It is not likely that any group of educators of the gifted ever sat around a table and came to the decision that a "patch-on" approach to programming for bright learners represented best practice. Nonetheless, it is as common today as 25 years ago that programming for students identified as gifted often represents such an approach. Patch-on…

The evolution of several interrelated myths reflects a combination of misinterpretation of statistics, the commendable intention of ensuring that bias and prejudice do not play roles in the provision of services to underrepresented populations of gifted students, and misapplication of programming options for gifted students. Separately, these…

A program for gifted adolescents at Franklin and Marshall College has involved 172 junior high and high school students over a three-year period in seminars. Despite problems, the program has expanded, resulting in five types of benefits, including challenge, basic skills, and research opportunities. (CL)

This study evaluated a mentorship program which involved classroom instruction and actual mentorship experiences for gifted juniors and seniors. A survey of 103 former mentorship students found that the students derived numerous benefits from the mentorship program in the areas of personal, academic, and career development. (JDD)

Inappropriate expectations, insufficient instructional time, and lack of a support system erode the positive effects of gifted program inservice opportunities. Alternative training experiences are described which emphasize teacher-to-teacher rather than consultant-to-group interaction; focus on a specific objective reinforced by several inservice…

A pilot program was developed for gifted learning-disabled students, based on the Enrichment Triad Model. Learning behaviors, time on task, and motivation showed marked improvement as the grade four-five students completed individual creative projects. Described are procedures for identifying program participants, program activities, and program…

This commentary on the demonstration programs of the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program discusses their role in inducing educational change, their usefulness in illustrating new ideas, their broadening of the definition of the gifted student, their ability to change participating teachers' perspective, and their…