As a parent of gifted kids, as an educator who has taught gifted children, and as a doctoral student who focuses on gifted students,
Critical Issues and Practices in Gifted Education: A Survey of Current Research on Giftedness and Talent Development, edited by Jonathan Plucker and Carolyn Callahan, is a gift that keeps on giving.
Organized alphabetically, from A (for Academic Acceleration) to W (for Writing and the Gifted Learner), with stops along the way for Bullying, Career Decisions, Differentiated Instruction, Homeschooling, Identification, Science Education, Social and Emotional Issues, Technology, and Twice-Exceptionality, forty chapters in all, this is the one-stop book for anyone involved with giftedness and neurodiversity. Each chapter, written by leaders in the fields, include definitions of terms, best practices, essential questions about the topic, practical policy implications, “Defensible Conclusions from the Empirical Research,” “Common Conclusions That Are Not Defensible,” and credible resources for further investigation.
The purpose of this comprehensive, yet concise, approach to the available thinking about giftedness, according to the editors, “is to provide a quick and useful reference for practitioners looking for easily understood guidance in key areas of decision making.” For those of us trying to wrap our minds around everything—and there is a lot—out there, Plucker and Callahan have put as much emphasis on steering “educators and parents away from practices not supported by evidence.” If not a one-stop encyclopedia, this book is a first-stop atlas that keeps you from getting lost in the wilderness.
The first chapter on Academic Acceleration (Assouline, Lupkowski-Shoplik, Colangelo) asks a question about the implementation of researched findings that, in one form or another, weaves through most of the chapters and that the existence of this book tries to address. For example, after a summary of how accelerating students has become accepted as beneficial, the authors ask, “If such a long history of research shows the effectiveness of ability grouping and acceleration, the question of why it is not more universally implemented looms large for educators, parents, and policy makers.” This has been one of the challenges in my own practice. In my presentations to educators, one of the issues I have been trying to make them more aware of is acceleration. Many either do not know about the extensive research or their personal beliefs seem to inhibit their acceptance of such research. I want to send them a copy of this chapter alone as a form of advocacy.
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A quick and useful reference for practitioners looking for easily understood guidance in key areas of decision making.[/perfectpullquote]
One of the ongoing controversies in the field of gifted education is Identification. In this entry, the authors (Peters, Ottwein, Ellis Lee, Mathews) share my concern, based on years of experience, about the under identification of marginalized groups. I appreciated the attention they gave to ways we might improve equitable gifted services, such as using “local norms.” They note, in the “Limitations of the Research” section, that ‘there is no one “best” way to identify students for gifted services.’ Not only is it complex, but it is also critical, as per the title of the book, that we focus on these complexities in order to serve the needs of all gifted students as best we can.
I was particularly focused on the chapter about Twice-Exceptionality (Foley-Nicpon, Wienkes, Cederberg). The authors conclude what most of us in the field have long acknowledged that twice exceptional students are “grossly underrepresented in gifted education settings.” Yet, they warn, that we “cannot conclude that patterns obtained from clinical or case study data will replicate in school settings.” I was glad to see the authors state that “diversity of thought and discipline would add richness to the conclusions made about how to best identify and assist twice-exceptional youth.”
Every chapter contains more than usable information. The authors and editors prompt deeper and more complex thinking about areas that, due to the quotidian necessities of the educational system, are often neglected or taken for granted. One of the most important trends in education is the emphasis on Talent Development (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, Worrell), yet research shows that schools do not factor individual differences in ability, often treating talent development programs as a one-size fits all accommodation. The chapter on Social and Emotional Issues (Szymanski) I found particularly relevant because when we do have gifted programs a lot of attention is put on academic performance and not enough on how feelings of isolation attenuate asynchronous development and often lead to social disabilities and negative ideation.
A big through-line within most of the chapters is the need for more awareness and acceptance of differentiation in the classroom. In the chapter on Differentiated Instruction (Hockett, Doubet), the authors lament that although guidance for teachers on how to differentiate has increased and most state standards have acknowledged the need for differentiation, as of now there are no recent, credible studies on its implementation or effectiveness. Yet, there is ample research supporting the idea that when teachers can work with students individually, it is likely to have a positive impact on students’ growth.
As much as I love this book, and make use of it, I have an organizational concern. The alphabetical listing of the chapters does not distinguish among the three main categories that the editors laid out as the criteria for inclusion in the book:
- topics of historical interest to the field
- topics currently popular or hot topics
- topics likely to become more important (or we felt should be more important)
Listing the chapters alphabetically but under these three sub-categories would be more helpful, especially for those new to the field.
Despite the above suggestion, I found this book to be a treasure-trove of valuable information. I’ve used it as a reference for doctoral course assignments, I’ve cited chapters for my recent blog posts on differentiation on my
website, and I’ve referred to the material within presentations on various topics in my consulting work and my advocacy efforts. This is an exceptionally useful book. It is a gift for those of us in gifted education.
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Based in British Columbia, Canada, Nancy Young is an educational consultant providing support for educators and families across North America and globally. She is the author of Secret Code Actions™
, a unique resource/tool and the creator of the Ladder of Reading & Writing
, an infographic showing the ease at which children learn to read.
