No description available.

This study investigates the impact that teacher attitudes and experiences have on their understandings of the social and emotional characteristics and needs of gifted and talented children. It addresses the issues within Aotearoa New Zealand Primary school settings. The study used a mixed methodology approach. Quantitative data was collected in the form of questionnaires to collect information from a range of participants and to identify potential participants for individual interviews. More in-depth qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with four teachers. The findings suggest that many teachers are uncertain about the social and emotional characteristics and needs of gifted and talented children. Teachers expressed positive attitudes towards gifted and talented children while acknowledging their lack of personal knowledge about gifted and talented education. The findings also identified teachers‘ frustrations at barriers affecting their ability to support gifted and talented children‘s social and emotional needs in their classroom programmes, including, limited personal knowledge and skills, lack of professional development, lack of time to spend with gifted and talented children, and school directed priorities for meeting the needs of other children. The findings of this study have implications for teachers wanting to support gifted and talented children, educators interested in the social and emotional needs of gifted and talented children, and those responsible for gifted and talented education (GATE) programmes and GATE professional development. It would seem that it is highly desirable for all teachers to have professional development in gifted and talented education, in order to better understand social and emotional aspects, and thereby provide a more supportive environment where gifted and talented children can learn and grow.

Given the many school choices available to parents, there is a need to understand the reasons parents of a child who is gifted choose to keep their child in his/her current school. Parents* satisfaction with their child*s school and their academic growth is essential to continued enrollment of the child in that school (Abdulkadiroglu, Angrist, & Pathak, 2011; Van Tassel-Baska, 2006). The parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school may be influenced by factors within the school as well as those factors outside of the school. The purpose of this study was to research factors that may influence the parents* decision to keep their child who is gifted enrolled in their current school. The research studied parental perceptions of academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education for their child who is gifted and the parents* willingness to keep their child who is gifted enrolled at their current school. The target group in the study was parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in a very large urban school district but did not include parents of children who are gifted and also have a disability. The research included the analysis of a survey and follow-up interview questions with parents of a child who is gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. There were 683 survey responses out of 4,401 total parents surveyed with a return rate of 16%. The low return rate is considered a limitation of the study and it is recommended to conduct additional research on the majority of parents who did not participate in the survey. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 10 randomly selected parents of children who are gifted and enrolled in the very large urban school district. The survey and interview data was coded and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics. There were two research questions that guided the development of the research process and the analysis of data. The first question focused on indicators of parent satisfaction that included academic needs met, social and emotional needs met, and principal support for gifted education. The survey and interview data yielded mixed results with parents split between the belief that their child*s academic needs were met, social and emotional needs were met, and that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The second research question considered the relationship between the three indicators of parent satisfaction and the parents* willingness to consider enrolling their child in a school solely for students who are gifted. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between the parents* belief that their child*s academic needs were met and the parents* consideration to send their child to a school solely for students who are gifted. However, there was a lack of evidence to establish a relationship between parent*s belief about their child*s social and emotional needs or the parents belief that their child*s principal was supportive of gifted education. The implications of the study are numerous. There are enough parents willing to consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted to support opening the school. The majority of the survey participants had elementary school children; therefore, consideration should be focused on opening an elementary school for students who are gifted. Long range planning is needed to determine how to support the school for students who are gifted as well as the impact of transferring the students from one school zone to the school for students who are gifted. The literature reflected the diverse nature of the parents* satisfaction with academic support, social and emotional support, and principal support for gifted education and revealed that when the parents* are satisfied it does not guarantee that the parent will keep their child enrolled in their current school. The need for on-going communication between the school and the parents are critical to keeping the student enrolled in their current school. Further research is needed to determine the beliefs of parents with children who are gifted and identify themselves as Black, Hispanic, Asian, or another race since the majority of the survey participants were White. More research is also needed to determine the reasons why large numbers of parents would consider sending their child to a school solely for students who are gifted regardless of their satisfaction levels with school support. In addition, further research needs to be conducted to determine why parents would choose to keep their child enrolled in their current school when the parents believed their academic or social and emotional needs were not met or their principal was not supportive of gifted education.

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

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of staff development on the nomination and identification of culturally diverse and/or economically disadvantaged students for gifted programs. Teachers kindergarten through fifth grade from ten districts (N = 100) received 30 hours of staff development in gifted education. The experimental group (n = 50) received a specialized version of the training. The control group (n = 50) received the standard training provided by the Education Service Center. Teachers in the experimental group completed three Stages of Concern questionnaires at the beginning and end of the training and in the fall. Two Levels of Use interviews were also conducted, one in the fall and one in the spring. Innovation configurations were developed utilizing interview results. A repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted to determine differences in concerns of teachers over time. The results revealed growth, however, not of a significant level. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to determine differences in levels of use of the instructional strategies presented in the training. Again, results revealed growth in classroom application of strategies; however, the amount of growth was not significant. A paired-samples t-test was conducted on the components of the innovation configurations. Differentiated instruction was not significantly different, however, grouping strategies and student products showed significant growth in classroom application. Student nomination and identification data were analyzed across six ethnicities: White not economically disadvantaged, White economically disadvantaged, Hispanic not economically disadvantaged, Hispanic economically disadvantaged, African American not economically disadvantaged, and African American economically disadvantaged. Chi-square analyses determined statistical significance in nominations of Hispanic economically disadvantaged and African American not economically disadvantaged. Significant differences in placement of students occurred in White economically disadvantaged and Hispanic economically disadvantaged groups. No Hispanic not economically disadvantaged students met placement criteria.

Enligt skollagen har alla elever rätt till stimulans i utbildningen. Alla elever “ska ges den ledning och stimulans som de behöver i sitt lärande och sin personliga utveckling för att de utifrån sina egna förutsättningar ska kunna utvecklas så långt som möjligt enligt utbildningens mål.” Skollagen (2010:800, 3 kap. 2§). Internationell forskning visar att elever som ”resonerar och utmärker sig med skärpa” behöver stimulering utöver det vanliga skolarbetet.  Förmågan att kunna utmärka sig med skärpa utöver det vanliga skolarbetet är ett fenomen som beskrivs som särbegåvning.  Studien bidrar till kunskap om lärarens egen uppfattning och reflektioner kring särbegåvning i den svenska grundskolan i relation till sitt eget yrkesutövande. Studien är gjord utifrån ett fenomenografiskt perspektiv vilket innebär att kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare har analyserats för att förstå tolkning av fenomenet särbegåvning. Empirin har analyserats och kategoriserats efter frågeställningarna för att framställa och diskutera forskningsresultatet.   Resultaten visar att, även om det råder en ovisshet och oenighet hos lärare kring begreppet särbegåvning, så kunde alla lärare i studien framgångsrikt identifiera attributen för den särbegåvade eleven samt var överens om att det finns ett behov av ytterligare resurser och stöd i lärares arbete med dessa elever. Utbildning om särbegåvning och särbegåvade elevers förutsättningar inom lärarkåren anses som viktig för framtiden. / According to the Education Act in Sweden, all students have the right to stimulation in education. All pupils “must be given the guidance and stimulus they need in their learning and personal development so that they can develop as far as possible according to the goals of education and in accordance with their own abilities.” Skollagen (2010:800, 3 kap. 2§). International research shows that students who give evidence of the ability for exceptional achievement need stimulation in addition to the usual schoolwork. The ability to excel with exception is a phenomenon described as gifted and talented. The purpose of this study is to understand the teacher’s perceptions and reflections on the phenomenon of gifted and talented students in Swedish primary schools. The study has used a phenomenographic perspective, which means that qualitative interviews with teachers were analyzed to understand their interpretations of the phenomenon gifted and talented. The data was then analyzed and categorized according to the research questions in order to present and discuss the research results.  The results show that even though there is uncertainty and disagreement among teachers over the concept of gifted and talented, all the teachers in the study could successfully identify the attributes of the gifted student and they agreed that there is a need for additional resources and support in their work. Further education, about gifted and talented students, for the teaching staff was considered essential for future progress.

Gifted adolescents who experienced a randomized lottery process to continue attending their school are the focus of this study. For more than 10 years, sixth-grade students at a Northern California school for gifted students have participated in a lottery process to continue attending their school for seventh and eighth grades. This study describes the reflections of nine lottery participants, and the social and emotional effects that a school lottery has on adolescents. The student perspectives were gained through in-person interviews and participants’ written impressions. Stress and anxiety were commonly endured by all participants. The study explores other effects such as reliance on support networks consisting of friends, families and teachers for social and emotional well-being.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the various categories of giftedness can be adequately identified in an under-resourced rural area. To supplement the literature, a focus group was held and informal interviews were conducted with people in the area of research. Giftedness was ultimately defined as both potential and product which cannot be separated from the community where the person lives. Apart from causes of underachievement such as poverty, illiteracy, lack of equipment, low motivation and difficult home circumstances, it was found that fear is a powerful hindrance in the actualisation of giftedness, as there is a strong belief that learners who stand out amongst their peers could fall prey to witchcraft. In order to adequately identify giftedness, an identification method which is used by the Faculty of Education at Unisa, was applied to 10 learners. Various talents additional to academic talent were found among the respondents. The identification method was finally evaluated according to certain identification criteria. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)