Education of Gifted and Talented Students in China, Taiwan, and Japan.

This paper, commissioned for the development of the national report, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent," analyzes the policies and practices for educating high-ability students in Japan, Taiwan, and China. It reports on studies over the past 11 years of East Asian children's academic achievement. In the first section, the report looks at governmental policies and practices concerning the education of three types of students: (1) those who display high levels of intelligence, (2) those who are talented in the arts, and (3) those who are high academic achievers. Special programs both in and out of school are described. In the second part, the report describes the characteristics of students who have participated in the authors' studies and compares their performance and personal characteristics with those of American peers. Discussion focuses on students who demonstrate high levels of cognitive ability and on students who display exceptional ability in mathematics. The paper notes that programs for gifted and talented children in East Asia are new; the majority, especially in China and Taiwan, established only during the last decade. Japan supports no programs specifically for gifted students prior to the high school level. There is a greater emphasis of East Asian cultures on effort, rather than ability. (Contains 16 references.) (DB)