John F. Feldhusen

Comparison of Trained and Untrained Teachers of Gifted Students

Leaders in the field of gifted education have presented models for both instructional programs for gifted students and correlated teacher training, but research on or evaluation of the effects of these training models is meager. This study showed that teachers trained in gifted education demonstrated greater teaching skills and developed more positive class climates than did teachers who had no training in gifted education. Students of GT trained teachers reported greater emphasis on higher level thinking skills and on discussion, and less emphasis on lecture and grades than did students of untrained teachers.

Achievement motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective

The purpose of this article is to provide an illustrative review of recent research on achievement motivation and gifted students from a social cognitive perspective. The review discusses several constructs that have been a focus of motivation research: perceived competence and self-efficacy, attributions, goal orientations, and intrinsic motivation. For each construct, motivational research from the general motivation literature and from the field of gifted and talented studies are critiqued and compared. The review suggests that a general social cognitive perspective is a useful theoretical framework for research on motivational processes involved in the intellectual and personal development of gifted and talented students and that a process-oriented model is superior to a static model for research on both giftedness and achievement motivation. Implications of the review for future research on motivation and talent development are discussed.

Grouping Gifted Students: Issues and Concerns

Gifted and talented students need instruction at a level and pace as well as conceptual complexity commensurate with their advanced levels of ability and achievement. Grouping heterogeneously and providing cooperative learning in heterogeneous groups leads to lowered achievement and motivation as well as poorer attitudes toward school. Academic achievement of American youth is lower than the achievement of youth in many Asian and European countries. If we wish to sustain or increase the academic achievement of American youth they should be grouped for instruction according to ability and achievement levels, but grouping practices should be flexible, and rigid tracking should be avoided.

Anxiety, intelligence, and achievement in children of low, average, and high intelligence.

The relations among various cognitive abilities and between cognitive and psychomotor abilities of school children are being clarified through widespread and continuous research. Much less is known about the relation between affective characteristics and cognitive abilities. However, anxiety with moderate to high tension, whether artificially induced through experimentally controlled stress or present in the subjects from unspecified sources, has been shown to reduce learning efficiency (1, 3, 5, 6). The purpose of the present. study was to ascertain the relation between anxiety as measured by a test and IQ and between anxiety and school achievement in children of low, average, and high IQ. Basically, the present study attempts to extend and clarify the work of Sarason and of McCandless, Castaneda, and Palermo with children of elementary school age. Sarason (8) reported that anxiety correlated negatively with IQ and with achievement. Eight correlations were reported between Otis IQs and scores on the Sarason Test Anxiety Scale (7); the children were enrolled in grades 2 through 5 in two schools. The correlations ranged from --.o12 to -.284; four were significant at the I per cent level. Of eight correlations, ranging from -.oo02 to -.294, between scores on standardized

Specialized Counseling Services for Gifted Youth and Their Families: A Needs Assessment

Although many authors have recommended counseling for the gifted (Colangelo, 1991; Kerr, 1986; Silverman, 1993b), little research has been done to find out what types of counseling services parents, teachers, and counseling professionals believe to be most beneficial to the development of gifted and talented individuals (Myers & Pace, 1986; Passow, 1991; Shore, Cornell, Robinson, & Ward, 1991). In this study 335 parents, school personnel, and related counseling professionals were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the specialized counseling needs of gifted children and adolescents as part of a needs assessment for a proposed university-based counseling center. Results indicated that all groups of respondents believed that gifted and talented youth have important social, emotional, family and talent and career development needs that can best be met by differentiated counseling services; and that such services are not readily available to gifted youth. Implications of the study for the development of counseling services and the training of counseling professionals are discussed.

Long-Term Effects of an Enrichment Program Based on the Purdue Three-Stage Model.

The long-term effects of an elementary enrichment program for gifted youth were examined in this retrospective study. The enrichment program investigated was a pull-out program based on the Purdue Three-Stage Model (Feldhusen & Kolloff, 1978, 1986; Feldhusen, Kolloff, Cole, & Moon, 1988; Kolloff & Feldhusen, . 1981). Perceptions of students and their families when the students were seniors in high school indicated that ’ the program was successful in achieving its stated goals. The program was also perceived to have had a long-term positive impact on the cognitive, affective, and social development of most participating students and to have been a developmentally appropriate talent development experience. The findings suggest that the Purdue ThreeStage Model is an effective framework for elementary enrichment programs. Implications of the findings for the education of gifted students are discussed. Over the past two decades numerous models have been developed for educating gifted students, and many school districts have implemented programs for these students. How effective have these programs been in achieving their goals and developing talent io participating students’) Research is needed to answer this question (Cor nell. Delcourt, Bland, & Goldberg, 1990: Fox Washington, 1985; Horowitz & O’Brien, 198:--): Hunsakcr & Callahan. 1993: Passow, 1989: Spavin. 1990a). In fact, the National Center for Research on the Gifted and Talented has identified longitudinal research on student outcomes of gifted programming as the highest research priority for the field of gifted education in the next decade (Gubbins & Reid. 1991)_

Boredom or Challenge for the Academically Talented in School

This paper examines the hypothesis that gifted children are bored in the conventional classroom. A total of 227 students, identified as academically talented; and 226 not so identified were given a questionnaire which indicated that gifted students often begin with positive attitudes towards school but fail to maintain these attitudes because of the lack of appropriate challenge. However, there was no difference between the groups in level of boredom.

A conception of giftedness: Intelligence, self concept and motivation

Current conceptions of giftedness and intelligence are reviewed and a conception of giftedness as an interaction of intelligence, special abilities or talents, self concept and resultant motivation to achieve is presented. An important distinction is made between those traits which can be identified in young children and those behaviors which should serve as the goals or outcomes of a program for gifted students. The authors conclude that motivation, self concept, and creativity should not serve as components of an identification scheme, but instead should be major goals of gifted programs.

It's not how the pond makes you feel, but rather how high you can jump.

development. In summary, Marsh and Hau (2003) should be commended for their painstaking effort to put together this very impressive multinational study. However, to further this line of research, the theoretical basis of the BFLPE needs to be broadened in light of the extant social comparison literature. Specifically, it needs to take into account the complexity and multifaceted nature of social comparison and self-appraisal processes; the active, self-regulatory role individuals play; and the ensuing positive as well as negative consequences. The authors are prudent in pointing out that this single study, with its methodological limitations, should be interpreted in a broader context of the research literature along this line of inquiry. It also appears that the practical significance of the model will remain unclear until the question of for whom and under what conditions the BFLPE will outweigh the benefits of attending a selective school is addressed. Keeping a big fish in a little pond is not the optimal solution, at least for many.

Guidelines for Grade Advancement of Precocious Children.

Grade advancement is a legitimate and valuable method of meeting the needs of some intellectually or academically gifted students. Grade advancement is a way of bringing some gifted and talented children up to a level of instruction closer to their levels of achievement and pace. This method of acceleration is available to every school system. This article presents practical guidelines for making grade advancement decisions.