Christine L. Weber - Exploring Critical Issues in Gifted Education: A Case Studies Approach

About the Authors

Christine L. Weber, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Childhood Education, Literacy, and TESOL at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. She instructs teachers in strategies for conceptual teaching and learning, assessment tools, and meeting the needs of gifted learners. She has been a member of the Editorial Review Board for Gifted Child Today since 1998. Under her leadership, the Floridas Frameworks for K12 Gifted Learners was developed in 2007 and disseminated to all school districts in the state. Weber has published numerous articles and presented at state, national (including National Association of Gifted Children), and international conferences related to the education of gifted children. She currently serves as Secretary for the Florida Association for the Gifted (FLAG). She was awarded the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award from the University of North Florida in 2007.

Cecelia Boswell, Ed.D., has more than 40 years of experience in education. She worked throughout Texas writing online courses and managing a variety of projects for Texas Education Agency and conducting research for the Texas International Baccalaureate Schools. Boswell is a member of the board of the Council for Exceptional ChildrenThe Association for the Gifted and author of the publication on strategies for twice-exceptional gifted children, Effective Program Practices for Underserved Gifted Students (with Cheryll Adams). She is also author of RtI for the Gifted Student (with Valerie Dodd Carlisle). Boswell is currently the executive director of advanced academic services for Waco Independent School District in Waco, TX, where she has developed a new Middle School Academy for gifted/talented students in grades 68.

Wendy Behrens, M.A. Ed., serves as the Gifted and Talented Education Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education, providing leadership and consultation services for educators, administrators, and parents. She provides technical assistance to and collaborates with institutions of higher education, professional organizations, educator networks, and others interested in promoting rigorous educational opportunities. Prior to her service to the state, Behrens worked for 12 years as a district K12 gifted services coordinator and a consultant for the Science Museum of Minnesota. She is a frequent presenter on instructional strategies, assessment, comprehensive service design and evaluation, and policies that support gifted education. She has been invited to make presentations on various topics related to the education of gifted and high potential at-risk learners in the Middle East, Far East, and Europe.

She serves on the board of the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted, as Chair of the Development and Fund Raising Committee for the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), and is a member of the NAGC Policy Task Force and advisory councils for the Northwestern University Center for Talent Development and the University of St. Thomas.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the administrators, teachers, counselors, parents, and students who inspired our case studies. We particularly wish to recognize Dr. Susan K. Johnsen for her reflections on the value of case studies in professional development. We also extend a special thank you to graduate assistant Amanda Laukitis for her tireless and meticulous editing of our work.

Appendix A

NAGC PreKGrade 12 Gifted Education Programming Standards

Gifted Education Programming Standard 1: Learning and Development

Introduction

To be effective in working with learners with gifts and talents, teachers and other educators in PreK12 settings must understand the characteristics and needs of the population for whom they are planning curriculum, instruction, assessment, programs, and services. These characteristics provide the rationale for differentiation in programs, grouping, and services for this population and are translated into appropriate differentiation choices made at curricular and program levels in schools and school districts. While cognitive growth is important in such programs, affective development is also necessary. Thus many of the characteristics addressed in this standard emphasize affective development linked to self-understanding and social awareness.

Standard 1: Learning and Development

Description: Educators, recognizing the learning and developmental differences of students with gifts and talents, promote ongoing self-understanding, awareness of their needs, and cognitive and affective growth of these students in school, home, and community settings to ensure specific student outcomes.