After mastering initial standards for the preparation of teachers of the gifted, many educators in gifted education continue their professional growth toward mastery of advanced professional standards at the post baccalaureate levels. For some this means deepening their understandings and expertise and adding new responsibilities for leadership within the classroom. Regardless of the specific role, educators in advanced roles share an array of functions and responsibilities in common. Reflecting this commonality, the advanced standards in gifted education were developed by standards experts at the National Association for Gifted Children, the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Association for the Gifted. These content and teacher preparation experts conducted an extensive study of advanced teaching standards, including National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, state standards, knowledge and skill standards that are expected of all special educators in advanced roles, and standards used by the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation as part of the school/college of education accreditation process. The adopted advanced standards contain seven standards and 28 elements.