Program and Services for Gifted Secondary Students: A Guide to Recommended Practices

Programs and Services for Gifted Secondary Students is designed to be a reference for service and program options for practitioners, administrators, and coordinators of gifted education programs. As such, it is a companion to the lengthier and more in-depth The Handbook of Secondary Gifted Education. The first of three parts focuses on the gifted adolescent and his or her cognitive social and emotional dimensions, including suggestions for academic, personal/social, and career exploration best practices. The second part explicates program offerings available for gifted secondary students, such as AP and IB programming, distance learning, magnet and other special schools, study abroad, and early entrance to college options. Issues that impact secondary reform efforts, including teacher quality, assessment, testing, and high school restructuring, are discussed. The final part presents a view of optimal future directions-taking into account very real obstacles to change in today's high schools, as well as the range of intellectual and emotional development among gifted adolescents. This section moves the discussion from "what is" to "what could be" for high-ability adolescents.