Content Based Curriculum for High Ability Learners

The newly updated Content-Based Curriculum for High-Ability Learners provides a solid introduction to curriculum development in gifted and talented education. Written by experts in the field of gifted education, this text uses cutting-edge design techniques and aligns the core content with national and state standards. In addition to a revision of the original chapters, the second edition contains new chapters on topics such as teaching research skills to gifted students, second language learning, leadership, arts curriculum, and technology.

The text identifies the basic principles of curriculum development: accelerated learning within the core content areas, use of higher order processing skills, development of creative student products, and concept development and learning. These techniques are incorporated into chapters on each core content area: language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies, as well as world languages and the arts. The final chapters focus on the roles of teachers, program coordinators, and administrators during curriculum design, including selecting resources and materials, aligning curriculum, and assessing student learning.

Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Ed.D., is the Jody and Layton Smith Professor Emerita of Education and former Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education at William & Mary in Virginia, where she developed a graduate program and a research and development center in gifted education. She also initiated and directed the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University.

Catherine Little is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She teaches courses in gifted and talented education and in the undergraduate honors program in education, and she was recognized as a University Teaching Fellow in 2012.