Denna studie består av en analys av den forskning som berör särskild begåvning i mate-matik och hur man stimulerar elever som är särskilt begåvade. Analysen består i största del av en kartläggning och fördjupas sedan genom att redogöra för ett par identifierade teman. Re-sultatet visar att organisatorisk och pedagogisk differentiering är något som gynnar särskilt begåvade elever i matematik. Diskussionen går in på om resultatet är något som enbart kan appliceras på fenomenet särskild begåvning i synnerhet eller alla elever generellt. / This study consists of an analysis of relevant research within the subject, research about mathematically gifted students and how to stimulate these students. The analysis is partly a mapping of the subject and partly a deeper identification of some themes. The result shows that cluster grouping is something that helps stimulate mathematically gifted students. Teacher´s knowledge and commitment to the students is also of great matter to the teaching. The discussion dispute if the result is only applicable to gifted students or students in general.

Sammanfattning: År 2010 ändrades skollagen till att de som nått de krav som ställs i kunskapsform i skolan ska kunna erbjudas stöd och hjälp för att kunna utvecklas ännu mera enligt egen takt. Enligt skolverket (2010) så är 5 % av elever i skolan särskilt begåvade barn. Dessa elever ligger oftast långt före sina klasskompisar och kan i värsta fall tappa helt sin motivation till att fortsätta studera på grund av uteblivet stöd (Skolverket). Persson (2010) hävdar vidare i sin studie att de begåvade barn som nu är vuxna har stor psykisk ohälsa och att många av de som inte fått rätt stöd har även tankar på att ta livet av sig (SKL, 2016). Skolverket fick i uppdrag av regeringen att ta fram ett stödmaterial för dessa elever. Stödmaterialet från Skolverket blev upprättat i form av en broschyr, därefter samarbetade vissa kommuner med Statens Kommun och Landsting och upprättade en handlingsplan för särskilt begåvade elever. Denna studie har som ändamål att ta reda på huruvida det finns en handlingsplan för särskilt begåvade elever i Västerbottens län i sex slumpvis ospecifika kommuner för särskilt begåvade barn. Syftet med denna studie är att förebygga psykisk ohälsa hos särskilt begåvade barn genom att undersöka om stödet genom en upprättad handlingsplan finns överlag i Västerbottens kommuner. Studien innefattar förutom litteraturforskning även en kvantitativ- och kvalitativundersökning, forskning från vetenskapliga artiklar och information från Skolverket.

The diploma thesis aims to map creativity and motivation for learning in highly gifted children educated in common and special classes of primary schools. The theoretical part deals with giftedness, characteristics of gifted children, their identification, ways of education, and it also deals with creativity and motivation. In the empirical part, creativity and motivation of children were compared quantitatively, using data of highly gifted children educated in special classes, and the highly gifted children who attend common classes. The results showed that two factors of creativity, i.e. fluency and flexibility, are comparable in both groups. Factors of originality and elaboration appeared slightly higher in the group of children educated in regular classes. The external motivation was slightly higher among gifted the children educated in special classes. The need for success is higher in the group of children in common classes. In contrast, the fear of failure is higher in the group of children educated in special classes.

This master thesis aims to describe the methods, form of work and educational strategies used in teaching gifted students and to verify their effectiveness in practice though action - based teacher research. The teoretical part contains the results of czech and foreign literature research concerning the issue of gifted education. It focuses mainly on methods, forms and content of education, but also defining the basic concepts of be gifted and be talented, models of giftedness, characteristics and typologies of gifted pupils, their motivation and attitude of teacher, who plays an essential role in the education process of (not only) gifted pupils. The practical part contains the course and evaluation of action teacher research, where I will apply theoretical knowledge to primary school classes with gifted children and verify their effectiveness in practice. The research is divided into two cycles. The first cycle is focused on observing teaching. The other one cycle includes the planning, implementation and reflection of self teaching, into which the theoretical knowledge is applied. The research results showed that the most of knowledge gained in theoretical part of the thesis was verified as effective. Especially creation of own materials, choice of interesting and actual topics. Key words:...

Rektorers pedagogiska ledarskap har betydelse för hur arbetet på skolorna fortlöper med syfte att främja särskilt begåvade elever i matematik och att dessa elever ska få den stimulans de är berättigade. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur rektorer påverkas av ramfaktorer vid resursfördelning i matematik med fokus på särskilt begåvade elever. I studien har intervjuer använts som metod för att ta reda på rektorers påverkan av ramfaktorer vid resursfördelning i matematik. Ramfaktorteorin är den teori som beskriver vilka ramar och faktorer rektorer har att förhålla sig till. Resultatet visar att av rektorerna indirekt drar paralleller till budget i frågan om resursfördelningen, men kopplar också detta till flera andra ramfaktorer som samverkar. Alla rektorer uppger också att lärarnas egen kompetens är viktig för att kunna stimulera särskilt begåvade elever inom matematik. Slutsatsen i undersökningen blir därför att rektorers resursfördelning inom matematik med fokus på elever med särskild begåvning är styrd av flera faktorer och att dessa påverkar. De resultat som finns i studien kan ge ökad kunskap hos lärare eller andra kollegor för att det bidrar till en ökad medvetenhet om rektorers ramar och faktorer i det vardagliga arbetet. / How school works with gifted students depends on the pedagogical leadership of the principals’ and their decisions regarding the distribution of resources. It’s these decisions that define how the students develop and if they get the right kind of stimulants that they need. The aim of this study is to examine how the frame factor theory influences the principals’ work with distributing resources for gifted students in mathematics. This study have been using interviews as method to find out how the frame factor theory influences principals work. The result of the study shows that principals instantly draw parallels to the budget in the question of distribution of resources, but also link this to several other framework factors that interact with each other. All of the principals state that the teachers’ competence is important in order to stimulate gifted students in mathematics. The conclusion of this study is that the principals are controlled by several of the factors in the frame factor theory regarding the distributing resources for gifted students in mathematics. The results from the study can increase the teachers’ knowledge, and other colleagues, and hopefully it can increase an awareness of how the principals' work regarding distributing resources for gifted students in mathematics are affected by the frame factor theory in their line of work every day.

This descriptive multi-case study systematically explored the team teaching relationship between a secondary teacher and a university faculty member. Multiple interviews, classroom observations, and analysis of available data provided insights into the interactions of these particular collegial-teams, drawn together for the purpose of providing rigorous STEM curriculum to high-ability students during a three-week residential program. Data revealed that successful collaboration can be described by the emergent themes of reciprocity, respect, flexibility, and time. It appears that an active interchange, or reciprocity, and mutual respect between partners during curriculum/lesson/unit planning, instructional delivery, and assessment facilitate effective collaborative instruction. Findings further revealed that instructors expressed an overall positive experience with collegial-teaming; one that has been valuable to them as professionals. The university instructors reported acquiring and improving upon their own pedagogical skills, while the high-school instructors reported gains in terms of obtaining in-depth content knowledge. The partnership also assisted in bridging insights between the secondary and college arenas in terms of content and academic expectations at both levels. The overall experience provided professional growth and development that would not have occurred without the unique pairing of a high-school instructor and a university faculty member.

<p>Since teachers’ referrals involve evaluation of students through sustained observation, comprehensive features of giftedness can be identified. In 2007, a project called Having Opportunities Promotes Excellence (HOPE) was launched at Purdue University with funds from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation (Gentry et al., 2015). This 3-year project aimed to help identify giftedness among low-income and ethnically diverse students and serve these students in advanced programs. To do so, the project team created the <i>HOPE Scale</i> (Gentry et al., 2015), an instrument used by teachers to assess the academic and socioemotional characteristics of gifted students. Previous results from Project HOPE served as the foundation for the current studies. This dissertation is comprised of three related research papers investigating the <i>HOPE Scale</i> as an equitable measure for identifying underrepresented students for the gifted services. Following are the purpose and research questions for each of these related studies.</p><p></p><h3><a></a><a>Study 1: Validity Evidence for the <i>HOPE Scale</i> to Identify Gifted Students from Low-Income and Multicultural Families in Korea</a> </h3><div><a></a></div><p></p><h3><a></a><a>Study 2: Exploring Individual and Classroom Characteristics on Students’ Outcome Scores from the <i>HOPE</i> Teacher Rating Scale</a></h3><div><a></a><h3><a></a><a></a><a>Study 3: The Relationship between Students’ Academic Achievement and the <i>HOPE</i> Teacher-rating Scale: Exploration to Equitably Identify Underrepresented Gifted Students</a></h3><br></div>

Matematiskt särbegåvade elever är en elevgrupp som länge inte fått tillräcklig uppmärksamhet inom den svenska skolforskningen. Det handlar om elever som besitter en kunskap inom matematikämnet som sträcker sig långt över vad som anses normalt i förhållande till deras ålder men som ofta hamnar under radarn. Forskning visar att dessa elever behöver speciella anpassningar för att lyckas men att detta ännu inte har gjorts i särskilt stor utsträckning i Sverige på grund av kunskapsbrist. Det har också genom forskning konstaterats att många lärare efterfrågar denna typ av kunskap då de upplever bristen som ett problem. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur några lärare i den svenska skolan, med erfarenhet av att undervisa matematiskt särbegåvade elever, tänker kring identifiering av och anpassning för dessa elever. Undersökningen har genomförts genom en intervjustudie med sex lärare på låg- och mellanstadiet som uppfyller detta kriterium. Deras svar har sedan kategoriserats genom tematisk analys i resultatdelen. Resultatet har också fördjupats genom att kopplas till Gardners teori om de multipla intelligenserna såväl som till det sociokulturella perspektivet på undervisning.Resultatet visar att den kunskap som finns bland lärare med erfarenhet av dessa elever samspelar med aktuell forskning, men är sparsam. Tydliga skillnader har kunnat utrönas mellan de medverkande lärarna. De medverkande speciallärarna besitter mest kunskap. Kunskap som skulle behöva finnas genomgående i den svenska lärarkåren. Vidare menar de medverkande lärarna att de matematiskt särbegåvade behöver utmanas genom berikning, acceleration och nivågruppering såväl som genom motivationshöjande aktiviteter. Samtliga för vilka det funnits belägg genom tidigare forskning. Denna studie bevisar således att det är möjligt att genomföra goda anpassningar för dessa elever i det svenska skolsystemet, något som tidigare diskuterats med grund i organisationens historia av att fokusera främst på elever med svårigheter. / Mathematically gifted students have for a long time lacked attention in the area of Swedish school research. These are students that possesses an ability to learn mathematics that extends far beyond what is considered normal for their age group. Despite that, these students often end up below the radar. Research within the area shows that these students need special accommodations in order to succeed but because of lack of knowledge this have not been done on a large scale in Sweden. It has also been scientifically proven that many teachers inquire for this type of knowledge as this is considered to be a problem.  The purpose with this study is therefore to investigate how a few Swedish teachers, with experience from teaching mathematically gifted students, reason about identification of and accommodations for these students. The study has been implemented by interviewing six low and middle school teachers that meet this criterion. Their answers have then been categorized with thematic analysis. In order to deepen the results further they have been linked to the theory of Gardner´s multiple intelligences as well as a sociocultural perspective on teaching. The results from the study show that the knowledge that exists among teachers with experience from teaching these students is coherent with the one research has established although limited. Distinct differences could be established between the participating teachers based on their education. The participating special teachers possesses the most knowledge. Knowledge that should exist throughout the entire faculty. Furthermore, the participating teachers state that mathematically gifted students need to be challenged by enrichment, acceleration and ability grouping as well as through motivation boosting activities. For all of these efforts there are evidence in research. Therefore, this study confirms that it is possible to implement suitable accommodations for these students in the Swedish school system, a matter that has been debated for a long time.

We evaluated the effects of one year of schoolwide cluster grouping on the academic achievement growth of gifted and non-identified elementary students using a piecewise multilevel growth model. Scores from 186 non-identified and 68 gifted students' Measures of Academic Progress Reading and Math scores were examined over three school years. In 2008-2009 within-class ability grouping was used. In 2009-2010 schoolwide cluster grouping was implemented. In 2010-2011 students once again were grouped only within classrooms by ability and students identified as gifted were spread across all classrooms at each grade level. Results suggest that schoolwide cluster grouping influenced student performance in the year following its implementation, but only for mathematics and not the area of reading.

We evaluated the effects of one year of schoolwide cluster grouping on the academic achievement growth of gifted and non-identified elementary students using a piecewise multilevel growth model. Scores from 186 non-identified and 68 gifted students' Measures of Academic Progress Reading and Math scores were examined over three school years. In 2008-2009 within-class ability grouping was used. In 2009-2010 schoolwide cluster grouping was implemented. In 2010-2011 students once again were grouped only within classrooms by ability and students identified as gifted were spread across all classrooms at each grade level. Results suggest that schoolwide cluster grouping influenced student performance in the year following its implementation, but only for mathematics and not the area of reading.