Gifted Child Today

Three years ago, Pinellas County in Florida approved a plan to develop and implement three middle school self-contained programs for gifted learners within three existing school sites. The purpose of this article is to share the major aspects of the development work that were crucial to the success of all three schools and to suggest a blueprint for other districts.

The focus of this case study is to provide an overview of a private school’s journey toward implementing differentiation in their classrooms. An introduction to the school along with background information leads to a relevant need to implement teaching strategies that ensure the success of students who are capable of learning above grade level. The journey that the school takes begins with putting differentiation into practice and describing, in a three-pathway approach, the direction taken for the implementation process. What is learned, along with specific and general issues to consider, exemplifies this work in progress. Helpful resources provide guidance to others interested in starting a similar journey.

Transition School is a Special School like no other—seventh- or eighth-grade students prepare not only for their 1st year of college in one classroom for one academic year but they also transform themselves from middle schoolers to scholars. This article will detail their curriculum, support structures, and exceptional ways in which their social and emotional well-being is addressed and monitored throughout their rapid acceleration experience. The article concludes with an overview of the research that supports this unusual and rather unique educational experience.

This article describes the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a residential high school for juniors and seniors supported by the state budget. The school opened in 2007 after 10 years of advocacy and planning, including the retrofitting of Schneider Hall to be the home of the Gatton Academy and The Center for Gifted Studies at Western Kentucky University. Students at the Gatton Academy earn a minimum 60 college hours and a high school diploma. This article describes the mission, the curriculum, benefits to the sending school and school district as well as to the student, support for students, and the recognition for students and the Gatton Academy. This special school is 1 of 15 state residential high schools with a focus on mathematics and science that are supported by the state budget.

The long history related to the purpose and development of special schools to accommodate the needs of gifted students has been fraught with celebration and concern, envy, and disappointment. The site or location of the school, entry criteria, competencies of the faculty, test scores and evidence of awards received by students relative to different types of competitions, and graduation entries to prestigious schools are often used to determine the efficacy of a special school for the gifted. Regardless of the professional and personal responses evoked by special schools for the gifted, they have ignited the consistent inquiry into a series of educational questions: What is special about a special school for the gifted? and How do special schools for the gifted influence each other?

Tieso, C. L. (2013). Moving the past forward: From a Birmingham jail to Occupy Wall Street. Gifted Child Today, 36(2), 96-113. (Original doi: 10.1177/1076217512474982)