The study aims to shed light on what strategies special needs education teachers in some primary schools use to detect gifted students and what support these students can receive in education. I have collected material through semi-structured interviews with four special needs education teachers and one special education teacher from the central student health care.  The theoretical approach in the study is based on Dewey's moral theory since it focuses on how all persons have a function in a democratic society.  The study shows that there is an increased need for strengthened management support in the work with gifted students in primary school. There is a need for a strategy plan for how gifted students are going to be discovered and their needs to be met. The results show that staff in primary schools need extensive competence development in the area of gifted students and that school management/municipality need to take the lead. The informants mean that the subject is important, but often neglected in everyday education. / Syftet med studien är att belysa vilka strategier specialpedagoger och speciallärare i några grundskolor använder för att upptäcka elever med särskild begåvning och vilken stöttning dessa elever kan få i undervisningen. Jag har samlat in ett material genom semistrukturerade intervjuer från fyra specialpedagoger/speciallärare och en specialpedagog från en central elevhälsa. Studiens teoretiska ansats utgår från Deweys moralteori eftersom den fokuserar på hur alla människor har en funktion i ett demokratiskt samhälle. Av resultatet framgår att det finns ett ökat behov av stärkt ledningsstöd i arbetet med särskilt begåvande elever. Det behöver dessutom utarbetas en grundlig plan för hur dessa elever upptäcks av personal i grundskolor. Vidare framgår av studien att personal i grundskolor är i behov av en omfattande kompetensutveckling inom området elever med särskild begåvning. Detta då studiens informanter är eniga i att ämnet är viktigt men tyvärr även åsidosatt.

Many students and their families do not understand the impact of students’ involvement in gifted or advanced academics educational programs and their potentially positive effects and challenges. Nationally African American students are underrepresented in gifted and advanced academics courses in high schools; however, African American students and families often do not advocate for their inclusion in these educational pathways. A survey of literature supporting this study of voices of African American families concerning gifted and advanced academics participation focused on (1) the historical underpinnings for equity and excellence for African American and for gifted and advanced academics learners, (2) how the lack of an agreed upon definition of gifted and advanced academics by the professional field might contribute to the problem, and (3) how African American parents made educational decisions for and with their children, especially concerning college. Employing semi-structured interviews and a focus group, this qualitative case study examined how four students from each of three groups, gifted and talented, advanced academics, and neither, and a representative group of their parents perceived these programs and their children’s involvement in them within the framework provided by a single school district. African American families in this study asked for a partnership to support their children in building resiliency to choose and remain in gifted and advanced academics programs. Students reported that they could access more rigorous coursework if they were supported by mentoring peers, in addition to informed family and educators. The matching intonations and word choices of the children and parents suggested academic success pathways as students carried the voices of their families with them.

The purpose of this study was to compare the peer relationships of highly gifted and highly gifted-highly creative primary students in a gifted classroom of a public school. The study was conducted using thirty-one highly gifted first, second, and third graders who had scores of 140 or better on the WISC-R, WPPSI, or Otis-Lennon. At the beginning of the school year, the Creativity Assessment Packet was administered to the class. The top 20 percent scorers in the class (termed gifted-creative) and those who scored in the bottom 20 percent of the class (termed gifted) on the CAP were targeted for observation. In addition, a sociogram was administered to each student individually for the purpose of determining each child's social status. A bivariate correlation coefficient was employed to express the degree of any relationship between creativity scores and rankings on the class sociogram. Observational anecdotes were used in the discussion of the sociometric results. The following findings resulted from the study. The gifted-creative students, as a group, ranked higher on a class sociogram on measures of friendship and choice of academic work partners than did the gifted group. On sociometric measures of choice of creative work partners, there was no significant difference. During observations, the gifted students displayed approximately the same amount of positive verbal behaviors as the gifted-creative students. The gifted students did exhibit more isolated behavior, especially during academic tasks, than.did their gifted creative counterparts. The gifted-creative group displayed much more verbal and physical aggression than the gifted group. This report concludes that in the gifted classroom under investigation, gifted-creative and gifted pupils differ in their peer relationships thus supporting findings documented in past research. However, information from the sociogram seemed to suggest that the gifted-creative students, as a group, achieved higher social status within this gifted classroom than the gifted students.

Beyond Gifted Education: Designing and Implementing Advanced Academic Programs provides the first comprehensive look at designing and implementing K-12 advanced academic student programs. Written by four leading experts in the field, Beyond Gifted Education takes the concerned gifted program coordinator or school administrator through the process of identifying needs, responding with programming, and then finding students who are well-suited for and would benefit from advanced academic programming. Detailed examples walk the reader through real-world scenarios and programs common to the K-12 gifted coordinator on topics such as cluster grouping, acceleration, and increasing diversity. Throughout the book connections are made to Common Core state Standards, Response to Intervention, and a wealth of outside research in order to support ideas. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1109/thumbnail.jpg

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of mothers whose elementary school-aged children met the criteria for intellectual giftedness in an Ontario school board. Guided by Beach and Mitchell’s image theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study sought to identify (a) the meanings mothers ascribed to the concept of giftedness, (b) their experiences of the assessment, identification and placement process, and (c) the factors deemed important to educational decision making. A postpositivist orientation and rigorous qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected in two phases: an internet-based survey comprised of demographic items and open ended questions, followed by in-depth interviews with five purposefully selected participants. Resultant data from 45 surveys and 15 interviews were coded and organized according to the survey questions and central elements of the theoretical framework. Eight research findings revealed that the experience of mothering gifted children was complex, challenging, emotional, and at times, isolating. Many mothers struggled with the concept of giftedness and how it pertained to their children. As mothers navigated the assessment, identification and placement process, the lack of accessible, timely, and consistent information from the school board posed a considerable barrier, prompting many to reach out to other parents of gifted children for information and support. Factors deemed important to decision making about educational placement included maternal perceptions related to the various options, child specific and practical considerations, and the attainability of specialized gifted programming. Educational decision making was identified as the most difficult aspect of the maternal experience. Given that the study participants were unusually well educated and well resourced, the findings were particularly revealing. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers our understanding of image theory in real life decision making. In addition, the findings give voice to the experience of mothering children identified as gifted, thus making a valuable and original contribution to the literature.

Currently, there is no standard protocol to identify students who are gifted in science. If students are identified as gifted early on in elementary school, teachers and parents can foster their interest, increasing the students’ knowledge, value, and affect as well as their willingness to re-engage science (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; Gottfried & Gottfried, 1996; Häussler 1987; Neber & Schommer-Aikins, 2002; Osborne, 2003; Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008). In this study, a brief student identification form was developed for elementary school teachers to complete. The form was based on Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development. The form was one piece of a more comprehensive identification protocol. Students in grades second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from six Warren County elementary schools were asked to participate in this study. However, due to insufficient data, grades two and six were not used after collection. Few sixth grade teachers completed the forms and second graders did not take the ITBS. This study primarily focused on identifying students from underrepresented populations. These six schools, Cumberland Trace, Bristow, Lost River, Oakland, Richardsville, and North Warren, were chosen based on their larger population of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of mothers whose elementary school-aged children met the criteria for intellectual giftedness in an Ontario school board. Guided by Beach and Mitchell’s image theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study sought to identify (a) the meanings mothers ascribed to the concept of giftedness, (b) their experiences of the assessment, identification and placement process, and (c) the factors deemed important to educational decision making. A postpositivist orientation and rigorous qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected in two phases: an internet-based survey comprised of demographic items and open ended questions, followed by in-depth interviews with five purposefully selected participants. Resultant data from 45 surveys and 15 interviews were coded and organized according to the survey questions and central elements of the theoretical framework. Eight research findings revealed that the experience of mothering gifted children was complex, challenging, emotional, and at times, isolating. Many mothers struggled with the concept of giftedness and how it pertained to their children. As mothers navigated the assessment, identification and placement process, the lack of accessible, timely, and consistent information from the school board posed a considerable barrier, prompting many to reach out to other parents of gifted children for information and support. Factors deemed important to decision making about educational placement included maternal perceptions related to the various options, child specific and practical considerations, and the attainability of specialized gifted programming. Educational decision making was identified as the most difficult aspect of the maternal experience. Given that the study participants were unusually well educated and well resourced, the findings were particularly revealing. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers our understanding of image theory in real life decision making. In addition, the findings give voice to the experience of mothering children identified as gifted, thus making a valuable and original contribution to the literature.

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of mothers whose elementary school-aged children met the criteria for intellectual giftedness in an Ontario school board. Guided by Beach and Mitchell’s image theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study sought to identify (a) the meanings mothers ascribed to the concept of giftedness, (b) their experiences of the assessment, identification and placement process, and (c) the factors deemed important to educational decision making. A postpositivist orientation and rigorous qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected in two phases: an internet-based survey comprised of demographic items and open ended questions, followed by in-depth interviews with five purposefully selected participants. Resultant data from 45 surveys and 15 interviews were coded and organized according to the survey questions and central elements of the theoretical framework. Eight research findings revealed that the experience of mothering gifted children was complex, challenging, emotional, and at times, isolating. Many mothers struggled with the concept of giftedness and how it pertained to their children. As mothers navigated the assessment, identification and placement process, the lack of accessible, timely, and consistent information from the school board posed a considerable barrier, prompting many to reach out to other parents of gifted children for information and support. Factors deemed important to decision making about educational placement included maternal perceptions related to the various options, child specific and practical considerations, and the attainability of specialized gifted programming. Educational decision making was identified as the most difficult aspect of the maternal experience. Given that the study participants were unusually well educated and well resourced, the findings were particularly revealing. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers our understanding of image theory in real life decision making. In addition, the findings give voice to the experience of mothering children identified as gifted, thus making a valuable and original contribution to the literature.

Läromedlet spelar en stor roll i matematikundervisningen i den svenska skolan. På grund av att de har en sådan betydande roll för elevernas möjlighet att träna och befästa deras matematiska kunskaper och förmågor finns det höga krav på att läromedlet ska kunna tillgodose alla elevers behov i klassrummet. Trots detta finns det inte längre någon statlig läromedelsgranskning, något som innebär att det jobbet är upp till lärarna istället. Enligt skollagen ska undervisningen i skolan bidra till kunskapsutveckling för samtliga elever, oavsett tidigare kunskapsnivå. För matematiken innebär det att de uppgifter och problem som eleverna jobbar med måste kunna tillgodose behoven hos elever med svårigheter så väl som med begåvning. Denna studie har undersökt i vilken utsträckning fyra läromedel i matematik för gymnasieskolan kan ge stöd åt matematiskt begåvade elever. Resultatet av studien visar att läromedlen täcker något eller några av de kriterier som forskning visat ger stöd åt matematiskt begåvade elever. På samma gång är det viktigt att understryka att resultatet av studien endast visar potentialen läromedlen har, det är fortfarande upp till lärare att ta tillvara på det material som finns dem tillhanda och använda det på ett sådant sätt att det bidrar till begåvade elevers kunskapsutveckling. / The coursebook plays a key role in the mathematics education in the Swedish school. Because it has such an important role in the students’ abilities to practice and fortify their mathematical knowledge and abilities, there are high standards to be met for the coursebook to accommodate all of the students’ needs in the classroom. Despite this, there is no national review of coursebooks, which means that it is up to the teachers themselves to review them. According to the law, the education in schools should contribute to knowledge development to all students, regardless of their prior level of knowledge. For the subject mathematics, this means that the exercises and tasks being worked on by the students need to meet the needs of students with difficulties as well as giftedness. This study has examined to what extent four coursebooks in mathematics at the upper secondary level can support the knowledge development of gifted students. The results of the study show that the coursebooks meet one or some of the criteria research has shown supports mathematically gifted students. At the same time it is important to stress that the results of this study only show the potential that the coursebooks have, it is still up to the teacher to use the materials available to them and use them in such a way that they can contribute to the gifted students’ knowledge development.

This qualitative study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of a group of mothers whose elementary school-aged children met the criteria for intellectual giftedness in an Ontario school board. Guided by Beach and Mitchell’s image theory and Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study sought to identify (a) the meanings mothers ascribed to the concept of giftedness, (b) their experiences of the assessment, identification and placement process, and (c) the factors deemed important to educational decision making. A postpositivist orientation and rigorous qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected in two phases: an internet-based survey comprised of demographic items and open ended questions, followed by in-depth interviews with five purposefully selected participants. Resultant data from 45 surveys and 15 interviews were coded and organized according to the survey questions and central elements of the theoretical framework. Eight research findings revealed that the experience of mothering gifted children was complex, challenging, emotional, and at times, isolating. Many mothers struggled with the concept of giftedness and how it pertained to their children. As mothers navigated the assessment, identification and placement process, the lack of accessible, timely, and consistent information from the school board posed a considerable barrier, prompting many to reach out to other parents of gifted children for information and support. Factors deemed important to decision making about educational placement included maternal perceptions related to the various options, child specific and practical considerations, and the attainability of specialized gifted programming. Educational decision making was identified as the most difficult aspect of the maternal experience. Given that the study participants were unusually well educated and well resourced, the findings were particularly revealing. The study findings add to a small but growing body of research that furthers our understanding of image theory in real life decision making. In addition, the findings give voice to the experience of mothering children identified as gifted, thus making a valuable and original contribution to the literature.