Samples derived from a mailed questionnaire were compared. The sample represented high school, community college and university instructors of mathematics and English. The Kentucky public schools sampled were equally represented among high school, community colleges and universities. The research indicated that of those instructors sampled a very high percentage (97.7%) feel that those high school students shown to be academically gifted would benefit from a college experience before high school graduation. The attitudes of those instructors sampled indicated that multiple criteria – grades, recommendations, standardized test scores and personal interview – were considered the preferred method of selection (82.5%). The attitudes sampled suggested that the high school personnel were better suited to make these eligibility decisions (67.4%). The sampled attitudes concerning the setting of this experience suggest the community college was the preference over the university. By use of Chi-square tabulations, no significant difference between mathematics or English instructor’s attitudes was shown. Using this method of measurement significant attitude differences were shown depending on the group sampled. The attitudes of the three sampled groups did show variation depending upon the question involved. Issues such as eligibility of the students, location of experience, use of credit earned, choice of instructor, distance to the experience and responsibility for administrative costs were considered. The collected attitudes suggested that an academically gifted high school student would benefit from a college level experience before graduation and that there is a real need for change in our educational system to accommodate our most precious resource – the gifted student.

The underrepresentation of minority students in gifted programs is well documented, and is due, in large part, to limited definitions of giftedness and inadequate identification techniques. New methods of locating and identifying gifted minority students must be developed. The peer referral procedure has been cited as one method for locating students who may be gifted but are overlooked by the most common referral source--classroom teachers, but researchers have not investigated directly the use of peer referral for locating minority students in any ethnic group. The subjects were the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students (N = 1564) and their teachers in nine selected schools, divided into three groups: (a) schools with a Hispanic population of over 75%, (b) schools with an equal proportion of Hispanics and Anglos, and (c) schools with less than 25% Hispanic students. Students completed a peer referral form designed to reflect traits of gifted Hispanic students. Also, the number of teacher referrals using the traditional school district procedures was collected. Primary areas of investigation included the (a) relationship between the ethnicity of the nominator and nominee, (b) relationship between the gender of the nominator and nominee, (c) usefulness of peer referral to locate Hispanic students who may be gifted and (d) sensitivity of the peer referral instrument to Hispanic students. Qualitative and quantitative statistical techniques were used, including stepwise logistic regression, cluster analyses, odds ratios, and content analysis. Findings indicated that peer referral was a useful technique for locating Hispanic and Anglo students that teachers did not refer. Few differences were discovered between the Hispanics and Anglos on the instrument. Students referred peers who matched a stereotypical profile of the academically gifted student. In the balanced schools, Anglos tended to nominate other Anglos and Hispanics tended to nominate other Hispanics. Gender nomination patterns varied, depending on the question focus. Peer referral is a promising practice for locating some Hispanic students who may be gifted; however, if minority students who are different from the majority gifted student are going to be found, other methods of referral, besides teachers and peers, are needed. Researchers must continue to explore the differences and similarities between majority and minority children who are gifted.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between intellectual ability of 276 high school students and personality as measured by the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (GZTS) factors. The 10 GZTS traits utilized were: General Activity, Restraint, Ascendance, Sociability, Emotional Stability, Objectivity, Friendliness, Thoughtfulness, Personal Relations and Masculinity. The study was designed to test for the relationship between three IQ groups (high, middle and low) and each of 10 GZTS personality factors. A multiple groups design was used, in which the three groups of subjects were blocked across intelligence. Ten one-way analyses of variance were performed to determine if significant differences between the IQ groups existed on the 10 GZTS factors. None of the analyses yielded significant findings. That is, no significant differences in personality across IQ groups were obtained. Seven non-significant trends between intelligence level and specific personality factors are presented and discussed.

There is much current interest in the field of education concerning the academically gifted student’s needs. Guilford’s Structure of Intellect model (Guilford, 1956) holds particular promise for positively influencing the development of cognitive skills among academically gifted students. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of using a program of instruction based upon Guilford’s Structure of Intellect (SI) model (Meeker, 1969) with children identified as academically gifted. Subjects consisted of 68 fourth-grade students who resided in two counties of northwestern Kentucky and who were identified as being academically gifted. The treatment group consisted of 34 academically gifted fourth-grade students attending various schools in one of the counties. Each student in the treatment group received three hours of instruction per week based on the SI model. This SI instruction was on a resource basis, outside their regular classroom instruction, and lasted for a total of 34 weeks. The control group consisted of 34 academically gifted fourth-grade students who attended school within a second county in northwestern Kentucky. The control group received no instruction based upon the SI model; rather, they received only traditional instruction in a regular classroom. The dependent variables were the abilities of evaluation, memory, cognition, divergent production, and convergent production as defined by Guilford and as measured by the five subscales of the Structure of Intellect / Learning Abilities (SOI/LA) test (Meeker, 1969) which possess independent items across the subtests. A pretest-posttest control group design was used. Five analyses of covariance were computed, one for each of the five dependent variable measures. Results of the analyses indicated significant differences between the SOI / LA scores of the treatment group over the control group at the time of posttesting for all of the dependent variable measures except memory. Results of this study demonstrated that a program of instruction, based upon Guilford’s SI model, positively influenced the development of cognitive skills, as measured by the SOI / LA test, among students in the treatment group.

The problem of this study consists of two phases: 1) to determine the relationship of a) sociometric status, and b) mental health, to intellectual level in a selected sample of sixth-grade children who entered school before the age of six; and 2) to determine the relationship of a) sociometric status, b) mental health, and c) attitudes toward school to the school entrance age in a selected sample of intellectually superior fifth and sixth-grade children who entered school at different ages.

This study examines the influence of family background and structure on academic achievement. The research focuses on the 11th- and 12th-grade population in the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS) at the University of North Texas, Denton. The study examines the variables in family background and family structure that contribute to the students' high academic achievement. Twelve hypotheses related to parents, home environment, family structure and interaction, family roles, and family values are proposed. The multivariate analysis shows that the variables being read to, reading independently, fathers' education, mothers' education, and ethnicity are significant in impacting academic achievement. The study underlines the fact that multiple factors in family structure and background have an influence on academic achievement.

This master thesis aims to describe the strategies, methods and forms of work, which are effective in teaching gifted pupils at primary school. Another aim is to compare the possibility of their applications in integrated and segregated forms of gifted education. The theoretical part summarizes findings about this issue and the aim is to specify the issue of gifted children in relation to the intelligence, creativity and heredity. Based on the analysis of Czech, but mostly foreign literature, this work definine the strategies and methods of teaching gifted students, which are nowadays used in the classroom. The practical part is focus on a qualitative research method aimed at comparing the work of teachers of gifted students in integrated and segregated forms of teaching. Based on the analysis of teaching and subsequent in-depth interviews with teachers, this thesis is trying to figure out how the teacher in a particular form of teaching is working with talented pupil, which teaching strategies he or she is selecting and how these strategies correspond with the literature search in the theoretical part. In terms of research, it is possible to observe the individual approach of teachers who were surveyed on the issue of gifted.

Teaching of cell and molecular biology is often restricted by financial and material limitations as well as a lack of expertise. These problems may be overcome by cooperation with scientific institutions and universities. Some scientists teach select courses under the auspices of high school. Others allow students to fulfill internships at their workplaces. The first aim of this thesis is to describe the characteristics of summer school, wherein the participants are integral for providing feedback on what matters most to them. The second goal of the study is to perform four molecular biology lab lessons in the advanced placement genetics course. The results of a qualitative research conducted among summer school participants have shown the benefits present due to contact that occurs between people of the same genuine interest. Student evaluation of molecular biology lessons performed in the advanced placement course revealed that the lab lessons are feasible and positively accepted by students. The thesis also highlights the importance of cooperation between high school and academia. Key words: molecular biology, DNA, secondary schools, gifted students

Key words: gift, talent, individual access, alternative schools, inovate schools. This graduation these is focused on question of suitability to situate the gifted children into the alternative schools. In the theoretical part will be defined the concept gifted child and will be analysed the principles of chosen alternative schools. In the end of the theoretical part of theses will be evaluated how the alternative schools can be usefull for gifted children. In the experimental part will be confronted theoretical informations with reality. I try aswer the question if and which way is realized the care of these children in reality of the chosen types of the alternative schools. The research for this graduation theses will use an analyse of documents, an observation and a dialog. The elementary basis of theses is supposition that the schools of the alternative types like the schools with the edge for a respect to a child and its individual needs are potencional suitable for the extra gifted children.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att beskriva en kommuns arbete med att upptäcka och bedriva undervisning för elever med särskild begåvning i matematik samt hur detta arbete stöds. Metoden som användes för studien var semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem olika skolaktörer (matematikutvecklare, specialpedagoger och lärare). Den insamlade datan analyserades med hjälp av Cobb och Jacksons (2012) teoretiska ramverk för hur matematikundervisning kan förbättras och utvecklas i större skala. Resultaten visar att kommunen, enligt deltagande skolaktörer, inte arbetar aktivt med att upptäcka särskilt begåvade elever i matematik, men de elever som utmärker sig utreds. Vidare visar resultaten att kommunen, enligt skolaktörerna, bedriver matematikundervisning för dessa elever på olika sätt beroende på elevernas individuella behov och skolans resurser. Resultaten visar även på att skolaktörerna upplever stöd i arbetet med särskilt begåvade elever i matematik genom det kollegiala samarbetet på olika organisatoriska nivåer i kommunen. Skolaktörerna finner även stöd i utredningar och kartläggningar i arbetet kring särskilt begåvade elever i matematik samt anpassat material och fortbildningar kring dessa elever. Från resultatet kan tre slutsatser dras. Den första slutsatsen är att kommunen inte arbetar systematiskt med att identifiera särskilt begåvade elever i matematik. Den andra slutsatsen är att matematikundervisningen för dessa elever bedrivs på olika sätt på den enskilda skolan. Den tredje slutsatsen är att skolaktörerna upplever att de har flera typer av stöd för att arbeta med att upptäcka och undervisa särskilt begåvade elever i matematik. / The purpose of this study is to describe the effort to identify and conduct teaching for gifted pupils in mathematics and how this work is supported in a larger Swedish municipality. The method used for the study was semistructured interviews with five school actors (mathematics developer, special educators and teachers). The collected data was analysed by the means of Cobb and Jackson’s (2012) theoretical framework for how mathematics instruction can be improved and developed on a larger scale. The results show that the municipality, according to participating school actors, does not work systematically to identify gifted pupils in mathematics, only the pupils who clearly distinguish themselves are identified. Further on the results show that the municipality, according to the school actors, conducts teaching in mathematics for these pupils in different ways depending on the needs of the individual pupil and available resources at the respective schools. The results also show that the school actors feel supported in their work with gifted pupils in mathematics through collegial cooperation on different organizational levels. The school actors also find support in the mappings of gifted pupils in mathematics, as well as custom made materials and professional development around these pupils. Three conclusions are drawn from the results. The first conclusion is that the municipality does not systematically work to identify gifted pupils in mathematics. The second conclusion is that mathematics instruction is conducted in different ways at the individual school. The third conclusion is that the school actors experience several different kinds of supports in distinguishing and conducting instruction for gifted pupils in mathematics.