The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of different counseling strategies on the self acceptance, personal adjustment, and social adjustment of gifted adolescents. Subjects, age 13 to 16, were identified as gifted based upon a performance of 120 IQ or above on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices. The 89 subjects were assigned to one of four groups and the groups were randomly assigned to treatments: counseling only, consultation only, counseling-consultation, or control. Counseling included 25 gifted adolescents in a 12-week group counseling program focusing on communication skills. Consultation included the parents of 21 gifted adolescents in a six-week program focusing on communication skills. Counseling-consultation included 23 subjects in a 12-week group counseling program and their parents in a six-week consultation program, both focusing on communication skills. The control group included 20 subjects who received a standard developmental counseling program. The design of the study was a multi-group pretest-posttest control group design. Scales of the California Psychological Inventory, Adjective Check List, and writing sample were determined in an a priori manner as being appropriate measures of the dependent variables. Data was analyzed by an analysis of variance, Bartlett's-Box F test of homogeneity of variance, and Scheffe's post hoc comparison test. Further analysis was performed when necessary by an analysis of covariance. The results of the study indicated that there were significant differences among counseling strategies on self acceptance when measured by the writing sample and on personal adjustment when measured by the California Psychological Inventory and the writing sample. There were no significant differences among counseling strategies, however, on self acceptance when measured by the California Psychological Inventory and the Adjective Check List; on personal adjustment when measured by the Adjective Check List; and on social adjustment when measured by the California Psychological Inventory, Adjective Check List, and writing sample. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the areas of disagreement among experts on important issues in the education of the gifted in the United States, and to answer the following questions: (1) Which key issues are perceived by the panel of experts as being the most important? (2) Which of the issues deserves top priority? (3) On issues deemed most important, what action should be taken at the national, state, and local levels? (4) What are the experts' definitions of the term "gifted"? Two pilot studies were conducted in which 12 issues important to gifted education emerged. Data for the main study were collected by means of a modified Policy Delphi method in which a selected panel of people knowledgeable about the issues was surveyed. The study, consisting of three rounds of questions, was conducted by mail over several months with a panel of 29 acknowledged experts in the field. The six critical issues in gifted education, in order of panelists' priorities, were: (a) curriculum for the gifted; (b) procedures for identifying children for gifted programs; (c) selection and training of teachers for the gifted; (d) special populations of gifted (handicapped, females, minorities, underachievers, pre-school, and the highly gifted); (e) goals of gifted programs; and (f) definition of the term "gifted." Panelists agreed on 53 actions that should be taken at the federal, state and local levels. At the federal level, actions should be in the form of catalytic support, research on the issues, and dissemination of research results. At the state level, guidelines, standards, and procedures regarding the various issues were suggested. At the local level, the majority of panelists' suggestions concerned policies and procedures regarding curriculum for the gifted and teacher training. The definition of the term "gifted" was divided into three components: giftedness, the gifted child, and the gifted adult. The definition statements agreed upon by panelists for the gifted child emphasized potential; for the gifted adult, performance; and for giftedness, both potential and performance. / Ed. D.

M.S.

The purpose of the study is to determine what selected school districts throughout the state of Texas are doing to meet the Texas Gifted and Talented mandate at the high school level, grades 9-12. The study is also to help determine if more guidelines from the state are needed, or if schools are able to meet student needs and mandate requirements as they currently exist.

Significant emphasis is currently placed on STEM education as a vehicle to encourage American youth to enter science, technology, engineering, and math-related professions. Gifted students are a natural resource of future innovators for these fields; however gifted programs are largely overlooked for program support. Since 1973, the Virginia Department of Education has sponsored a unique model of regional magnet programs for gifted and talented students called the Virginia Governor's Schools. These schools provide accelerated and differentiated curricula, often in the STEM subjects. As evaluation is a strong component to achieve more funding to meet the scientific and technological demands of these programs, the researcher explored the evaluation reports of five STEM-focused Virginia Governor's Schools. The purpose of the study was to collect consequential evidence of an untested rubric instrument used for the evaluations. A descriptive analysis of the instrument's criteria ratings, a content analysis of evaluation reports, and a thematic analysis of eight evaluator interviews were conducted. Results were triangulated to reveal that the five Governor's Schools met (n= 80.0%) or exceeded (n= 13.87%) evaluation metric standards, and shared similar strengths and areas of needed improvement. Triangulated evidence supported the argument that the instrument addresses gifted students as independent learners, faculty as education innovators, and promotes STEM-capable citizens through scientific research and civic service. Information collected during the study was intended to assist evaluation designers in determining rubric efficacy and provide recommendations for planned future revisions. / Ph. D.

There is little attention and consensus in science education for gifted learners, leading to insufficient support and understanding of their needs, which hinders their potential development as future scientists and professionals. Utilizing a narrative research design, the study explores the experiences of nine scientists identified as gifted in childhood, through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and document reviews. The research addresses three pivotal questions: (1) How do scientists, who were identified as gifted in their childhood, navigate their gifted identity from childhood to adulthood, and how does this affect their social relationships and self-perception? (2) How do scientists, who were identified as gifted in their childhood, perceive and describe the critical elements that contribute to their exceptional performance? (3) How do scientists, who were identified as gifted in their childhood, reflect on the impact of their K-12 science education on their development and career choice? Findings reveal that participants’ exceptional performance in science was influenced by various factors such as individual abilities, family background, motivation, support, opportunities, and luck, and education. The impact of K-12 science education varied, with dissatisfaction in early years due to a lack of challenging curriculum, but more satisfaction in high school due to advanced classes and programs. These insights contribute to the development of educational policies and programs that better meet the needs of gifted learners in science, ultimately helping them to realize their full potential as future scientists and professionals.

No description available.

Although gifted underachievers have been the subject of many studies, the possible connection between depression and underachievement had not been previously investigated. Effective counseling programs for high school student.s were lacking. A technique from family counseling literature, reframing, was recommended for use in the school setting. Sixty underachieving gifted students from local high schools were randomly selected and assigned to treatment/no treatment groups. A randomized pretest/posttest design was used to examine the effect of a brief intervention strategy in a single counseling session on Beck Hopelessness Scale scores, progress reported by teachers, and grade point averages. Various attribute variables were also considered. Results from a stepwise multiple regression support the effectiveness of the intervention in improving grade point averages. One of the significant factors on higher Hopelessness Scale scores was higher mothers' income. However, many mothers were not working outside the home making results difficult to interpret. On the other hand, the lower fathers' income contributed significantly to explaining· variance in higher Hopelessness Scale scores. Females and lower pre-GPA were also significant factors in explaining higher Hopelessness Scale scores. Family status (having an intact family) and higher pre-teachers reports accounted for higher post teachers' reports. The pre teachers' report, second quarter of the study, the intervention, and pre-GPA were significant factors in improved postGPA. Indications are that the underachievers group have higher rates of hopelessness than achievers. Some of the recommendations include reframing as a tool of the school counselor, (1) use of (2) use of the Beck Hopelessness Scale as a screening tool for identifying depression in the high school gifted, and (3) examination of depression in gifted underachievers in further studies. / Ed. D.

This qualitative investigation of the use of humor in written expression of sixth-grade children was conducted with two major questions as focus: 1. Are there identifiable conventions of initiated usage in the types and frequency of humor expression in written work of sixth-grade gifted students? 2. Are there identifiable conditions which tend to elicit humorous written expression from sixth-grade gifted children? An analysis of three examples of written work by each of 169 students in five Gifted Center classes indicated considerable use of humor. Patterns of usage emerged, the most conspicuous pertaining to frequency of humor use in the three assignments. Frequency of humor use paralleled the continuum of intimacy of the assignments. Humor appeared most often in the most intimate assignment. Humor was used least in the least intimate assignment. Interpretations of this pattern are suggested in terms of societal awareness and self-disclosure. Wit appeared more often than any other category of humor technique, indicating a preference by these youngsters for that form of humor which involves the greatest amount of cognitive ability. The relatively little use of Dig, the biting humor technique, is viewed as possibly related to the absence of emotionally laden subject matter. Students identified as gifted in all areas with no distinguishable bent used humor more often than any other group. Although those students gifted in Math used Wit less than did any other group, this may not have indicated a lack of creativity in these high IQ children as Creativity was considered an attribute of intelligence. Children of working mothers used humor to a greater degree than did those whose mothers were at home, possibly related to the greater independence and lesser conformity fostered in the former. The teacher's manner of dealing with the behavior and work of students: informal, demanding, non-directive, traditional, appeared to be more highly related to student humor production than was the personality/style (static or dynamic) of the teacher. Implications for education were discernible and areas for future investigation became evident. / Ed. D.

This study centers around the evolution in theory and practice used in dealing with superior children. The manner in which the growth of democracy has influenced this evolution is pointed out.