Global Perspectives

Our commitment to pursuing and providing an exceptional learning environment for gifted children is shared by many educators around the globe. Below are a few articles that highlight the work being done locally, nationally, and internationally to understand and promote the need for quality, focused gifted education.

Local News:

Ignored: Gifted Children in Massachusetts
Bay State Parent
The tragedy for these kids, who usually hold higher than average IQs, is that they’re not a priority for the state’s education officials.  Instead, the Commonwealth’s poor performing students, and even the average ones, are the main concern, with the state making sure they perform well enough on the state’s standardized test, which is the barometer for measuring their academic progress as well as their teachers’ competence.

As education budgets shrink, many say state could do better for…
Boston Globe – Boston, MA, USA
The state is one of just seven in the country that does not require or fund gifted education.

Foxboro’s gifted programs out for now
The Sun Chronicle – Foxboro, MA, USA
New programs for Foxboro’s gifted and talented students are unlikely next year due to budget constraints, Superintendent Christopher Martes says.

Classroom prospects dim for the best and the brightest
Boston Globe – Boston, MA, USA
That sentiment is widespread, parents of and advocates for the gifted say. Even schools with strong backing for gifted education struggle to find room in …

National News:

What is it like to raise a profoundly gifted child and what do parents need to know?
November 6, 2013 – The Global Talent Mobility Company
Having a child with such prodigious intellectual abilities might seem the fulfillment of every parent’s dream. But the fact is that supporting such enormous potential presents a challenge. Much as she adores her only child, raising Nathan “has not been a cakewalk,” says April. “It’s been a personal struggle to give him what he needs.”

Common Core Needs Tailoring for Gifted Learners, Advocates Say
October 28, 2013 – EdWeek
While many educators feel that the common-core standards fall more in line with the pedagogy of gifted education than previous states’ standards, the standards in and of themselves will not be sufficient to challenge a school’s most advanced learners, gifted education advocates say.

Parents Press for Attention to Programs for Gifted Students
October 2013 – Education Week
From court cases and legislative lobbying to their own fundraising campaigns, parents are putting pressure on states and school districts to boost services for gifted children, whose needs and abilities, they say, often aren’t met inside a traditional classroom.

Cuts in gifted education hurt kids’ potential
STLToday.com – St. Louis, MO, USA
Critics argue that the brightest students already have an advantage, that they will coast through the system and succeed regardless of the support they receive. But research and countless families’ stories suggest otherwise.

UConn Prof. Presents at World Conference
October 15, 2013 – UConn Daily Campus – Storrs, CT
Neag Professor Dr. Joseph Renzulli has recently returned from delivering keynote speeches at two international conferences, where Renzulli, who is also the director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, drew upon his 40 years of experience in the field to speak to hundreds of guests.