Education of the gifted and talented

Sylvia B. Rimm, Del Seigle and Gary Davis' book, Education of the Gifted and Talented, is a textbook. I started reading it with some others who were not very familiar with G/T information and they were overwhelmed. For those with little knowledge of the subject when they pick it up, plan extra processing time. It is very information dense.

Each chapter begins with a list of objectives, continues with the informational section and ends with a comprehensive summary. A chapters contain an appendix with forms discussed in the chapter. 49 pages of references demonstrate the thorough research that went into the writing. This comprehensive text covers issues from identification to types of interventions for G/T students to special topics (ex. underachievement, gender issues, and 2e) to parenting, counseling and program evaluation.

Snippets of the text would be good to share with stakeholders to garner buy in for a program, to develop or improve a program, and to help parents and teachers better deal with the challenges that G/T brings to the equation. As a textbook, it is expensive and suggesting stakeholders purchase individual copies may be unreasonable.

One important note the authors make is that evaluation should include more than standardized tests on which "culturally different learners … tend to score, on average, about one standard deviation... lower than middle-class students" (p. 43). While IQ and achievement tests should be used as a definite in, they should not be used as a definite barrier to G/T programing. Other tests, like creativity assessments, as well as teacher and parent referrals should also be included in determining who to provide services to.

The authors do a wonderful job of highlighting a variety assessments, programs and evaluations that can be looked at when building a program.

Overall a text with a wealth of information that was a slow read and an useful resource.