Designing Gifted Education Programs and Services: From Purpose to Implementation

This book is intended to support educators in the design and implementation of comprehensive gifted education plans. From planning to actual implementation, this book takes the reader from goals and purpose to assessing student needs and program design. The authors begin with a broad overview of best practices in programming and services, highlighting connections to student needs, programming standards, and state laws. Their recommendations include philosophical, cultural, and practical considerations and data-based decision making. In this book, Peters and Brulles guide the reader through the process of determining the most optimal programming methods for schools to take based on their individual needs and circumstances. With this book, schools will be able to design and develop programs and/or services that lay the foundation necessary to ensure all students are appropriately challenged.

Scott J. Peters, Ph.D., is assistant professor of educational foundations at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he teaches courses related to measurement and assessment, research methodology, and gifted education. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University specializing in gifted and talented education with secondary areas in applied research methodology and English education. His research work focuses on educational assessment with regard to policy and practice, identification of student exceptionalities―particularly those from low-income or underrepresented groups―and gifted and talented programming outcomes. He has published in Teaching for High Potential, Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal of Advanced Academics, Gifted and Talented International, Gifted Children, Journal of Career and Technical Education Research, Ed Leadership, and Pedagogies. He is the past recipient of the Feldhusen Doctoral Fellowship in Gifted Education, the NAGC Research and Evaluation Network Dissertation Award, the NAGC Doctoral Student of the Year Award, and the UW-Whitewater College of Education Innovation Award. He has served as the assistant program chair and program chair of the AERA Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG, on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Association for Talented and Gifted, and as the National Association for Gifted Children Research and Evaluation network secretary.

Dina Brulles, Ph.D., is the Director of Gifted Education at Paradise Valley Unified School District, Gifted Program Coordinator at Arizona State University, and serves on the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Board of Directors.