Exploring Critical Issues in Gifted Education: A Case Studies Approach

This book presents case settings that replicate circumstances found in many classrooms. Examples in K-12 settings include strategies to help educators analyze cases, identifying developmental and learning differences, pros and cons of different evaluating systems, modifying curriculum and instruction to best serve the needs of their gifted students, how to promote safe and productive learning environments and more. Teachers can learn from studying these cases which will greatly assist them in both identifying and serving their gifted students. Includes bibliography of additional readings, activities, extensions, and flowcharts and graphics of decision making strategies. Good for students studying gifted education, or any type of teacher at all.

As a 5th grade teacher of nearly 15 years who wrote his masters thesis on differentiating instruction, I was excited to purchase and read Exploring Critical Issues in Gifted Education: A Case Studies Approach.

After getting through the first couple chapters, I began to enjoy the format of the book. The authors presented potential scenarios teachers could find themselves in, gave background knowledge of each student, and then posed “Things to Consider.” These “Things to Consider” sections are the instructional points that I would hope potential gifted educators would glean from this book. How those teachers would proceed next is left purposely ambiguous (which I agree with). Next is a “Discussion Questions” section, which I would find very useful if I were in a book study or a class with others. The “Activities,” “Extensions,” and “Additional Readings” sections would most likely be skipped by most readers due to their complexity or time requirements.

This book is not really a “How-To” book on Gifted Education, but rather it is a book that will guide one’s thinking and help teachers get a better understanding of their students and their students’ needs. I highly recommend it for those willing to put in the time to read each case study, consider the suggestions, and discuss the questions within a group. If you are looking to read this independently, I think you should look at it more as a self-paced course rather than an informational book.

Please read the review posted on December 28, 2013 as I agree with nearly everything she wrote about this book. I also wish to thank LibraryThing, the publisher Prufrock Press Inc., and the authors for this review copy.

Exploring Critical Issues in Gifted Education is a fascinating resource book for all of those affiliated with any sort of education of young people. The issues surrounding gifted and talented children are unique in some ways and hold common ground with their peers in others. The case studies in the book give a diverse perspective to the many attributes, qualities, and identity of these children. Each case study was informative and valuable in its own way.

Includes discussion questions, activities, extensions, and additional readings for the case studies. Also includes tools, charts, and worksheets to guide and accompany independent study and work.

Thank you to LibraryThing, Prufrock Press Inc., Christine L. Weber, Ph.D., Cecelia Buswell & Wendy A. Behrens for this ARC copy.

I liked the case studies approach that this book had to offer, however, some of them were dry and hard to get through. The book itself is very dense and offers a lot of information that might be helpful to someone who is willing to look past the dry-ness of the writing. The topic of Gifted Education is a topic that is neglected in today's society and I was really hoping that this book would help highlight some of the issues facing teachers when it comes to gifted education. This book might be have an application in a grad school program focusing on Gifted Education, but I don't think it's a book that can be read quickly without having others to discuss the case studies with.

My excitement over reading this book, well, plummeted when I started the first chapter. It is the dry, passive-voice riddled, densely inaccessible fodder that academic journals are made of. I figured I was in for a long, slow read. But the book quickly and permanently changes tone in Chapter 2, when the case studies begin.

The cases were presented quite differently than I had imagined. They are "set-ups", the beginning of scenarios, and instead of discussing what happened, why, and what lessons could be learned, the authors offer a dozen or two questions about what the book's readers could do. The questions are insightful and tie policy, practice, and related-but-previously-undiscussed ideas together. However, I couldn't help but wish the cases were presented in a more complete manner... or that the authors at least discussed some possible responses and their pros and cons. The book, clearly, is meant to be used in a hands-on learning environment, like an upper-level education class (perhaps in conjunction with a theory book or practicum) or during in-service learning sessions.

The authors did a good job of highlighting potentially gifted students who go under- or unrecognized for one reason or another. A variety of ages were also presented (though middle schoolers seemed overrepresented). Though the authors do showcase a variety of situations, a majority of them seem to surround identification, which made me wish for a second volume that focuses more on programming issues -- perhaps with actual examples of what was done, instead of just set-ups followed by open-ended questions. Nonetheless, I am glad I read this exhaustively researched books, and believe it would be a valuable tool and great jumping-off point in the right learning environment.