An Overview of Effective Practices with Gifted Students in General-Education Settings

Abstract

Approximately 675 citations in journals dedicated to gifted studies and 83 abstracts indexed by ERIC, PsycLIT, and Dissertation Abstracts International from 1989 to the present were reviewed. To qualify for this review, the reference needed to meet the following criteria: (a) sample included a clearly identified group of gifted students, (b) validity issues were considered, (c) qualitative or quantitative methods were clearly identified, (d) outcomes were related to learner or classroom changes, and (e) the practice could be or was implemented in a general-education classroom. The references were then categorized according to effective research methods, validity issues, and classroom instructional practices that might be modified or changed. These categories were used to assist researchers in planning and initiating future efficacy studies for serving gifted students in the general-education classroom. Only 39, or 5%, of the identified references were databased. The majority of the literature focused on specific instructional strategies and program models that are effective with gifted students. A need continues to exist for databased articles that examine effective practices with gifted students in the general-education classroom.