Gifted Children

Adolescent Perceptions of Family Connectedness and School Belonging: Links with Self-Concept and Depressive Symptoms among Gifted African American and Hispanic Youth

Christian Mueller et al. — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:35:14 PDT

Gifted minority students, particularly those who are African-American or Hispanic, often face significant barriers to their optimal psychosocial functioning and academic achievement. Lack of access to appropriate educational resources, reduced teacher expectations, under-identification and underrepresentation in gifted and talented programs, and outright discrimination all contribute to increased risk and reduced psychosocial and academic functioning among these youth. It is clear from the present results that sources of attachment are important for healthy functioning in gifted African American and Hispanic youth. Given the lack of presence of these students in gifted and talented programs nationwide, and the difficulty in retaining these students once enrolled, researchers and practitioners face increasing need to continue to strengthen the “family-school-community” link in order to enhance resiliency and reduce risk in gifted African American and Hispanic youth.

Examining Associations between Classroom Environment and Processes and Early Mathematics Performance from Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten

Victoria J. Molfese et al. — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:35:14 PDT

One benefit of the No Child Left Behind legislation (2001) has been the increasing attention on the importance of the skills learned in the pre-kindergarten period for later academic achievement. There is a growing awareness that mathematics skills in kindergarten and beyond are influenced by the formal and informal mathematics skills acquired in the pre-kindergarten classroom. In recent years, a body of research has emerged pointing to the contributions to children’s learning from pre-kindergarten program quality as indexed by structure and process elements in the classroom. Results from this study point to three major findings. First, the growth of mathematics skills from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten for the full sample varied between classes but was not significantly associated with the elements of the classroom environment selected for study. Second, classroom elements were differentially related to growth of mathematics scores depending on children’s scores at pre-kindergarten entry. Third, overall differences between high- and low-performing children at pre-kindergarten entry are evident in their growth through kindergarten.

From the Editor

Kathleen Moritz Rudasill — Wed, 02 May 2012 03:35:13 PDT

This inaugural peer-reviewed issue of Gifted Children contains two research articles. The first is work by Dr. Victoria Molfese, Dr. Todd Brown, Dr. Jill Adelson, Jennifer Beswick, Jamie White, Dr. Jill Jacobi-Vessels, Lana Thomas, Melissa Ferguson, and Britney Culver. Dr. Molfese is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her research is focused on young children’s cognitive development and the impact of classroom processes and child characteristics as predictors of this development. Her co-authors are at the University of Louisville. In this article, Dr. Molfese and her colleagues examine classroom process quality as a predictor of mathematics skill growth across preschool for high poverty children who show higher ability.

The second article is by Dr. Christian Mueller and Dr. R. Trent Haines. Dr. Mueller is Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Memphis. He has published several empirical articles utilizing nationally archived datasets, one of which may be found in the second issue of volume 4 of Gifted Children (http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/vol4/iss2/3/). Dr. Haines is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Morgan State University. In this article, Drs. Mueller and Haines describe a study using the Add Health database to examine associations between perceptions of family and school connections and self-concept and depression with a sample of highly able African American and Hispanic adolescents.

Book Review: RTI with Differentiated Instruction, Grades 6 - 8: A Classroom Teacher's Guide, by J. O'Meara (2011)

Hope E. Wilson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:19:48 PST

As school districts across the country move toward Response to Intervention (RTI) as a standardized way to meet the diverse needs of students in the classroom, Jodi O’Meara’s book provides practical and relevant information for middle level (grades 6 through 8) teachers on best practices for incorporating RTI and differentiation into their instruction, assessment, and pedagogy.

From the Editor

Kathleen Moritz Rudasill — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:19:47 PST

The Gap, the Trap, and the High Flyers Flaps: A Summary and Analysis of Three Important Studies Focusing on Excellence Gaps in American Education

Jason S. McIntosh — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:19:47 PST

America’s educational system has undergone major changes in the last decade. A focus on “proficiency,” high stakes testing, and standards-based curriculum has become the name of the game. As a result, more students are meeting minimum competency every year. Researchers from three different organizations recently examined the effects of these curricular changes on the performance of America’s highest achieving students. This article synthesizes and summarizes the Center for Evaluation and Educational Policy’s 2010 report entitled Mind the Other Gap: The Growing Excellence Gap in K-12 Education, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s 2006 report entitled Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income Families, and the Fordham Institute’s 2011 report entitled Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students. A description of the methods, findings, and recommendations of each report is included, together with a discussion regarding what it all means to parents, teachers, and educators.

Effective Use of Secondary Data Analysis in Gifted Education Research: Opportunities and Challenges

Christian E. Mueller et al. — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:11:16 PST

Author Notes

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:11:16 PST

From the Editor

Kathleen Moritz Rudasill — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:11:15 PST

Using Life-Story Research for Gifted Education: Part Three: Implications for Practice

Lori J. Flint — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:11:15 PST

Book Review: Methodologies for Conducting Research on Giftedness, edited by Bruce Thompson and Rena F. Subotnik (2010)

Michael S. Matthews — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:16 PST

Author Notes

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:16 PST

Using Life Story Research in Gifted Education: Part Two: Results, Synthesis, and Discussion

Lori J. Flint — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:15 PST

The AP Challenge Program: Advancing Gifted Minority Student Achievement in High School and Beyond

Mary Nguyen et al. — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:15 PST

From the Editor

Kathleen Moritz Rudasill — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 10:49:14 PST

Author Notes

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:54:47 PST

Book Review: Differentiating for the Young Child: Teaching Strategies across the Content Areas, PreK-3, Second Edition, by Joan Franklin Smutny and S. E. Von Fremd

Pamela L. Shue — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:54:47 PST

Using Life-Story Research in Gifted Education

Lori J. Flint — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:54:47 PST

In this article I discuss a promising approach to the problem of gifted underachievement, the research tradition of life story, and I examine the nature of constructed narratives and explain the narrative methods used to conduct this study. I include portions of one constructed narrative to illustrate the narrative product of life story research.

From the Editor

Michael S. Matthews — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:54:46 PST

Implicit Beliefs of Future Teachers about General Ability

Matthew C. Makel — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:54:46 PST