Coaching in Gifted Education : Tools for Building Capacity and Catalyzing Change

Gifted students spend most of their time in the regular classroom, yet few general education teachers have the specialized training to address their unique needs. This book provides the structures, processes, and resources needed to facilitate GT (Gifted/Talented) coaching as a means of building capacity among classroom teachers to identify, serve, and teach gifted and high-potential learners.

Guided by best practices and research in professional learning, this resource provides the steps, strategies, and tools needed to create and sustain effective coaching practices designed to maximize access to advanced learning and differentiation throughout a school. Bolstered by downloadable resources, chapters address how to support, stretch, and sustain teachers’ instructional practices through a sequence of co-thinking, co-planning, and reflection that emphasizes ongoing and sustainable professional learning.

Outlining a step-by-step guide for the coaching process, this valuable resource equips gifted and talented coaches with tools to support teachers to meet the needs and reveal talent among gifted and high-potential students through differentiation in the regular education classroom.

Emily Mofield, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Lipscomb University, USA. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of gifted education as a teacher, district leader, researcher, assistant professor, consultant, and author, also serving as curriculum studies chair for NAGC.

Vicki Phelps, Ed.D. is Head of School for Quest Academy, a school for gifted learners, in Palatine, IL, USA. She has been involved in gifted education for over 25 years, including teaching and leading gifted services, serving as an assistant professor, working as a gifted consultant, and serving as special schools and programs chair for NAGC.