Although I am a professional educator, with an endorsement in gifted education, I found this book somewhat dry. It has a great premise- that advanced learners, labeled 'gifted' or not, need to be met where they are. Students should be identified and served in the same way. Although 'cutoffs' are arbitrary, it is the unfortunate nature of education that there has to be a 'line drawn'. I appreciated the fact that the author offered guidance and direction for educators as well as administrators in the implementation of gifted services. It is a good choice for educators who want to further their knowledge in the field. ( )

It took me a long while to make myself get through this book. It's more like a textbook or possibly dissertation than it is for reading quick tips or guidelines for working with the gifted and talented. I definitely agree with their premise about taking the focus off of just identifying our gifted and talented students. We need to focus more on what we can do to help students who demonstrate academic need and that their needs change over time. A student who needs more challenging work in mathematics in second grade may not necessarily need it for third grade. The book also encourages identifying students who need the services you will actually provide. Some schools may choose to offer enrichment in the arts while other schools are unable to do so. Another school may offer a language arts enrichment so they should identify the students who need that - not just stick them in there because they had a certain IQ. I liked the statement, "IQ tests contain no information about curricular levels." All in all, the book has good information, but it's not something that I wanted to pick up and read before going to bed. I had to have a certain frame of mind and concentration in order to get into it. ( )

This book is a bit heavy on technical jargon, written for professional teachers and administrators. I liked the basic premise, that gifted education is most schools is fundamentally flawed. I appreciated the effort put in towards concrete solutions, it's not just a here's what's wrong book, it's a manual for fixing issues. But unless parents, teachers and administrators all read and enjoy this book, it's certainly never going to change. It's a lot of actual hard work recommended, which is needed, but schools are already stretched thin and are legally mandated to offer special education classes, but not gifted classes. Still, it was nice to read proof that we know how to do gifted education, even if we aren't doing it.

Who is gifted and who is not? Where is the cut-off point? Most schools use a cut-off point for their gifted progams; the point is usually arbitrary. The authors of this book want to focus on which students are being underserved academically rather than on which students meet the standards of being "gifted." This is an excellent resource. The authors are experienced in education and implementation, and offer schools solid guidance for changing the course of gifted education. The latter chapters cover any iffy situations that may arise, such as underrepresentation of minorities in advanced academic programs.

While I no longer teach GT students, this does allow me new and unique ways to help all of my students. This is a book I would reccomend for all teachers preparing for Common Core. Teaching the Core will be like teach GT last year, so this may well turn into a vital resource. ( )