Gifted Child Quarterly

Practitioners, researchers, and theorists can establish stronger rationale and direction for their work through better understanding of the conceptual foundations that influence the field of education of the gifted. Navigation along three interpretive dimensions can clarify and expand these conceptual foundations, which currently suffer from fragmentation and insularity. One of these dimensions invites movement through several different world views. Another dimension invites interdisciplinary movement from the precision of the "hard" sciences to the uncertain complexity of the "soft and human" sciences. A third dimension promotes movement through different levels of analysis, ranging from panoramic levels of philosophical and theoretical perspectives to the grounded levels of empirical research and practical application. A three-dimensional model illustrates the dynamics of these movements while highlighting some barriers that cause fragmentation and insularity in conceptual foundations. Recommendations for breaking through these barriers are provided.

Following a survey of the literature and a critique of an earlier proposal by Gagné (1993), the author describes a new system of categories to subdivide the gifted and talented populations into more homogeneous subgroups. Based on the metric system, each of the five levels, including the minimum threshold, selects the top 10% of the previous level; to each subgroup is attributed a qualifying label: mild, moderate, high, exceptional, extreme. The author argues for its widespread adoption by professionals in the field of gifted education.

According to Gordon (1990), far too many high ability students arc referred for problems with impulsivity, hyperactivity, and sustaining attention. Several important issues, rarely discussed in the literature on attention deficits, offer alternative hypotheses for the increasing incidence of hyperactivity and attention problems of gifted youngsters. These include theories on emotional development and excitability of gifted students (Dabrowski, 1938; Piechowski & Colangelo, 1984), evidence of unchallenging curricula for high ability students (Reif, 1993), implications of the multiple intelligences paradigm (Gardner, 1983), and adult reaction to students' extreme precocity (Rimm, 1994). These issues are examined in light of Barkley's theory of inhibition as it relates to the manifestation of ADHD. The issues represent environmental conditions that may cause or influence ADHD-like behaviors in high ability students. Diagnostie and intervention strategies are suggested to counteract environmental contributors to the problem.

This qualitative investigation explored the self and environmental perceptions of six talented students of Puerto Riean descent who were underachieving in an urban high school in the northeastern section of the United States. Family, school, classroom, community, and personality issues were examined, as were the ways that these experiences contributed to their actual academic status. Participant observation, interviews, doeument review, and other supplementary techniques were used to gather data. The major finding of this study was that the absence of early appropriate academic experiences thwarted students' possibilities of developing their high abilities or talents later in life. Other interactive factors influencing the students' academic life were also identified. A model explaining the phenomenon of underachievement among the students emerged, as did suggestions for meeting their needs.

This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting on the achievement test seores of a national sample of 336 high ability students from second through sixth grade heterogeneous classrooms in rural, suburban, and urban settings. Curriculum compacting is a strategy for eliminating curricular material that students have already mastered and replacing it with more appropriate learning activities. Teachers from three treatment and control groups in this experimental study selected one to two students from their classes who demonstrated superior ability and advanced content knowledge prior to instruction. They were able to eliminate between 40%-50% of curricula for these students across content areas. Pre and post student achievement was examined using the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and out-of-grade-level (one grade higher) tests were used to guard against ceiling effects. The results indicated that the achievement test scores of students whose curriculum was compacted did not differ significantly from students whose curriculum was not compacted. These findings from a national study minimize teachers' fears about declines in students' achievement test scores due to compacting.