Gifted and Talented

A research and development center that provides services to educators, policy makers, graduate students, researchers, parents and students in support of the needs of gifted and talented individuals.

Access: College of William and Mary - Center for Gifted Education

The largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. CEC advocates for appropriate governmental policies, sets professional standards, provides professional development, advocates for individuals with exceptionalities, and helps professionals obtain conditions and resources necessary for effective professional practice.

Access: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

Check out the multiple resources for gifted and talented provided by Cybrary Man.

Access:  Cybrary Man's Website for Gifted and Talented

A national nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted students under 18, their parents, and educators.

Access: Davidson Institute for Talent Development 

Access:  Evaluating Your Gifted Program:  Why?  What?  How?

The Iowa Department of Education shares endorsement worksheet and colleges and universities offering endorsement opportunities.

Access:  Gifted and Talented Endorsement - Iowa Department of Education

Multiple resources are provided by the Iowa Department of Education for instruction of the gifted and talented.

Access:  Gifted and Talented Instruction - Iowa Department of Education

The Iowa DE provides resources on gifted and talented programs.

Access: Gifted & Talented Resources – Iowa Department of Education  

The long form (PDF, 46 pages, 656 KB) has appendices that define acceleration, excerpt state acceleration policies, describe ways to implement acceleration, and provide example referral forms.  The short form of the report provides policy recommendations and a Checklist for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy. You can download the report (PDF, 20 pages, 1.05 MB).

Access: Guideline for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy

 This is the "all-things-gifted" resource.  Hoagies' Gifted Education Page offers resources, articles, books and links for Parents, for Educators, Counselors, Administrators and other Professionals, and for Kids & Teens.

Access: Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page

This manual helps educators discover the true potential and talents of children who are English Language Learners before they become proficient in English.

Access: Identifying Gifted and Talented English Language Learners

This is a tool to help schools make effective decisions regarding a grade-skip. The IAS guides a child study team (including educators, teachers, parents, and other professionals) through a discussion of the academic and social characteristics of the student.

Access: Iowa Acceleration Scale 

This site provides resources for instruction, assessment, and professional learning.

Access: Iowa Core - Gifted Resources 

Iowa's association of interested parents, educators, and concerned citizens is dedicated to meeting the needs of talented and gifted children and youth.  Be sure to check out their connection to "On Line Courses" that includes researched, and catalogued database that allows the gifted to design their own course list and track their personal progress.

Access: Iowa Talented and Gifted Association 

Access additional resources to meet the needs of the gifted and talented.  These resources include the questions and resources to support your answer that you should address as you review, plan for, implement, and assess your gifted program.  AEA contacts are also listed as well as a glossary of terms for gifted and talented. 

1) Who are the gifted and what do they need?

• Common Gifted Education Myths identify the myths and explore the truths.  You can also watch a YouTube video on the Top Ten Myths in Gifted Education.
• Definitions for Gifted:  This document was synthesized by Mary Schmidt, former AEA 11 Consultant for the Gifted.
• PreK-12 Gifted Program Standards  The National Association for Gifted Children provides the standards as well as a description of each, related resources, and guiding questions. 
• Top Ten Myths in Gifted Education   Watch this YouTube video on the top ten myths, shared by students.

2) How do we find and identify the gifted?   

• Early Entry into Gifted Program in Kindergarten  This looks at arguments for and arguments against early entry.
• Gifted and Underachieving - The Twice Exceptional Children  Melissa Sornik explains "twice exceptional" and provides tips to meet the needs of thee children.
• 9 Traits & Characteristics of Young Gifted Children

3) How do we serve the gifted?

• Grouping: This site addresses addresses "cluster grouping" and other forms of grouping of the gifted.
• Gifted and Talented High School Programs Look at this site for program options, teaching strategies, models, forms and examples.  Be sure to check pp 24-26 for components of a high school programming for the gifted.
• Guidelines for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy
• Iowa Acceleration Scale   This tool helps schools make effective decisions regarding a grade skip.  A student/child study team (including educators, teachers, parents, and other professionals) are guided through a discussion of the academic and social characteristics of the student in order to make the best decision for the student. 
• A Nation Deceived  This report highlights disparities between the research on acceleration and the educational beliefs and practices that often run contrary to the research.
  • A Nation Deceived - Executive Summary
  • Volume 1:  Summary of key points (82 pages)
  • Volume 2: Supporting Evidence (190 pages)
• John Renzuli shares his perspective on "What Is This Thing Called Giftedness and How Did We Develop It:  A 25-year Perspective."  This author provides reflections on the 25 years of his work, focusing on the evolutions of models designed to help identify and meet the needs of gifted and talented students. The cited models include the Three Ring Conception of Giftedness, the Enrichment Triad Model, and the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. Summaries focus on the rationale supporting each model, including practical applications of the model in various school situations and underlying research. Also included are insights related to potential modifications and future development of the models.
• Research Synthesis on Gifted Provisions  Dr Karen Rogers updates her earlier synthesis of what the research says about gifted educational provisions
• Research that Supports Using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model and Extensions of Gifted Education Pedagogy to Meet the Needs of All Students  Sally Reis shares a research summary on Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) for all schools interested in developing the strengths and talents of all students. A directory, additional articles, present practices survey, curriculum guides, research studies, and resources are also available at this site.
• Types of Acceleration:  This site provides 20 types if acceleration for the gifted.
• The Underachievement of the Gifted What Do We Know and Where Do We Go?  This article by Sally Reis and D. Betsy McCoach reviews years of studies on underachievement among the gifted. It explores some of the problems of identifying these students. The authors also include suggestions for those interested in pursuing potentially promising new lines of research and inquiry in this area. 

4) Why do the gifted need services?

• It's the Law! The following state laws and administrative rules determine how gifted and talented education is provided and funded:
  • Iowa Code section 256.11  details the required educational standards which included gifted and talented programs.
  • Iowa Code section 257.42 states as part of their school improvement plan, school boards must annually submit program plans for gifted and talented children programs and budget costs to the Department.
  • Iowa Code section 257.44 defines gifted and talented children.
  • Iowa Code section 257.46 and Iowa Code section 257.8 describes gifted and talented funding.
  • 281--Iowa Administrative Code 12.5(12) describes the provisions gifted and talented students requirements in the state's General Accreditation Standards for schools.
  • Funding Gifted and Talented Education in Iowa  This guide defines the current funding formula for gifted and talented education and helps districts carry out and be compliant with the law.

• It's the Right Thing to Do
  • All Gifted Is Local  Explore program traits, starting points, and cultivation of the brightest.
  • High Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind  This publication reports the results of the first two (of five) studies of a multifaceted research investigation of the state of high-achieving students in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era.
  • The New RTI:  Response to Intelligence  Penny Choice's short video advocates for RTI services for the gifted.
  • Position Papers of the National Association for Gifted  The NAGC issues position papers that deal with issues, policies, and practices that have an impact on the education of gifted and talented students and children.

5) How do we know our services to the gifted are working? 

•  Monitoring Educational Plans of the Gifted
•  Program Evaluation
  • Do High Fliers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students  Fordham’s latest study, "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," is the first to examine the performance of America’s highest-achieving children over time at the individual-student level.
  • Gifted and Talented Program Evaluation for Large, Medium, and Small Districts  The Jacob K. Javits Project in the Arkansas  Evaluation Initiatives in Gifted Education provided this template for program evaluation.  Download the document; a chart is provided in the back of the report.

Contacts:

• Area Education Agencies
  • AEA 1 - Keystone
  • AEA 267 - Central Rivers:  https://www.centralriversaea.org/educators/curriculum-instruction-assessment/talented-gifted-tag/
  • AEA 8 - Prairie Lakes
  • AEA 9 - Mississippi Bend:  https://www.mbaea.org/page/talented-and-gifted-tag
  • AEA 10 - Grant Wood:  Contact your regional administrator
  • AEA 11 - Heartland: Kyra Wilcox-Conley
  • Northwest AEA
  • Green Hills AEA 
  • Great Prairie AEA
• Iowa Department of Education
  • Molly McConnell:  molly.mcconnell@iowa.gov

In a desire to provide school districts with MTSS resources for all student abilities, the Department is reviewing and revising the MTSS Advanced Learner document to add to the Universal MTSS framework supported by C4K.  Districts are welcome to continue to use the MTSS for Advanced Learners. Updates and revisions will be provided as the collaboration moves forward. Additional instructional resources may be found at Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and ESSA Support Site.

The only federally funded research organization, known as The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT), has existed since 1990 with various university partnerships. As of 2006, the University of Connecticut partnership is with the University of Virginia. The current research studies for the NRC/GT are an integrated approach to identifying, serving, and evaluating academic outcomes.

Access: NAEG Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut

A non-profit organization of parents, teachers, educators, community leaders and other professionals united to address the unique needs of all children and youth.

Access: National Association for Gifted Children

This site offers a database of researched and catalogued courses for the gifted.  It allows them to research, create, and follow their own progress in available courses.

Access: OnLineCourses.Com

This site provides gifted and talented connections for students, parents/families, and educators.

Access:  Perry Elementary TAG

Iowa Department of Education provides professional learning resources for gifted and talented.

Access:  Professional Learning Resources for Gifted and Talented - Iowa Department of Education

The University of Connecticut is home to the Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development. Studies focusing on meeting the needs of gifted and talented youth have received national and international attention for over 40 years.

Access: Renzulli Center for Cresativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development

Mary Schmidt, former consultant at AEA 11 for gifted and talented, shares this wiki, based on her presentation at the Iowa ASCD Curriculum Leadership Academy.

Access: RtI and the Gifted

Dedicated to fostering environments in which gifted adults and children, in all their diversity, understand and accept themselves and are understood, valued, nurtured, and supported by their families, schools, workplaces and communities. http://www.sengifted.org/

Access:  Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted Children (SENG)

This fun video from the Maryland State Department of Education was produced by the Baltimore County Public Schools Education Channel and features talented and gifted students from the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology. Take a look!

Access:  Top 10 Myths in Gifted Education