The study aims to shed light on what strategies special needs education teachers in some primary schools use to detect gifted students and what support these students can receive in education. I have collected material through semi-structured interviews with four special needs education teachers and one special education teacher from the central student health care.  The theoretical approach in the study is based on Dewey's moral theory since it focuses on how all persons have a function in a democratic society.  The study shows that there is an increased need for strengthened management support in the work with gifted students in primary school. There is a need for a strategy plan for how gifted students are going to be discovered and their needs to be met. The results show that staff in primary schools need extensive competence development in the area of gifted students and that school management/municipality need to take the lead. The informants mean that the subject is important, but often neglected in everyday education. / Syftet med studien är att belysa vilka strategier specialpedagoger och speciallärare i några grundskolor använder för att upptäcka elever med särskild begåvning och vilken stöttning dessa elever kan få i undervisningen. Jag har samlat in ett material genom semistrukturerade intervjuer från fyra specialpedagoger/speciallärare och en specialpedagog från en central elevhälsa. Studiens teoretiska ansats utgår från Deweys moralteori eftersom den fokuserar på hur alla människor har en funktion i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Av resultatet framgår att det finns ett ökat behov av stärkt ledningsstöd i arbetet med särskilt begåvande elever. Det behöver dessutom utarbetas en grundlig plan för hur dessa elever upptäcks av personal i grundskolor. Vidare framgår av studien att personal i grundskolor är i behov av en omfattande kompetensutveckling inom området elever med särskild begåvning. Detta då studiens informanter är eniga i att ämnet är viktigt men tyvärr även åsidosatt.

The aim of this study was to research how teachers describe their knowledge of gifted students and their mathematics education with these students in grades 1-3. Through qualitative interviews eight teachers has been asked how they identify gifted students, how they adjust the education and what support they would need to befriend gifted students in mathematics education. The results indicate that the teachers are aware of the presence of gifted student in mathematics. The methods to identify and adjust teaching varied between the respondents and certain approaches was more favorable than others according to previous research. Common to all the respondents, however, was the desire for additional resource and commitment from the organization to help benefit gifted talents within mathematics. The conclusion is that today ́s teachers needs more knowledge about giftedness, as well as support in order to further promote learning for gifted students within the teaching of mathematics. / Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur lärare beskriver sina kunskaper om särskilt begåvade elever och sin matematikundervisning med dessa elever i årskurs 1-3. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer har åtta verksamma lärare intervjuats om hur de identifierar särskilt begåvade elever, hur de anpassar undervisningen samt vilket stöd lärarna anser sig behöva för att undervisa särskilt begåvade elever i matematik. Resultatet visar att pedagogerna är medvetna om förekomsten av särskilt begåvade elever inom matematiken. Metoderna för att identifiera och därefter anpassa undervisningen varierade mellan respondenterna samt vissa tillvägagångssätt var mer gynnsamma än andra enligt tidigare forskning. Gemensamt för alla respondenter var dock önskan om ytterligare resurser och satsning från organisationen för att kunna hjälpa att gynna särskilt begåvade elever inom matematikundervisningen. Utifrån detta kan man dra slutsatser om att dagens lärare behöver mer kunskap kring särskild begåvning, samt stöttning för att vidare kunna främja lärandet för särskilt begåvade elever inom matematikundervisningen.

The study aims to describe variation in the expression of students’ mathematical ability and the various ways in which their mathematical aptitude is acknowledged and supported by their teachers, parents and peers in a Swedish context. Ability is defined as a complex of various abilities each of which may be more or less pronounced in a given individual. The study is based on ten case studies of highly able students (ages 6-19). Six of the studies are longitudinal, ranging from three to six years. In order to validate the results of the case studies, two survey studies were carried out involving 180 teachers (preschool to Grade 9 in Swedish compulsory school) and 284 mathematics developers from 229 Swedish municipalities. The survey studies raised questions concerning the teachers’ personal experience of identifying and supporting highly able students, the nature of their everyday teaching, and the support given to able students. The results show that mathematical abilities can take many different forms and there is great need for pedagogical support for this group of students. Since extra resources are rarely available for the benefit of nurturing talent and since there are, as yet, no Swedish national or local policy documents that specifically address the support of talent in students, teachers are on their own in figuring out how to best help able students develop mathematically. The study points to the importance of the social norms that influence the interaction between teacher and student(s): everyday social norms as well as socio-mathematical norms, i.e. norms specific to the subject of mathematics. The latter place considerable demands on the teachers’ mathematical knowledge and competence. The benefits of early interventions, of supportive teaching environments, and of providing the students with challenging tasks and questions are also discussed.

Many students and their families do not understand the impact of students’ involvement in gifted or advanced academics educational programs and their potentially positive effects and challenges. Nationally African American students are underrepresented in gifted and advanced academics courses in high schools; however, African American students and families often do not advocate for their inclusion in these educational pathways. A survey of literature supporting this study of voices of African American families concerning gifted and advanced academics participation focused on (1) the historical underpinnings for equity and excellence for African American and for gifted and advanced academics learners, (2) how the lack of an agreed upon definition of gifted and advanced academics by the professional field might contribute to the problem, and (3) how African American parents made educational decisions for and with their children, especially concerning college. Employing semi-structured interviews and a focus group, this qualitative case study examined how four students from each of three groups, gifted and talented, advanced academics, and neither, and a representative group of their parents perceived these programs and their children’s involvement in them within the framework provided by a single school district. African American families in this study asked for a partnership to support their children in building resiliency to choose and remain in gifted and advanced academics programs. Students reported that they could access more rigorous coursework if they were supported by mentoring peers, in addition to informed family and educators. The matching intonations and word choices of the children and parents suggested academic success pathways as students carried the voices of their families with them.

The purpose of this study was to compare the peer relationships of highly gifted and highly gifted-highly creative primary students in a gifted classroom of a public school. The study was conducted using thirty-one highly gifted first, second, and third graders who had scores of 140 or better on the WISC-R, WPPSI, or Otis-Lennon. At the beginning of the school year, the Creativity Assessment Packet was administered to the class. The top 20 percent scorers in the class (termed gifted-creative) and those who scored in the bottom 20 percent of the class (termed gifted) on the CAP were targeted for observation. In addition, a sociogram was administered to each student individually for the purpose of determining each child's social status. A bivariate correlation coefficient was employed to express the degree of any relationship between creativity scores and rankings on the class sociogram. Observational anecdotes were used in the discussion of the sociometric results. The following findings resulted from the study. The gifted-creative students, as a group, ranked higher on a class sociogram on measures of friendship and choice of academic work partners than did the gifted group. On sociometric measures of choice of creative work partners, there was no significant difference. During observations, the gifted students displayed approximately the same amount of positive verbal behaviors as the gifted-creative students. The gifted students did exhibit more isolated behavior, especially during academic tasks, than.did their gifted creative counterparts. The gifted-creative group displayed much more verbal and physical aggression than the gifted group. This report concludes that in the gifted classroom under investigation, gifted-creative and gifted pupils differ in their peer relationships thus supporting findings documented in past research. However, information from the sociogram seemed to suggest that the gifted-creative students, as a group, achieved higher social status within this gifted classroom than the gifted students.

Beyond Gifted Education: Designing and Implementing Advanced Academic Programs provides the first comprehensive look at designing and implementing K-12 advanced academic student programs. Written by four leading experts in the field, Beyond Gifted Education takes the concerned gifted program coordinator or school administrator through the process of identifying needs, responding with programming, and then finding students who are well-suited for and would benefit from advanced academic programming. Detailed examples walk the reader through real-world scenarios and programs common to the K-12 gifted coordinator on topics such as cluster grouping, acceleration, and increasing diversity. Throughout the book connections are made to Common Core state Standards, Response to Intervention, and a wealth of outside research in order to support ideas. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1109/thumbnail.jpg

<p>De högpresterande eleverna i skolan har precis som alla andra elever ett behov av bekräftelse, stimulans och utmaningar. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa lärares syn på de duktiga eleverna i skolan. Studien kommer även att beröra lärarnas syn på sin egen kunskap, samt hur de arbetar för att stimulera dessa elever i skolan. Studien ger en översikt av tidigare forskning i ämnet. För att uppnå syftet med studien så genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med fem grundskollärare på två olika skolor. I intervjuerna ställdes öppna frågor för att ge respondenterna möjligheten att utveckla sina svar. Resultatet pekar mot att de medverkande pedagogerna upplever en tidsbrist i sitt arbete, att det är svårt att hinna med dessa elever i den utsträckning som önskas. Respondenterna var överens om att diskussionen om de högpresterande eleverna i skolan är viktig. Resultatet visar även att de specialpedagogiska resurserna som finns i skolan enbart går till elever i olika svårigheter och att frustrationen hos pedagogerna ligger i att skapa nya stimulerade och utmanade uppgifter till dessa elever.</p>

De högpresterande eleverna i skolan har precis som alla andra elever ett behov av bekräftelse, stimulans och utmaningar. Syftet med denna studie är att belysa lärares syn på de duktiga eleverna i skolan. Studien kommer även att beröra lärarnas syn på sin egen kunskap, samt hur de arbetar för att stimulera dessa elever i skolan. Studien ger en översikt av tidigare forskning i ämnet. För att uppnå syftet med studien så genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med fem grundskollärare på två olika skolor. I intervjuerna ställdes öppna frågor för att ge respondenterna möjligheten att utveckla sina svar. Resultatet pekar mot att de medverkande pedagogerna upplever en tidsbrist i sitt arbete, att det är svårt att hinna med dessa elever i den utsträckning som önskas. Respondenterna var överens om att diskussionen om de högpresterande eleverna i skolan är viktig. Resultatet visar även att de specialpedagogiska resurserna som finns i skolan enbart går till elever i olika svårigheter och att frustrationen hos pedagogerna ligger i att skapa nya stimulerade och utmanade uppgifter till dessa elever.

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of mothers whose elementary school-aged children met the criteria for intellectual giftedness in an Ontario school board. Guided by Beach and Mitchell’s image theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study sought to identify (a) the meanings mothers ascribed to the concept of giftedness, (b) their experiences of the assessment, identification and placement process, and (c) the factors deemed important to educational decision making. A postpositivist orientation and rigorous qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected in two phases: an internet-based survey comprised of demographic items and open ended questions, followed by in-depth interviews with five purposefully selected participants. Resultant data from 45 surveys and 15 interviews were coded and organized according to the survey questions and central elements of the theoretical framework. Eight research findings revealed that the experience of mothering gifted children was complex, challenging, emotional, and at times, isolating. Many mothers struggled with the concept of giftedness and how it pertained to their children. As mothers navigated the assessment, identification and placement process, the lack of accessible, timely, and consistent information from the school board posed a considerable barrier, prompting many to reach out to other parents of gifted children for information and support. Factors deemed important to decision making about educational placement included maternal perceptions related to the various options, child specific and practical considerations, and the attainability of specialized gifted programming. Educational decision making was identified as the most difficult aspect of the maternal experience. Given that the study participants were unusually well educated and well resourced, the findings were particularly revealing. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers our understanding of image theory in real life decision making. In addition, the findings give voice to the experience of mothering children identified as gifted, thus making a valuable and original contribution to the literature.

Currently, there is no standard protocol to identify students who are gifted in science. If students are identified as gifted early on in elementary school, teachers and parents can foster their interest, increasing the students’ knowledge, value, and affect as well as their willingness to re-engage science (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Gottfried & Gottfried, 1996; Häussler 1987; Neber & Schommer-Aikins, 2002; Osborne, 2003; Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008). In this study, a brief student identification form was developed for elementary school teachers to complete. The form was based on Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development. The form was one piece of a more comprehensive identification protocol. Students in grades second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from six Warren County elementary schools were asked to participate in this study. However, due to insufficient data, grades two and six were not used after collection. Few sixth grade teachers completed the forms and second graders did not take the ITBS. This study primarily focused on identifying students from underrepresented populations. These six schools, Cumberland Trace, Bristow, Lost River, Oakland, Richardsville, and North Warren, were chosen based on their larger population of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.