Connections

Best Practices in Gifted Education: A Resource for Educators and Parents

Volume 8 / Issue 2 Winter 2008

The team approach—parents, teachers, and administrators—in meeting the needs of gifted children is the focus of Best Practices in Gifted Education: An Evidence-based Guide, by Ann Robinson, Bruce M. Shore, and Donna L. Enersen, Prufrock, 2007. The authors, veteran teachers, specialists in gifted education, and a committee of other experts in the field, have conducted extensive research and examined volumes of evidence in identifying 29 practices that best serve gifted children throughout their educational experiences at home, in the classroom, and within the community.

The book, a service publication of the National Association of Gifted Children, is easily accessible, devoting a chapter to each of the 29 practices and organizing the chapters into three sections: Home, Classroom, and School. The authors acknowledge that many of the practices are applicable to more than one setting. Where overlap occurs, they address the practical applications of a practice for parents, teachers, and school administrators within the chapters. Each chapter is divided into four sections: a brief summary of the topic; a section titled “What We Know,” providing an overview of the evidence; a section titled “What We Can Do,” suggesting practical applications based on the research; and finally, an extensive list of references for further research. The table of contents and the comprehensive index allow users to navigate the book easily for areas of specific interest.

Best Practices details a variety of social, cognitive, and curricular issues such as

• gender differences;
• gifted children with physical, sensory, or learning disabilities;
• social adjustment;
• mentorships and university-based opportunities;
• culturally diverse learners;
• gifted children from low income backgrounds;
• creativity;
• multiple intelligences;
• higher level thinking;
• inquiry-based teaching and learning;
• curricula in science, mathematics, foreign language, language arts, reading, history, and the arts;
• acceleration; criteria for identification of gifted learners; and
• professional development for teachers.

The “What We Know” section of each chapter provides a clear, concise overview of what credible research indicates about the practice in question. The chapter “Encouraging Creativity,” for examples, begins with a discussion of the various definitions of creativity among those who study it. It then narrows the focus to the areas of general agreement: its complexity; its capacity to be nurtured or lost; the influence of parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors in recognizing its characteristics and fostering it; its stages of development; and its visible production. A more detailed discussion of each area follows, focusing predominantly on its complexity and on the characteristics of creative individuals; other areas are discussed more generally and summarily. The references at the end of the chapter, however, offer extensive research in all areas of creativity, including creativity and gifted children.

Best Practices does offer valuable information and useful suggestions for parents and provides a springboard for communication and collaboration between parents, teachers, and administrators.

The “What We Can Do” section of each chapter is a bit problematic. Some of the suggestions are vague and abstract, often focusing on what parents, teachers, or administrators should understand rather than on practical, tangible applications. Advice to a parent to “nurture a child’s talent” (p. 20) or to “develop a dialogue and awareness about gender issues” (p. 41) offers no concrete suggestions on how to go about doing so. Likewise, advising counselors, teachers, and parents to “work together to instill in students the desire to work hard and make the most of opportunities available to them to develop their talents” (p. 220) is not only abstract but also applicable to all students, not just gifted ones.

There are concrete, practical suggestions throughout the book, though most are directed at teachers and administrators relying on their knowledge and training as educators for specific application. Many such suggestions involve replacing or supplementing basal readers and traditional texts with materials that allow for inquiry-driven, interdisciplinary units of study. As a tool for teachers and administrators or a text for teacher training, Best Practices is a valuable resource in providing a compelling and comprehensive school experience for gifted children grades K-12.

While the book is also a useful resource for parents who want to understand more fully the complexity of giftedness and the components of a comprehensive gifted education, Best Practices is clearly geared towards an audience of educators. In fact, many of the suggestions under “What We Can Do” at Home are directed towards educators, not parents: For example, the following advice to “Share with parents the importance of family support” (p. 30) is given in the chapter “Students Who Are Twice-Exceptional.”

Regardless of intended audience, however, Best Practices does offer valuable information and useful suggestions for parents and provides a springboard for communication and collaboration between parents, teachers, and administrators to ensure a rich and appropriate comprehensive gifted education.

—Sarah Boone, MA, MFA

Sarah Boone has a master’s degree in teaching and is certified in gifted education. She also holds an MFA in creative writing.