What the General Public Can Do:

• Realize that gifted students think and learn more rapidly than other students and therefore need a more challenging educational program to reach their potential.

• Volunteer to become a mentor in an area in which you have expertise.  Gifted students benefit immensely from learning from an experienced expert in the field.

• Coach a Math Counts team, Academic Decathlon, Odyssey of the Mind or other academic competition.

• Become familiar with your state or district’s educational policies and how they affect high-ability learners. Learn about successful gifted education policies in other states.  Work with policy makers to support high-achieving youth of all ages.

 What Parents Can Do:

• Take your child’s complaints of being bored or under-challenged seriously. Teachers and schools are owed respect and a certain amount of leeway, but no child should be subjected to a miserable educational environment.

• Assure your child that it is okay to be different. Highly intelligent children often feel disconnected from their classmates and other age peers.

• If you are the parent of a gifted child, realize that your child is exceptional and is likely to have different needs than other students. Learn about the characteristics of gifted children. If you suspect your child is gifted, have him or her assessed by a licensed tester who will offer specific suggestions for meeting your child’s needs at home and in the classroom.

• Seek out other families with gifted students, either through area organizations or through your school or community groups. Make sure your child has the opportunity to make friends with children who share their interests.

• Join your local and state gifted and talent organization; become active in bringing about positive change for gifted learners. If one does not exist in your area, start one.

• Take the time to develop positive relationships with your child’s teachers and school administrators. Recognize that they are often doing the best they can given the knowledge they have and the constraints within which they have to work. If your child’s educational program is not a good match for his or her abilities, have solutions and ideas before approaching the school.  Explore options by brainstorming as a family, reading the literature, searching the Internet and talking with other parents of gifted children.

• Don’t rely on the classroom alone to satisfy your child’s desire to learn. Investigate after-school programs, weekend programs, summer classes and distance learning experiences.

• Highlight learning options in your community that have been beneficial to your child. For example, if your child has a positive experience at the local community college, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.  Contact local newspapers or TV stations to inform them of academic contests, high-achieving students or gifted programs and ask them to do a feature.

• Find out if your school district provides professional development opportunities or in-service training for teachers about the needs of gifted learners. If the district doesn’t, ask officials to offer such training.

• Nominate teachers who challenge gifted students for local or state teaching awards. Emphasize in the nomination letter that this teacher is helping solve the widespread problem of underachieving gifted students.

What Educators Can Do:

• High-achieving young people often credit their accomplishments to the help of a caring educator who fueled their interests and guided their learning. Don’t miss the opportunity to be this type of educator. Take a course on gifted education as part of your certificate renewal or continuing education requirement.

• Learn to recognize when a bright child is underachieving in order to “fit in.” Offer other opportunities to develop her abilities, such as independent research projects. 

• If you have gifted students in a mixed-ability classroom, learn about differentiating curriculum to meet the needs of every student in the classroom. For example, grouping students by ability levels, pre-testing students to determine what material they have already mastered, utilizing distance learning materials and guiding students through independent research projects.

• Even if your school currently has a “pull-out” program, be aware that this may not be enough because these students are gifted all the time, not just during the “pull-out” time. In addition to the “pull-out” program, gifted students need challenging coursework in the classroom.

• Help students with particular talents find mentors within the community. For example, introduce a promising young mathematician to a college math professor.

• Lobby your school to identify gifted children, or if your school already has an identification program, lobby to begin the process in kindergarten.  Assist with creating an implementing a plan to meet the needs of gifted students.

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Davidson Institute for Talent Development
9665 Gateway Drive, Suite B
Reno, Nevada 89521
775-852-3483
Fax: 775-852-2184
www.DavidsonGifted.org