicated students displaying positive gifted characteristics were three times more likely to be nominated to a gifted program than a student exhibiting negative gifted characteristics. When stratified by various student characteristics (i.e. gender, ethnicity, and SES), teacher nominations were significantly associated with student behavior, with students exhibiting positive gifted characteristics more likely to be nominated than those displaying negative gifted characteristics.</p>

<p> Giftedness is typically defined as above-average ability, task commitment, and creativity (Renzulli, 2012). However, this definition is socially constructed and leans on the literacy practices of the dominant culture. Understanding various contributors and barriers to giftedness (Suboknik, Olszewski-Kubilis, &amp; Worrell, 2012) can help identified students interrogate their own assumptions about their positions in the school system as well as those of teachers and peers. Since the gifted support classroom is relatively immune from the curricular pressures of the regular education classroom, it provides an ideal context for students to use various literacy practices to reflect on the complex dynamics of the public school system including the ways in which dominant literacies are valued over others generally and in regards to giftedness identification and services. </p><p> This practitioner-research study followed six gifted fifth-grade readers through a four-month long weekly Book Club as they used literacy and dialogue to reflect on, construct, and critically consider their academic identities. An inductive approach was used to generatively code responses and analyze the data. Using literature and informational text, the work supported students in using a critical lens to articulate their academic identities, consciously contemplate the expectations placed upon them in the school setting, and consider the implications of their positioning in that context. They engaged in social practices that aided in and demonstrated comprehension and agency, resulting in their re-conceptualizing the notion of giftedness. In addition, participants viewed giftedness through the perspective of culture, ethnicity, and language. Students' transaction with and dialogue surrounding various text types served as a way to challenge the socially constructed notions of giftedness and the structures that support such definitions.</p>

<p> Pressure has been put on educators to increase the achievement of all students, yet the primary emphasis has been put on moving low-performing students toward base proficiency instead of improving the proficiency of all student groups (Baum, Renzulli &amp; Hebert, 1995; Colangelo, Assouline &amp; Gross, 2004; DeBray &amp; Blankenship, 2013; Xiang, Dahlin, Cronin, Theaker &amp; Durant, 2011). Additionally, educational leaders are increasing the push for students to be engaged in rigorous academic courses, oftentimes without appropriate support for either the students or staff (Cleaver, 2011; Plucker, Giancola, Healy, Arndt &amp; Wang, 2015; Schaps, 2005; Smarick, 2013; VanderArk, 2014; Walton &amp; Spencer, 2009). </p><p> The goal of this study was to examine the support systems provided for students in advanced academic programs and their level of academic success. By examining not only student populations, but also the educators that may be providing support, a unique opportunity is created to compare and determine the outcome through multiple lenses. In order to explore this topic, surveys were created containing both open and closed-ended questions on the views of academic, emotional and social support provisions as well as future planning and effectiveness of all support areas. Surveys and semi-structured follow-up interviews were conducted with three participant groups; alumni, administrative personnel, and teachers. Triangulation of information was accomplished with the use of additional statistical tests which were performed to determine the relationship between support and student success. </p><p> Quantitative results determined that there was no correlation between any of the four support areas and student success. However, qualitative results disagreed with the statistical results and provided rich information on not only the view of support that was provided, but also the areas of concern and frustration for all three participant groups.</p><p>

abstract: Learning academic vocabulary is part of the curriculum for elementary students. Many gifted students learn new words easily but do not necessarily feel positive about studying vocabulary at school. They also do not transfer these words to their own writing. This researcher used games in her own fifth-grade classroom to teach vocabulary and measured the use of these words in the students' writing. This study also examined students' attitudes about learning vocabulary through games. This mixed-methods study used quantitative data to study the students' retention of the vocabulary words, their usage of the words in their writing, and their attitude toward playing games to learn vocabulary. The researcher also used qualitative data to measure the students' attitudes toward learning with games. Three different vocabulary games were used and one editing game was used during this 18-week study. Quantitative data from test scores and questionnaire responses were analyzed comparing pre and post responses. Writing samples and word tallies were collected throughout the study. Students learned the definitions of vocabulary words while playing games and retained the meanings after 18 weeks, achieving a mean score on the posttest of 71%. No significant usage of the relevant words in student writing samples was found. Qualitative data from questionnaires and field notes were coded and analyzed. A significant gain was shown in how students felt about studying vocabulary after playing games. This study showed positive results in all areas measured. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the engagement of Hispanic Advanced Placement science learners in California's Central Valley as perceived by high school teachers. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> The mixed method study surveyed 20 Advanced Placement science teachers from the region of interest. Likert surveys were used to determine: 1) their perceptions of the engagement of Hispanic students by the AP Program, and 2) barriers presented by the AP Program. Quantitative results indicated teacher support for the AP Program and few barriers as currently administered. A focus group of 12 teachers recruited from the 20 surveyed provided qualitative data which gave depth to the study and suggested changes in program practices to inform future teaching. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Participants perceived that the AP Program promotes engagement and learning in high school science classrooms and does not present significant barriers to Hispanic science students' access to the curriculum, learning or course completion. Some changes in practice to improve the AP Program were suggested. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Current AP Program practice meets the needs of Hispanic science learners in the region studied but would benefit from increased science offerings and recruitment in elementary school. Participants indicated that AP Program could be improved if there are more students participating in the Advancement Via Individual Determination Program in both middle and high school thereby equipping them with the skills to be successful. Targeted support for Hispanic learners at the high school level, particularly those who struggle with the vocabulary demands of AP science was suggested. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> A number of studies were suggested that may build on this research project. Among them, surveying Hispanic AP teachers, studying the differences in the level of rigor practiced by AP teachers, and differences between data obtained from the focus group as compared with data from the surveys only. Participants indicated the role of parents on many levels. This may indicate the opportunity to study parent and other family member role models as pertains to college attainment. Differences in AP offerings would be another area for study.</p><p>

abstract: This is a hermeneutic study on experiences being gifted, teaching gifted students and/or raising gifted children. This study focuses on how our horizon, which is a result of our past experiences, has an impact on how we make sense of our world and influences our attitudes and actions. As became clear during the conduct of the research, gender was the dominant characteristic of the horizon and unconscious hermeneutic processes these women used to make sense of their experiences. Gender, it became clear also impacted their self-understanding of who they were, what were their possibilities in life, and the decisions they now make as parents and teachers. For this study the researcher interviewed twelve teachers and parents from two different districts who are involved in gifted programs. Some of them had children involved in gifted classes, some were in gifted programs as a child, some worked in gifted programs as an adult and some were a combination of the three. Data consisted of twelve original interviews. Four of the original twelve were selected and each was interviewed a second time. Data from both interviews was analyzed hermeneutically. Included in the study are each participant's horizon and a topical analysis of the interviews. In addition, a thematic analysis is included which ties each interview to themes and cultural norms. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

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