Systems and Models for Developing Programs for the Gifted and Talented

"Our knowledge about the education of gifted and talented students has grown rapidly during the past several decades, and in recent years there has been a veritable explosion of new books, journal articles and scientific papers. This expansion of knowledge has resulted in a rich repository of information about new theories, ideas, research findings and descriptions of a broad variety of identification and programming practices. One of the more favorable events of recent years has been an attempt on the parts of several writers to synthesize the growing body of information about the gifted and talented into systems and models that can be used as the basis for program organization and development. In spite of the deepening interest and new wave of literature, however, there is no single source to which students and practitioners can turn for a survey of the major models that have been designed to guide special programs for highly able youth. The primary objective of this book is to provide such a survey and,in the process, to encourage a more critical understanding and sounder utilization of the principles and practical procedures set forth in each model. Implicit in this work is my own strong conviction that the consumer of information about methods for serving the gifted should have at his or her disposal a fair and representative description of that which is available in the "marketplace" of ideas about how we can organize the delivery of services to special populations. Such information is vital for both researchers who wish to examine the effectiveness of particular approaches to programming, and practitioners who must make informed decisions about the adoption of a major plan or pattern of program organization. One of my strongest beliefs about the field of education for the gifted and talented (or any service oriented field, for that matter) is that program success is a direct function of the degree to which a program is based on a unified and coordinated set of principles. Without such an organizational pattern, programs are likely to end up being random collections of scattered practices that lack theoretical integrity and internal consistency. In such an "anything goes" atmosphere, we are likely to lose sight of the major goals that give uniqueness to a field which is striving to differentiate between general education and education for a specially designated population. The systems and models included in this book were selected because they represent organized and unified approaches to serving gifted children and youth. As such, they should be viewed as both practical and theoretical compasses that can be used to guide us toward the goals set forth in the respective models."