Gifted Education

Each year our administrators and school board members are invited to attend a joint conference of the Illinois Association of School Boards, Illinois Association of School Administrators, and Illinois Association of School Business Officials. The conference is in Chicago in November. At the conference, various seminars are offered on issues of interest to administrators, school board members and business officials. One of the seminars I attended last year was focused on educational opportunities for gifted children. The presenters shared a number of techniques which school districts can employ to help gifted children at little to no cost to the school district (our District already employs some of these techniques). They also recommended reading a study funded by the John Templeton Foundation regarding the basis for and effects of these techniques. The study consists of two thought-provoking volumes (click here for volume 1)(click here for volume 2). If you have any interest in gifted education, it may be worth your while to read the study. You may also be interested in perusing the website of the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration at the University of Iowa.