In 2005, the Ministry of Education in New Zealand released 'The Schooling Strategy, Making a Bigger Difference for all Students' (Ministry of Education, 2005). This is intended as a framework for ongoing effort and improvement in education for the five years from 2005 to 2010. One of the strategic priorities in this document, is to promote evidence-based practice. With evidence-based practice, teachers combine evidence from a number of sources to inform their professional judgements and practice. This includes research evidence about effective pedagogy. Teachers, it states, need to be supported to 'base their practice on principles of what works from research evidence and adapting it to their classroom context' (p.39). In looking at the practices of schools in catering for gifted and talented students, therefore, it is appropriate, to look at the findings of research. This research is useful in underpinning 'best practice'. This study reviews the literature concerning the education of gifted and talented children from both national and international perspectives. It then looks at current New Zealand practice, based on four case-study primary schools. There are very encouraging signs that these schools are well into the journey of catering for their gifted and talented students. Each school in this study has responded to the challenge of provision as best it can, within constraints of individual school situations. Each school also sees the development of this provision as an ongoing process. From Term 1, 2005, all state and state integrated schools must be able to show how they are meeting the needs of their gifted and talented learners. The main findings of this study suggest that even before the amendment to this National Administration Guideline (NAG) 1(iii)c, there were some promising and effective provisions for gifted and talented children within schools. These included school-wide and withdrawal provisions. However, since the change to the NAG and the involvement of schools in gifted and talented professional development courses, there has been increased awareness of the need for classroom teachers to differentiate their programmes in order to more effectively cater for this group of learners. New Zealand primary school classrooms with a learner centred philosophy appear to be well suited to programme differentiation. There is increasingly an emphasis within general teaching practice on individualizing programmes based on assessment data which clearly shows where the child is at, and what the next learning step will be. Current professional development contracts promoting practices such as inquiry learning, curriculum integration and thinking skills seem to have particular promise for this group of learners. It is very evident, however, that a lack of time and energy is a significant barrier for classroom teachers wishing to provide for the specific needs of gifted and talented learners. It is also suggested that some schools, in particular low decile and small rural schools, may be unfairly disadvantaged in their ability to provide for gifted and talented learners. The challenge for schools now, it is suggested, is to continue the journey towards a school-wide commitment to best practice in providing for this group of learners. Special consideration for this group of learners should be integrated into the context of all pre-service training and in-service professional development, as part of a differentiated programme for all learners. A vital component of this is ongoing practical support for teachers based on their expressed need, to enable them to effectively translate theory into practice, and thus implement and embed any appropriate approach, based on research findings, effectively.

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.

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Historically, the suppression of the academic development of gifted African American students, even those with a proven high IQ, resulted from the constraints of segregated learning environments and the generalized racist presumption of the inferiority of African Americans. The lack of federal policy regulating Gifted and Talented Education can be seen in the inconsistencies of every aspect of this work from identification to outcomes. Currently, over 3.3 million children are identified as gifted and talented in the United States. Yet the degree to which students are identified as mentally gifted and receive adequate programming varies dramatically from state to state, from one district to another, and based on race and socioeconomic status. Disparities in the availability and quality of Gifted and Talented Education programs along racial, socioeconomic, and geographic lines remain widespread. Though the misperception that Gifted and Talented students of any race need little support prevails, gifted students who do not have early and adequate access to gifted programming experience adverse effects. Within the historical context of the educational system and current landscape of Gifted and Talented Education, this research sought to answer three key questions. First, where and how do racial disparities manifest themselves in Gifted Education programs across the state of Pennsylvania? Second, what factors are contributing to or driving the underrepresentation of African American students in Gifted Education in Pennsylvania? Third, what strategies are being utilized at Pennsylvania state, district, and school levels to address racial disparities in Gifted and Talented Education and meet the needs of high-potential and high-performing African American students? To answer these questions, the researcher conducted a secondary data analysis of national, state, and district-level Gifted Education data; administered a survey and facilitated interviews with Pennsylvania school and district leaders; categorized participating schools based on best practices in the field of Gifted Education; and reviewed public artifacts including school district websites and annual Pennsylvania Gifted Education progress monitoring reports from 2017-2023. The overarching research themes suggested that disparities in Gifted Education exist throughout the state of Pennsylvania when compared with national data on gifted students overall and, to a heightened degree, gifted African American students. Person, place, and policy-based factors were assessed to be potentially driving and/or contributing to the underrepresentation of African American students in Gifted Education. While limited strategies surfaced that have already been used and documented to neutralize racial inequities effectively in Gifted Education, sound instructional and institutional practices were shared and strategies proposed for consideration. Key barriers to meeting students’ needs, the removal of which could potentially result in significant programmatic growth, were also revealed. In addition, the school and district leaders who participated in the study universally espoused a desire to learn more about Gifted Education, gifted students, and the inequities that impact gifted programming. / Educational Leadership

This qualitative dissertation study examined the ways that nine gifted, bilingual Mexican/Mexican-American students negotiated paradoxes in their academic, linguistic, and cultural identities in a public high school in a large, south central Texas city. One theoretical lens, Critical Race Theory/Latino Critical Race Theory (CRT/LatCrit) was combined with phenomenological research methods to privilege the students' perspectives during the data collection process. An additional theoretical lens, the concept of Figured Worlds, was used to contextualize the setting, Chase High School. Both CRT/LatCrit and Figured Worlds were used to analyze interview, classroom and field observation, participant, school, and district artifacts, federal, state and local data collected over ten months of study. The investigation revealed that the participants braided the domains of community cultural wealth -- aspirational, navigational, linguistic, social, resistance, and familial capital -- into practices that grounded them in their bilingual, bicultural Mexican/Mexican-American identities as successful students. / text