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Underachievement of gifted students has been a great concern for the field of gifted education. The current study reviewed 14 recent empirical studies concerning the effectiveness of underachievement interventions on gifted students' achievement outcomes and psychosocial outcomes. Overall, there was no evidence that underachievement interventions significantly improved academic performance of gifted underachievers (g = 0.09, p = 0.387), especially in terms of course grades. Gifted underachievers receiving interventions significantly outscored their comparison peers on psychosocial outcomes (g = 0.22, p = 0.001), which consisted of a variety of measures on self-efficacy, goal valuation, environmental perceptions, self-regulation/motivation, and psychosocial functioning. Qualitative studies generally reported that gifted underachievers benefited from the interventions in terms of increased motivation for learning, improved self-regulation, and finding school more meaningful. Findings need to be viewed in light of the relatively low quality of the evidence from recent research on underachievement interventions.

The special issue of Gifted Child Quarterly focuses on external factors associated with talent development, particularly in STEM fields. Articles in the issue explore pathways in unique fields such as chemical engineering, astronomy, computer science, music, art, and English Language Arts. Themes that emerged include the importance of psychosocial skills, the role of mentors, and the impact of early exposure to different domains. The articles highlight the malleability of psychosocial skills and the significance of systematic opportunities for exposure to various content areas, as well as the value of mentors in guiding students towards expertise in their chosen fields. [Extracted from the article]

In this article, we review research on poverty, both poverty rates and the effects of poverty on academic achievement more generally and on the identification and services for low-income gifted children specifically. This review sets the stage for further discussion of the research findings on identification practices including the efficacy of various approaches to increase the identification of gifted students in poverty. We then review research on the effectiveness of programs designed specifically to identify students with potential and support them through talent development services. Finally, we conclude the literature review with recommendations for future research.

The goal of this article is to convey a summary of research and conversation on talent development on the part of a small group of European and American researchers who participated in the Inaugural American European Research Summit in Washington. In the final hours of the summit, participants discussed the state of research on talent development and giftedness and a way forward that would benefit the field and, most important, children and educators. Collectively we identified four broad themes: (1) expanding our conceptual horizons through increased exposure to international scholars, (2) shifting the paradigm of gifted education toward talent development, (3) promoting key elements of talent development in research and practice, and (4) finding the most effective policy and advocacy strategies to promote talent development.

In this article, we advocate for a new movement in education, particularly an approach emphasizing blending research-based practice with practice-embedded research. We do so by describing and discussing Project Excite, a working example that demonstrates such a model in the context of gifted education. We first trace the history, the impetus, and key design elements of Project Excite, a front-loading intervention aiming to develop the potential of underrepresented students for advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning from early grades. We review a line of past research and key findings on Project Excite over its 14-year journey. We then discuss the implication of Project Excite for gifted programming in gifted education. Last, we pinpoint some questions to inspire future research and practice.

In 2011, Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, and Worrell proposed a conceptual model for talent development applicable to all domains. Although grounded in available psychological research, significant questions remain regarding practical applications of each tenet of the model. In this article, we highlight a method of implementing the model's focus on domain-specific abilities. Mathematics was selected as a domain with sufficient literature and importance to serve as the first in a series of proposed explorations into identifying domain-specific abilities. The methodology adapts an identification procedure--that is, audition--commonly used in performance domains (e.g., dance) to determine "drop-dead" abilities needed for successful talent development--in this case, mathematics. Identifying abilities central to potential creative talent in a domain may allow us to move away from relying solely on standardized measures of general ability and academic achievement, especially for the early identification of talent.

This longitudinal study examined the outcomes of Project Excite on reducing minority students' achievement gaps in STEM over 14 years. Project Excite was designed to provide intensive supplemental enrichment and accelerated programming for high-potential, underrepresented minority students from third through eighth grades to better prepare them for advanced math and science courses in high school. This study compared the performance of Project Excite participants with that of students from their local school districts and the state on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, the Explore test, the Measures of Academic Progress, and on rates of placement in above-grade-level math courses in ninth grade. Project Excite participants consistently outperformed their Black, Latino, and low-income peers, and they came close to the performance levels of White, Asian, and non-low-income students. They were more likely to be placed in above-grade-level math courses than their minority peers in ninth grade.

This methodological brief introduces basic procedures and issues for conducting a high-quality meta-analysis in gifted education. Specifically, we discuss issues such as how to select a topic and formulate research problems, search for and identify qualified studies, code studies and extract data, choose and calculate effect sizes, analyze data, conduct heterogeneity and moderator analysis, assess publication bias, as well as interpret and report meta-analysis results. We discuss why meta-analysis is needed in gifted education. We also review the history of meta-analyses in gifted education and discuss topics that are conducive to meta-analysis. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the challenges and recent advancements in meta-analysis methodology. Last, we introduce useful resources for further learning of meta-analysis.

Using survey responses from students who participated in the summer programs at two university-based gifted education institutions, this study examined changes in gifted students' perceptions of their learning environments, accelerated summer programs and regular schools, and social support in lives after participation in the summer programs. Our sample of gifted students was generally favorable about their classroom experiences and interactions with their teachers both in the gifted programs and regular school classes. Some noticeable differences were greater acceptance and support for giftedness, a stronger connection to peers, and greater ease in peer relationships reported during the programs, and enhanced maturity and orientation toward future after the programs. While all students relied on family and peers as sources of social support before, during and after the summer programs, older students also endorsed being able to rely more on themselves. Perceptions of greater social support seemed to be related to more positive assessment of students' summer and school classes, although causality can go in either direction. Overall, this study suggests that gifted students' summer program experiences may be instrumental in receiving affirmation about their giftedness from peers, enhancing independence and maturity for academic life, and building stronger belief in themselves.

Involving more than 1,500 academically gifted students and their parents, this study examined relationships between family environment and social competence of gifted students. Results from an online survey revealed that our gifted students rated their families as cohesive and flexible with high levels of satisfaction and communication among family members. Compared with students, parents identified their families as more intimate, cohesive, and flexible and felt more positively about communication among their family members. Students' ratings of their family were found to be good predictors of their interpersonal ability and peer relationships, and positive correlations were found between the students' social competence and their ratings of functional aspects of the family. Differences were also found by students' level of social competence, with students with higher levels of social competence rating their families more positively. Unlike the norming sample, rigidity was not endorsed as a negative family variable. The results of this study are consistent with previous research in that affectionate, supportive, and respectful family environments appear to be important to the development of interpersonal skills and competency and peer relationships for gifted individuals.

In this article, the authors respond to the eight commentaries on "Rethinking Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Proposed Direction Forward Based on Psychological Science" using several themes to organize their response. These themes include ability, developmental trajectories, effort and opportunity, psychosocial factors, eminence, and equity. The authors reaffirm the contention that eminence is an appropriate standard for assigning the gifted label in individuals with well-developed talents.

In this monograph, the authors advanced a set of interrelated arguments: The abilities of individuals do matter, particularly their abilities in specific talent domains; different talent domains have different developmental trajectories that vary as to when they start, peak, and end; and opportunities provided by society are crucial at every point in the talent development process. The authors argue that society must strive to promote these opportunities, but that individuals with talent also have some responsibility for their own growth and development. Furthermore, the research knowledge base indicates that psychosocial variables are determining influences in the successful development of talent. Finally, preparing young people for outstanding achievement or eminence ought to be the chief goal of gifted education. (Contains 3 figures.)

Perceptions of the interpersonal competence and peer relationships of 1,526 gifted adolescents who had previously participated in academic gifted programs at the Center for Talent Development were examined, using an online survey. Major findings included that the gifted students had generally positive perceptions of their abilities to initiate, form, and maintain relationships with other people, including same-age nongifted peers, and demonstrated levels of interpersonal ability and peer relationships, comparable to that of grade equivalent students in the norming group. The students did not perceive their giftedness as a negative factor affecting their peer relationships but rated their academic self-concept more positively than their social self-concept. Differences were found by gender and experience with subject acceleration in school, favoring female students over male students and favoring students who were accelerated in a subject in school over students who were not. The results also suggested that gifted students whose academic strength was in the verbal area over other areas were more likely to face difficulties with peer relationships. (Contains 5 notes and 5 tables.)

Using the off-level test scores of more than 250,000 students who participated in talent search testing from 2000 to 2008, this study examined if previously reported gender differences in students' performances in math versus verbal areas as well as the reported ratios of males and females for specific scoring levels still existed across years. Results showed that for the sample of gifted students used in this study, regardless of age, males outperformed females on the math and science subtests with the most pronounced differences on the math subtests, whereas females outperformed males on the verbal subtests. All these differences between genders did not diminish over the 9-year period but were steady with small or negligible effect sizes. The ratios of males to females in specific score ranges on the off-level tests were also steady and consistent, favoring males at the highest end in math and science with the maximum ratio of 3:1 and females at the highest end in verbal areas with the maximum ratio of 2:1. Performance differences by ethnicity and annual household income levels were also found throughout the years. (Contains 3 notes and 6 tables.)

This study supported the use of acceleration for gifted minority students in math. The gifted minority students in this study viewed taking accelerated math courses as exciting and beneficial for preparation for high school and college and particularly liked the challenges they encountered while taking advanced classes. They enjoyed working ahead and having a "leg up" in school and were infused with a special feeling of being gifted and talented in taking accelerated math. Ethnicity was not a major factor for teachers' support for acceleration. The teachers believed that acceleration provides necessary challenges for students, makes them committed to schoolwork, and enhances their academic achievement. No negative peer pressure resulting from academic acceleration was found, though the teachers were more certain than the students about the existence of negative peer culture for gifted minority students. (Contains 4 tables.)

Project EXCITE is a program for minority students that supplements the regular school offerings with an emphasis on enhancing students' interest and performance in math and science. This study examines the experience and perceptions of 14 student participants in the program and their parents. In student and parent interviews, Project EXCITE was deemed fun and challenging and as enabling the students to enrich and improve academic performance. A desire for placement in advanced academic settings and better preparation for schoolwork in high school motivated the students to persist in the program for 6 years. The perceptions of expanded social networks with high ability minority peers, enhanced social support for high achievement, and confidence to successfully compete academically with peers were other positive outcomes. Negative peer pressure was not identified as a concern, but balancing academic work and social interaction with peers outside the program was a major concern for students. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

This article presents a comprehensive portrait of talent search testing and associated educational programs in the United States, now some 35 years after Dr. Julian Stanley originated the concept. Survey data from the six major talent search centers in the United States were used to examine the scope of talent search educational offerings, including accelerated summer, distance education, Saturday and weekend, and leadership programs. Reported data reveal that over 3 million students have participated in talent search testing since these programs' inception, and subsequently thousands of these students participate each year in other educational programs offered by these organizations. In addition to above-level test scores, data used to prequalify students to participate include on-level standardized achievement tests, teacher or parent nominations, and portfolios. Disproportional representations within talent search testing and educational programs by racial and household income levels were addressed with a need for more financial support and collaborative work between talent search centers and local schools for more students to benefit from the talent search model. (Contains 3 figures and 3 notes.)

This study involved 15 secondary-level teachers who taught fast-paced classes at a university based summer program and similar regularly paced classes in their local schools in order to examine how teachers differentiate or modify instructional methods and content selections for fast-paced classes. Interviews were conducted with the teachers during the summer sessions with a brief survey used as supplemental data. Overall, teachers in this study used a varied set of instructional strategies and in-class activities for their fast-paced classes including lectures, presentations, group activities, demonstrations, frequent tests and quizzes, timed writing, essays, and discussion. The shorter time frame (3 weeks versus 9 months) and teachers' perceptions about students' academic abilities were the two major reasons given for the differentiated instructional strategies and content in the fast-paced classes. In the survey data, less repetition in course content, advanced-level readings and questions, and more independence in learning were found for the fast-paced classes. Yet, the teachers were not likely to move beyond the textbook for enrichment materials or individualize homework or assignments for students in their fast-paced classes. They also expressed concerns regarding depth versus breadth of the material covered in the 3-week courses.

This study examined how local schools responded to students' outside-of-school summer courses, particularly regarding the awarding of credit and appropriate placement. It involved 262 middle and high school administrators of students who had attended a gifted summer program at a local university. Survey data showed the critical influence of the schools policies on granting credit for outside-of-school coursework and institutional accreditation on the school?s responses. For high schools, territory or administrative issues such as the school's own policy on credit, prior notice of a student's participation in the program, sharing outside-of-school course syllabi with school officials in advance, the type of course, and accreditation of the summer program were crucial in decisions regarding the awarding of credit. For middle schools, the school's own evaluation of a student's mastery of the course content, prior notice of the student's participation in the program, and the student's performance in the outside-of-school course were the most significant factors that affected schools' responses regarding appropriate placement. Findings showed that schools' responses were conservative and that parents need to petition more actively for credit or placement for their children.

The article explores the value of three categories of factors in predicting achievement in fast-paced mathematics classes for 108 high ability adolescents: ability, previous experience and exposure to the content area, and individual student characteristics. Previous experience variables were the most important in predicting learning outcomes. (Author/JDD)

Underachievement of gifted students has been a great concern for the field of gifted education. The current study reviewed 14 recent empirical studies concerning the effectiveness of underachievement interventions on gifted students' achievement outcomes and psychosocial outcomes. Overall, there was no evidence that underachievement interventions significantly improved academic performance of gifted underachievers (g =.09, p =.387), especially in terms of course grades. Gifted underachievers receiving interventions significantly outscored their comparison peers on psychosocial outcomes (g = 0.22, p =.001), which consisted of a variety of measures on self-efficacy, goal valuation, environmental perceptions, self-regulation/motivation, and psychosocial functioning. Qualitative studies generally reported that gifted underachievers benefited from the interventions in terms of increased motivation for learning, improved self-regulation, and finding school more meaningful. Findings need to be viewed in light of the relatively low quality of the evidence from recent research on underachievement interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature is reviewed on the personality dimensions of gifted individuals, focusing on: differences between gifted individuals and same-age non-gifted individuals, differences between gifted individuals and older non-gifted individuals, differences between gifted males and gifted females, and differences between gifted achievers and underachievers. (Author/JDD)

This study supported the use of acceleration for gifted minority students in math. The gifted minority students in this study viewed taking accelerated math courses as exciting and beneficial for preparation for high school and college and particularly liked the challenges they encountered while taking advanced classes. They enjoyed working ahead and having a "leg up" in school and were infused with a special feeling of being gifted and talented in taking accelerated math. Ethnicity was not a major factor for teachers' support for acceleration. The teachers believed that acceleration provides necessary challenges for students, makes them committed to schoolwork, and enhances their academic achievement. No negative peer pressure resulting from academic acceleration was found, though the teachers were more certain than the students about the existence of negative peer culture for gifted minority students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Project EXCITE is a program for minority students that supplements the regular school offerings with an emphasis on enhancing students' interest and performance in math and science. This study examines the experience and perceptions of 14 student participants in the program and their parents. In student and parent interviews, Project EXCITE was deemed fun and challenging and as enabling the students to enrich and improve academic performance. A desire for placement in advanced academic settings and better preparation for schoolwork in high school motivated the students to persist in the program for 6 years. The perceptions of expanded social networks with high ability minority peers, enhanced social support for high achievement, and confidence to successfully compete academically with peers were other positive outcomes. Negative peer pressure was not identified as a concern, but balancing academic work and social interaction with peers outside the program was a major concern for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a comprehensive portrait of talent search testing and associated educational programs in the United States, now some 35 years after Dr. Julian Stanley originated the concept. Survey data from the six major talent search centers in the United States were used to examine the scope of talent search educational offerings, including accelerated summer, distance education, Saturday and weekend, and leadership programs. Reported data reveal that over 3 million students have participated in talent search testing since these programs' inception, and subsequently thousands of these students participate each year in other educational programs offered by these organizations. In addition to above- level test scores, data used to prequalify students to participate include on-level standardized achievement tests, teacher or parent nominations, and portfolios. Disproportional representations within talent search testing and educational pro- grams by racial and household income levels were addressed with a need for more financial support and collaborative work between talent search centers and local schools for more students to benefit from the talent search model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]