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4.3.8 Gifted Students’ Perception of Gifted Programming

This study examined the lived experiences of high school seniors who had participated in specialized gifted programming in a public school system. Qualitative analyses of the students’ perceptions resulted in themes of academic and social-emotional functioning. Findings indicated that the students’ experiences of their giftedness, their academic abilities, their passions, their social connections, and their self-determination matured as they advanced through their K-12 educational career. Questions are raised about the need for the deliberate evolution of educator-messaging for students and about the possible positive consequences of reaching the limits of academic ability for gifted students.

Author(s):

Andrea Hughs-Baird
ahb@nevada.unr.edu
University of Nevada, Reno
United States

As a parent to three gifted children, Andrea has researched gifted children and gifted education for the last 15 years. She was a non-paid lobbyist for six years advocating for increased funding and reforms for K-12 education in Nevada and has volunteered for twelve years in leadership positions in parent organizations supporting gifted education. She has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Gifted and Talented Education and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. She was instrumental in helping create an educational program that meets the needs of the gifted students in her local school district.