Creating Equity and Access for Gifted Learners provides an overview of how and why to implement the ExCEL Problem-based Learning Instruction Model as a change initiative in classrooms, and the impact that this model has had on gifted programs. The product of evidence from two federally-funded Jacob K. Javits grants, The ExCEL Model is a systemic, design-based, continuous improvement curriculum and professional learning program that closes equity gaps for culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students by increasing effective problem-based learning (PBL) instruction. This book will provide readers with the background, evidence, and tools necessary to implement the program model as a change initiative in their schools. Learn how to implement effective, research-grounded professional learning, demonstrate best practices, and navigate red tape and roadblocks. Full of immediately implementable strategies and lesson examples, this book is a must have resource for district leaders, instructional leaders, and teachers ready to make their dream of implementing an equitable and effective professional learning program a reality.

2017 Texas Association for Gifted and Talented Legacy Scholar Book Award 2017 National Association of Gifted Children Scholar Book of the Year Award In Excellence Gaps in Education, Jonathan A. Plucker and Scott J. Peters shine a spotlight on “excellence gaps”—the achievement gaps among subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement. Much of the focus of recent education reform has been on closing gaps in achievement between students from different racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds by bringing all students up to minimum levels of proficiency. Yet issues related to excellence gaps have been largely absent from discussions about how to improve our schools and communities. Plucker and Peters argue that these significant gaps reflect the existence of a persistent talent underclass in the United States among African American, Hispanic, Native American, and poor students, resulting in an incalculable loss of potential among our fastest growing populations. Drawing on the latest research and a wide range of national and international data, the authors outline the scope of the problem and make the case that excellence gaps should be targeted for elimination. They identify promising interventions for talent development already underway in schools and provide a detailed review of potential strategies, including universal screening, flexible grouping, targeted programs, and psychosocial interventions. Excellence Gaps in Education has the potential for changing our national conversation about equity and excellence and bringing fresh attention to the needs of high-potential students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Help underserved high-potential students claim their right to an education that addresses their unique needs. In gifted education, an important and contentious issue that has yet to be sufficiently addressed is the systemic underrepresentation of gifted students who have been discriminated against in school-based gifted and advanced learner programs because of their race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other realities. Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students gives a voice to those students and brings their stories into focus. With chapters written by student and expert scholars who specialize in addressing the structural inequity and educational inequality in gifted and advanced learner programs, Empowering Underrepresented Gifted Students recommends practices and strategies for helping underserved high-potential students claim their right to an education that addresses their unique needs. Each chapter has key takeaways and discussion questions, providing a built-in book study guide to prepare educators to engage students in conversation and to help develop their self-advocacy skills. Coeditors Dr. Joy Lawson Davis and Deb Douglas have brought together the voices of experts and students to help educators move closer to ensuring equity, access, and excellence in gifted education. By arming historically marginalized gifted students with self-advocacy strategies, these remarkable students will be better enabled to fulfill their dreams.

Culturally Responsive Teaching in Gifted Education is a professional learning tool for practitioners who are working to create more culturally responsive school and classroom environments. This book: Focuses on gifted and talented students from special populations, including those who are culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse. Is presented as a collection of essays written by educational advocates. Aims to increase the cultural competence of teachers and school leaders. Is organized in three sections: Culturally Responsive Practices; Race, Ethnicity, and Culture; and Gender, Sex, and Sense of Self. Provides readers with personal insights into the implicit biases that exist within the educational system and gifted programs. Each chapter illustrates the lived experiences of students from special populations and includes reflection questions for continued conversations and planning. Finally, an Educator Inventory is provided that tasks educators with reflecting on their own personal implicit biases and classroom practices related to the diverse populations of gifted and talented students in our schools.

Examine the basic principles of differentiation in light of what current research on educational neuroscience has revealed. This research pool offers information and insights that can help educators decide whether certain curricular, instructional, and assessment choices are likely to be more effective than others. Learn how to implement differentiation so that it achieves the desired result of shared responsibility between teacher and student.

This timely book brings together experts from around the world to share expertise and best practice to form an eclectic collection of the best approaches for teaching gifted and talented children from different cultures. Each chapter: presents an overview of international perspectives on the issues of multi-cultural and gifted education examines the critical issues related to cultural definitions of giftedness in programming for diverse gifted students presents regional case studies in order to inform practitioners' best practice examines issues of access for gifted students in relation to culture, poverty, race and gender. In addition, details of websites and associations which offer support and advice are also provided, making this book an invaluable resource for academics, researchers, teachers and parents of gifted and talented children.

In her practical and inspirational book,Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence, and Equity for All Learners , author Regie Routman guides K-12 teachers to create a trusting, intellectual, and equitable classroom culture that allows all learners to thrive as self-directed readers, writers, thinkers, and responsible citizens. Over the course of three sections, Routman provides numerous Take Action ideas for implementing authentic and responsive teaching, assessing, and learning. This book poses akey question: How do we rise to the challenge of providing an engaging, excellent, equitable education for all learners, including those from high poverty and underserved schools?Teaching for Engagement: Many high performing schools are characterized by a a thriving school culture built on a network of authentic communication. Teachers can strengthen classroom engagement by building a trusting and welcoming environment where all students can have a safe and collaborative space to grow and develop.Pursuing Excellence: Routman identifies 10 key factors that describe an excellent teacher, ranging from intellectual curiosity to creativity, and explains how carrying yourself as a role model contributes to an inclusive, caring, empathic, and fair classroom. She also stresses the importance for school leaders to make job-embedded professional development a top priority.Dismantling Unequal Education: The huge gap in the quality of education in high vs low income communities is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, according to Routman. She spells out specific actions educators can take to create more equitable schools and classrooms, such as diversifying texts used in curriculums and ensuring all students have access to opportunities to discuss, reflect, and engage with important ideas.From the author, I wroteLiteracy Essentials , because I saw a need to simplify teaching, raise expectations, and make expert teaching possible for all of us. I saw a need to emphasize how a school culture of kindness, trust, respect, and curiosity is essential to any lasting achievement. I saw a need to demonstrate and discuss how and why the beliefs, actions, knowledge we hold determine the potential for many of our students. Equal opportunity to learn depends on a culture of engagement and equity, which under lies a relentless pursuit of excellence.

Honoring the leadership of Dr. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, this book includes major strands of work central to defining the field of gifted education and discusses relevant trends and issues that have shaped or will shape the field. This comprehensive resource outlines three major sections: conceptions in gifted education such as intelligence, creativity, and eminence; linkage of theory to practice through curriculum and instruction, professional development, and assessment; and the infrastructure of gifted education that relies on research, policy, and leadership directions within and outside the field. Showcasing contributions from leading senior scholars in gifted education, this book is sure to be an invaluable resource for policymakers, scholars, researchers, and practitioners who are interested in research-based practices to better serve gifted students.

Participatory Creativity: Introducing Access and Equity to the Creative Classroom presents a systems-based approach to examining creativity in education that aims to make participating in invention and innovation accessible to all students. Moving beyond the gifted-versus-ungifted debate present in many of today’s classrooms, the book’s inclusive framework situates creativity as a participatory and socially distributed process. The core principle of the book is that individuals are not creative, ideas are creative, and that there are multiple ways for a variety of individuals to participate in the development of creative ideas. This dynamic reframing of invention and innovation provides strategies for teachers, curriculum designers, policymakers, researchers, and others who seek to develop a more equitable approach towards establishing creative learning experiences in various educational settings.

In her new book, prominent professional developer Yvette Jackson focuses on students' strengths, rather than their weaknesses, To reinvigorate educators to inspire learning and high intellectual performance. Through the lens of educational psychology and historical reforms, Jackson responds To The faltering motivation and confidence of educators in terms of its effects on closing the achievement gap. The author seeks to "rekindle the belief in the vast capacity of underachieving urban students," and offers strategies to help educators inspire intellectual performance. Jackson proposes that a paradigm shift towards a focus on strengths will reinvigorate educators' passion for teaching and belief in their ability to raise the intellectual achievement of their students. Jackson addresses how educators can systematically support the development of motivation, reflective and cognitive skills, and high performance when standards and assessments are predisposed to non-conceptual methods. Furthermore, she examines challenges and offers strategies for dealing with cultural disconnects, The influence of new technologies, and language preferences of students.