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 with which this study is concerned is the methods and techniques that are utilized by some teachers in the identification of a gifted student. This study has a threefold purpose. The first is to discuss the plight of some of our valuable human resources as manifested by the gifted in the American educational structure. The second is to present and contrast the current approaches to conserving these resources. The third is to project some possible trends in meeting the needs of the gifted segment in American schools. This study concludes that the field of teaching the gifted has been exploited by educators, and that there is very little likelihood in replacing the suggested methods and techniques entirely by new ones. Though there is little chance to replace all the suggested methods and techniques, there is sufficient room for expansion and internal renovations in the American educational mode of arrnagement.

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

This decade has seen an increasing awareness by the Commonwealth Schools Commission, the ACT Schools Authority, educators and members of the community of students who are gifted in a diversity of areas. A number of programs designed to meet the special needs of gifted students have been developed in some primary schools in the A.C.T. and it is timely that the attitudes of principals, teachers and parents were assessed. To assess the attitudes of the three populations (principals, teachers and parents) toward general attitudes about gifted students, key aspects of planning and organisation of gifted programs, classroom teachers and their knowledge and need of assistance in gifted education; and to explore whether the three populations held different attitudes toward gifted students and the provision of specific programs to meet their special needs, the Field Study candidate developed and administered a questionnaire to members of the A.C.T. Association for Gifted and Talented Children, together with principals, teachers and parents in nineprimary schools in the A.C.T. The results of the questionnaire indicated that all three groups agreed with the proposition that every child was entitled to an educational program that would assist the child to develop to his / her fullest potential. Appropriate extension programs should be run for gifted students in the local primary school, with the involvement of the resource teacher and the assistance of personnel and locations outside of the local school when it was appropriate. Some reservations were expressed toward the level of parent participation in the identification procedure, program planning and program evaluation, and classroom teachers were seen to require assistance in the areas of identification, program planning and the evaluation of programs designed to meet the special needs of gifted students. The Field Study concludes that local A.C.T. primary schools could meet the special needs of gifted students. This could be achieved by principals, teachers and members of the School Board developing and implementing special educational programs by utilising Special Project funding, additional staff and professional development opportunities which are currently available in limited amounts through the ACT Schools Authority and the Commonwealth Schools Commission.

In 2008, Bryan ISD decided to establish a magnet program for gifted middle school students. The program followed the school-within-a-school model and was housed in an existing middle school situated in an area of the district where a high percentage of the student population came from low socio-economic homes. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to gain an understanding of the experience a gifted student goes through in choosing to attend a new gifted magnet program housed in a school away from their home campus. It examines how students arrived at their decision by taking an in-depth look at their thoughts and decision-making processes, the outside influences on their decision, and their expectations of the program. A qualitative case study research method guided this study. The subjects were middle school students in grades 6-8, who were selected for participation based on random sampling for maximum variation. Six students were selected for participation, of which, two were from each of the three grade levels, four were male, two were female, one was African-American, two were Hispanic, and three were Caucasian. Participant interview responses were compared to responses from the entrance applications of the other 123 magnet students at INQUIRE. The responses of the two different groups of students mirrored each other. The results of the study indicated three emergent themes: 1) the desire for challenge overruled the comfort of the familiar, 2) the need to be surrounded by other students who love learning, and 3) the focus was on the future and not the present. The findings of this study indicate that gifted students chose to attend the new magnet program for the academic challenge and the opportunity to learn alongside other gifted students. They had high expectations of what this program would be able to provide them as they strove to reach their goals. The participation of their friends in the new program was not a factor in their decision to attend. INQUIRE Academy was designed to offer something unusual in public education – the opportunity to cluster gifted students together, to provide them the opportunity to be intellectually stimulated and challenged by working with peers of the same ability level, to offer multi-age classes, and to offer acceleration based upon student need. For the students in this study, INQUIRE Academy accomplished these goals.

This study examined issues related to the development of English as a major for gifted students in Vietnam and current and former students' perceptions of the program. The data were collected through an online survey and analyzed through descriptive statistics in order to identify patterns of agreement and disagreement between two groups of 60 current and 30 former gifted students. The results showed that the majority of the participants came from well-educated families and that family influences and traditions had a great impact on their choice of the program. The major reasons for the program selection were identified as its high prestige and students' interest in learning English as a tool for career advancement. Based on current and former students' evaluations, their initial expectations were met as the majority of them expressed satisfaction with the quality of the English education at the school and appreciated its usefulness for their further study and career. The only area of slight dissatisfaction concerned the lack of opportunities to acquire native like pronunciation. The findings were interpreted in view of their implications for the maintenance and further development of the specialized English major program in Vietnam.

abstract: This study investigated the relationship between social emotional competency (SEC) and academic placement in gifted students. Data were collected on children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old (n=206) in three academic placement types - self-contained, cluster and content replacement. Social emotional skills were assessed by teacher report using the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment. Regardless of placements, the gifted students in this study were rated as having higher social emotional competencies than the standardization group of the DESSA. Gifted students in the cluster and self-contained settings demonstrated significantly higher scores in the area of Self-Awareness, which measures students' capacity to understand their personal strengths and weaknesses. When analyzed by gender, no significant differences were discovered between males; however, girls demonstrated significantly higher scores in the areas of Optimism and Self-Awareness in the self-contained and cluster settings. The results of the study have import for the development of gifted programs, especially for gifted girls. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 2015

Bakgrund: Flera studier påvisar att elever med särskild begåvning upplever högre grad av psykisk ohälsa än andra elever. Brist på förståelse och kunskap kring särskild begåvning anses ligga till grund för detta. Det är därför viktigt att utifrån ett livsvärldsperspektiv synliggöra hur särskilt begåvade elever upplever sin skolsituation för att som skolsköterska lättare kunna identifiera dessa elever och bidra till att elevers lärande, utveckling och hälsa främjas. Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva upplevelsen av att vara särskilt begåvad elev i skolan utifrån ett livsvärldsperspektiv. Metod: Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ fenomenologisk metod med induktiv ansats. Studien baserades på åtta intervjuer av särskilt begåvade personer. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i sex innebördsteman; Upplevelse av utanförskap-att känna sig avvikande, utsatt och ensam, upplevelse av att vara understimulerad, begränsad och besviken, upplevelse av att vara missförstådd, sviken och övergiven, upplevelse av acceptans, gemenskap och samhörighet, upplevelse av stöd, hopp och framtidstro, och upplevelse av att bli utmanad, uppmuntrad och erkänd. Slutsats: Elevhälsan och  skolsköterskan har en betydelsefull roll att med sin samlade kompetens identifiera de särskilt begåvade eleverna men också ge stöd och bidra till skapandet av en hälsofrämjande skolgång utifrån varje unik livsvärld. / Background: Several studies show that gifted students experience a lower grade of mental health than other students. Lack of understanding and knowledge about gifted students are considered to be the basis for this. It is therefore important to study from a life-world perspective how gifted students experience their schoolsituation in order to make it easier for schoolnurses  to identify these students and contribute to to promote the their learning, development and health.    Aim: The aim is to describe the experience of being a gifted student in school from a lifeworldperspective. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative phenomenological method with a inductive approach. The study was based on eight interviews of gifted individuals. Result: The analysis resulted in six meanings; Experience of exclusion - feeling deviant, exposed and lonely, experience of not being stimulated, limited and disapointed, experience of being misunderstood, deceiving and abandoned, experience of acceptance, community and togetherness, experience of support, hope and confidence in the future, and experience of being challenged, encouraged and recognized. Conclusion: Studenthealth and the schoolnurse have an important role to identify the gifted students, but also to support and contribute to the creation of a health-promoting school attendance based on each unique life-world.

The present study reflects upon the identification process for gifted or highly able children through a systematic study of the literature, with the aim of providing them with an adequate and stimulating education beginning at an early age. The identification process requires an adequate diagnostic process of giftedness, and creativity is an important determining factor. Creativity, however, is a very complex construct due to differences in definition in the psychology field. This study aims to make a valuable contribution by discussing how to measure creativity in gifted or highly able children, as well as proving recommendations in the diagnostic process. / El presente estudio busca reflexionar acerca del proceso de identificación de los niños superdotados o talentosos, a partir de un estudio sistemático de la literatura especializada, con el fin de brindarles una educación adecuada y estimulante desde edades tempranas. El procesode identificación demanda un proceso diagnóstico adecuado de la superdotación, enel que la creatividad es un factor determinante. La creatividad como concepto psicológico,es una categoría especialmente compleja, debido a que existen diferentes aproximaciones y definiciones de la misma. Este estudio contribuye a dar respuesta a la mejor manera en que se puede medir la creatividad en niños superdotados o talentosos, proponiendo recomendaciones al respecto.

This study aimed to compare the perception of gifted and non-gifted students with respect to the climate for creativity in the classroom, in the disciplines of Mathematics and Portuguese Language, and to investigate the relationship between creativity and perception of classroom climate for creativity. Twenty-one gifted and 27 non-gifted 6th grade students who attended a public school in Brazil participated in the study. The gifted students evaluated teacher’s support to the students’ expression of ideas in Mathematics in a more satisfactory way compared to non-gifted, and they also showed greater interest in learning Mathematics in comparison to Portuguese Language. A positive correlation between creativity and perception of classroom climate was found for gifted students, and negative correlation for non-gifted students. / El presente estudio compara la percepción de clima para la creatividad en el aula, en las clases de Matemáticas y Lengua Portuguesa, entre alumnos superdotados y no-superdotados, así como investiga la relación entre creatividad y percepción de clima para la creatividad. Participaron 21 alumnos superdotados y 27 no-superdotados del 6° año de enseñanza fundamental de una escuela fiscal de Brasil. Los resultados muestran que los alumnos superdotados evaluaron el apoyo del profesor hacia la expresión de ideas del alumno en el aula de Matemáticas de manera más positiva comparado a los no-superdotados. Asimismo, los alumnos superdotados presentaron mayor interés por el aprendizaje en esta asignatura en comparación a la de Lengua Portuguesa. Se encontró correlación positiva entre la creatividad y la percepción de clima en los alumnos superdotados y correlación negativa en los no-superdotados.