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Support: Advocacy

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  • Assessment of Gifted Children: Characteristics

    Let's get real about gifted kids
    "Let's stop wasting time debating whether giftedness is real." This article outlines a number of facts on giftedness.

  • Assessment of Gifted Children: Identification

    Assessment, educational issues, advocacy: The process of parenting a profoundly gifted child
    This writing is an introduction to a series of three articles by Dr. Julia Osborn in which she examines the processes that parents go through as they raise their profoundly gifted child. First parents try to understand the exceptionality of their child by having the child assessed. Then parents go through the process of grasping the educational issues as they plan for their child's education. And finally the parent must deal with the challenge of being an advocate for their child to see that the child's educational needs are met.
    Intelligence denied: When gifted children's abilities are ignored

    This article describes the circumstances when giftedness is denied, dismissed or ignored, and the negative outcomes that can occur as a result.

    What is this "gifted" thing anyway?
    This article provides a brief description of gifted education and tips on how to explain giftedness to others.

  • Developmental: Twice Exceptional

    Parenting Post-Secondary Students with Disabilities: Becoming the Mentor, Advocate, and Guide Your Young Adult Needs
    This article provides parents advice on assisting adolescents with disabilities.
    Smart IEPs - Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy - The Special Education Survival Guide
    Parents and teachers can learn more about individualized education programs from this chapter from the book, Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy, authored by Pam and Pete Wright.

  • Educational Options: Acceleration

    Academic Acceleration: Is It Right for My Child?
    This article by Susan Scheibel, Ed.D. covers a number of topics related to acceleration. It also provides parents advice on how to advocate for acceleration if they think it is a good fit.
    Whole grade acceleration success stories
    This article contains stories of successful grade skips, written from the parents' perspective. The various accounts cover skips in an assortment of grades in public schools, private schools and homeschooling.

  • Educational Options: Homeschooling

    Homeschooling: An accidental journey
    This article by Muriel Knope is a personal perspective on homeschooling. The mother who wrote it discusses her experience with trying to advocate for her child in the public school system. She also talks about her decision to pull him out of the system and educate him at home where his educational materials would be a challenge and of interest to him.

  • Parenting: Parenting Strategies

    Roles in Gifted Education: A Parent’s Guide
    This article offers parents in the "gifted world" a wealth of information on the staff and administrators that can help them and their students navigate the gifted experience. Each of these staff members have different roles, responsibilities, and levels of training.
    Six tips for communicating with your gifted child's teacher
    This article provides parents insight on how to communicate with gifted students' teachers.
    Tips for parents of gifted children: What most parents wish they had known
    In this article, Dr. Gail Post provides some general guidelines many parents of gifted children may have wished they had known.
    Wunderkinds
    This article by Roberta Staley describes some of the situations faced by profoundly gifted young people and their families. Staley relates many interesting anecdotes and commentaries. The article advocates for increased recognition of the importance and value of these gifted young people.

  • Parenting: Tips for Parents

    Tips for Parents: Advanced Educational Advocacy
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Dr. Esther Sinclair, a UCLA educational psychologist who specializes in advocating for appropriate education for children with special needs (including gifted students). She shares 10 advanced tips on how to advocate for the educational needs of profoundly gifted students.
    Tips for Parents: Advocacy - Working with Your Child’s School
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik, Ph.D. She provides numerous strategies on how to advocate for your gifted student in his/her school setting.
    Tips for Parents: Advocacy and Gifted Learners
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by SaDohl Jones, who shares information related to advocacy.
    Tips for Parents: Advocating for the 2E Child and the Profoundly Gifted in a Traditional School Setting
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Megan Foley Nicpon in which she provides 11 ideas on advocating for your profoundly gifted student.
    Tips for Parents: Collaborating with School Personnel - Strategies for Successful Partnering
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Kara McGoey, who highlights ten helpful tips for parents who are looking to collaborate with their child's school personnel. If you are a parent looking to build a successful relationship with your gifted student's school, this article should prove helpful.
    Tips for Parents: Educational Advocacy
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Dr. Esther Sinclair, a UCLA educational psychologist who specializes in advocating for an appropriate education for children with special needs, including gifted students. In this article, Sinclair shares 10 tips regarding how to advocate for the educational needs of profoundly gifted students.
    Tips for Parents: Forging Partnerships with Teachers, and Why They Often Don’t Work!
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Dr. Nancy Robinson. She addresses ways parents can take the lead to improve their relationship with a child's teacher.
    Tips for Parents: Preparing Schools for your Highly Gifted Child
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Karen Rogers, who discusses ways to determine the best matches between a child’s documented educational needs and the provisions a school might be able to offer.
    Tips for Parents: Preparing your Gifted Child to Leave Your Nest and Build Their Own
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Steve and Tonya Witherspoon concerning children who are gifted, talented, and ready to succeed. The seminar was about sharing information, cultivating introspection, and developing plans for academics and the rest of children’s lives.
    Tips for Parents: Taking Control of Your Child's Education (2014)
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Wes Beach. This is an excerpt from his book, Forging Paths: Beyond Traditional Schooling.
    Tips for Parents: Tapping Web-based Social Media to Learn, Collaborate and Advocate
    This Tips for Parents article is from a seminar hosted by Deborah Mersino about social media being used for advocacy efforts.

  • Social/Emotional: General

    What to say to your gifted child...about being gifted
    This article provides parents advice on explaining giftedness to students.

  • Social/Emotional: LGBTQ

    G-Squared. Supporting Your Gifted LGBT Student
    This article provides a number of suggestions that may be helpful in guiding a gifted LGBT student.

  • Social/Emotional: Underachievement

    Coping 101: Building Persistence and Resilience in Gifted Children
    This article provides advice on how to increase a gifted child’s persistence and resilience, as well as how to teach a child the coping skills he or she needs to manage life’s inevitable challenges and adversity.

  • Support Materials: Book Reviews

    Dumbing Down America: The War on Our Nation's Brightest Young Minds (and What We Can Do To Fight Back)
    BOOK REVIEW (Davidson Institute) - With more than 35 years of experience in gifted education, Dr. James Delisle writes with immense passion in the book, Dumbing Down America: The War on Our Nation's Brightest Young Minds. Delisle calls on America for change; he urges our nation to support America’s gifted children and provide them with the same opportunities as the rest of the student population which equates to an appropriately challenging education.
    Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds
    BOOK REVIEW (2e Newsletter) - It's not often that stories about the needs of the gifted are the basis for stories in the media. In 2004 things seemed to have changed. First, the book Genius Denied and then the Templeton Report: A Nation Deceived, called attention to the plight of our brightest students. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television programs finally started to discuss how attitudes and policies in the United States shortchange students with tremendous potential.
    Re-forming ( Reforming ) Gifted Education: How Parents and Teachers Can Match the Program to the Child
    BOOK REVIEW (Davidson Institute) - A review of The Re-forming of Gifted Education by Karen Rogers. From her analysis of research that spans a full century, Dr. Rogers describes various types of gifted children, as well as options for school enrichment and acceleration. She reports the effectiveness for each option according to the research. From her years of experience consulting with schools, she shows parents and teachers practical ways to design ongoing programs that best meet the needs of bright children.
    Stand Up for Your Gifted Child: How to Make the Most of Kids' Strengths at School and at Home
    BOOK REVIEW (Davidson Institute) - Stand Up for Your Gifted Child is a practical guide that can help parents become powerful advocates for their child at school - and at home. Written by Joan Franklin Smutny, the book discusses: what giftedness is (and isn't), how to recognize your child's gifts, how to understand his or her school problems, and how to find out your district's policy on gifted education. You'll explore various options for your child's education and learn how to communicate effectively with the school and district, connect with other parents, and provide enrichment at home. Parents will discover their rights - and the benefits of taking a stand. Real-life examples show how any parent, in any situation, can advocate for his or her child.
    The New Public School Parent: How to Get the Best Education for Your Elementary School Child
    BOOK REVIEW (Davidson Institute) - The New Public School Parent: How to Get the Best Education for Your Child, written by Bob Chase and Bob Katz, discusses parental advocacy with schools. Grounded in real life experience and practical advice, the authors have written a book parents will find applicable to their everyday lives.

  • Support Materials: Interviews

    Gifted Exchange Interview - Kyle Hutzler
    Laura Vanderkam interviews Kyle Hutzler for the Gifted Exchange Blog.
    Gifted Exchange Interview - Tracy Cross
    Laura Vanderkam interviews Tracy Cross for the Gifted Exchange Blog.
    Interview with Bob Schultz on The Myths of Giftedness
    In this Q&A, Robert A. Schultz, Ph.D., describes the myths about gifted students he hears most often and why it is important to address these myths.
    Interview with Susan G. Assouline on the release of A Nation Empowered
    In this Q&A, Dr. Susan Assouline discusses the release of A Nation Empowered and acceleration.

  • Support Materials: Success Stories

    The Davidson Young Scholars Program: A Parent's Perspective
    An article by Lorel Shea.

  • Talent Development: Advocacy

    Advocacy for Gifted Students
    In this article, Jeanne Bernish provides a series of tips on how parents can advocate for their gifted students. It is a summary of an Advocacy Roundtable she hosted at the OAGC Conference.
    Advocacy: From Micro to Macro
    This article provides perspectives on "Microadvocacy," which operates on the scale of the individual child, and advocacy at a macrolevel—across a district, a state, or the nation.
    Communicating Effectively with Your Gifted Child’s School
    This article provides parents with a wealth of advice on communicating with their gifted students' teachers.
    Davidson Institute - IQ and Educational Needs
    This one-pager includes a bell curve diagram that helps explain the profoundly gifted population, those who score in the third standard deviation or 99.9 percentile, on IQ and achievement tests. This factsheet also includes the percentages in various population segments - gifted, highly gifted and profoundly gifted.
    Davidson Institute - Timeline
    Historical timeline of the establishment of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development and each of its programs.
    Does No Child Left Behind Require that No Child Can Get Ahead?
    An analysis of the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on gifted and talented students by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
    Dr. Iris Palazesi - A Unique Perspective
    Speaking as an advocate, Palazesi would like to see educators become more knowledgeable about gifted education and the consequences of not serving these students. "There is too much focus on programs and placing a child into those programs. We need to think of children as individuals, with individual needs."
    Early gifts, early school recognition
    This article by Joan Smutny relates the question: "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" to today's gifted education. The author describes how parents of the gifted should pay close attention to their child and start advocating for them early in their life. It also explains that it is very important to let people that deal with your child, especially educators, know that they have special needs to prevent future problems.
    Four Simple Steps to Self-Advocacy
    This article provides tips on how to effectively advocate for your gifted child's educational needs.
    Genius Denied - What Educators Can Do
    Genius Denied, written by Bob and Jan Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, was published in 2004. This article for educators is developed from the chapter "What You Can Do."
    Genius Denied - What Parents Can Do
    Genius Denied, written by Bob and Jan Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, was published in 2004. This article for parents is developed from the chapter "What You Can Do."
    Genius Denied - What Students Can Do
    Genius Denied, written by Bob and Jan Davidson with Laura Vanderkam, was published in 2004. This article for students is developed from the chapter "What You Can Do."
    Gifted children: Are their gifts being identified, encouraged, or ignored?
    This article by Julia Osborn looks at who the gifted are, what the unique needs of these children are including appropriate education, satisfying friendships, and supportive parenting, and what parents and professionals can do to provide for those needs. The author encourages parents taking a major role in ensuring their children's needs are being met until there is a consensus about what the most productive environment for gifted children is.
    Giftedness: Personal Perspectives
    This article was originally published on the Genius Denied website.
    Helping gifted students help schools
    This article, by Jan Davidson and Laura Vanderkam, discusses the issues that New York State's public schools are facing when they don't challenge their brightest children. Typically, the gifted children leave the public schools to attend specialized schools that cater to their academic needs. What happens to public schools when these gifted children leave? How can these public schools keep these gifted children?
    Highly Capable Program in the State of Washington - Q & A on Legislation and Advocacy
    In the summer of 2011, the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education and local advocates were instrumental in advocating for a number of legislative changes related to gifted education. This article contains answers to a number of questions presented by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
    How parent advocacy groups can make a difference: An interview with Christine Smith
    In our advocacy work at the Davidson Institute, we have found that a group of parents working together to advocate for an appropriate education for their gifted children generally gets better results than one parent advocating alone. In an effort to help facilitate the building of more effective parent advocacy groups for gifted students throughout the country, this is the first of a series of interviews with persons who have helped form or have led advocacy groups.
    How parent advocacy groups can make a difference: An interview with Debbie Kring and Juli Moseley
    Parent and Advocates of Gifted Education (PAGE) is one of the nation's leading advocacy groups, which, for over 24 years, has been working alongside teachers, administrators, and the Springfield School Board to provide the appropriate educational programs for the wide range of gifted learners in the Springfield public schools. This article, which is an email conversation that took place in April of 2005 between Jan Davidson, co-founder and president of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development; Debbie Kring, founding and five time President of PAGE and Juli Moseley, past President and current Executive Board Member of PAGE.
    Identifying young Einsteins
    This article is an op-ed column by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. It highlights the tragedy in not challenging our gifted students appropriately in the school system. Educators are encouraged to identify their gifted students by providing a list of characteristics common to these students.
    Necessity is the mother of invention: The roots of our system of providing educational alternatives for gifted students
    This article by Nancy Robinson is summed up in this abstract: "In the United States, numerous options exist for gifted students to engage in special programs and individualize their trajectories. At the secondary level, the options include advancing at a rapid rate through the high school years, entering college early and college credit for competence previously acquired. No other country in the world offers such a rich array of choices. Indeed, in contest with practices elsewhere, our system borders on the chaotic. Many of us tend to see this situation as primarily a response to the sorry state of secondary education in this country, but this is not the whole picture. There are also many positive features of our society and our shared beliefs, governmental and constitutional issues, school governance issues, and flexibility in transition to college that have produced the smorgasbord of options for our students."
    No child left ahead?
    This article by Perry Zirkel discusses one high schooler's valedictorian status and why it was challenged. The girl had disabiltiy status but had the highest overall GPA. Other parents challenged her status and schooling arrangement and the girl's parents ended up filing a lawsuit against the school district.
    Parent-Educator relationships
    This article by Sandra Carlton discusses the importance of both parents and teachers in meeting the educational needs of their child. She suggests that building a positive, trusting relationship is essential. Open lines of communication, she believes, are essential to the many rapid adjustments that will need to be made to accomodate highly intelligent children.
    Recommended Readings on Educational Advocacy
    This article by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development offers parents and educators recommended readings on the topic of educational advocacy, including articles and books. Parents and educators are encouraged to visit the state legislative database on the Genius Denied website to determine the services available in their state. A link to many state organizations is also included to aid in the advocacy process.
    Self-advocacy for gifted teens and tweens: How to help gifted teens take control of their classroom experience
    This blog post from Ilana Teitelman focuses on how adolescent and pre-teen students can advocate for themselves.
    Social Networking - Impacting the World of Gifted Education
    With gifted organizations and advocates across the country communicating through social networking sites, this article provides links to specific pages on those sites to help advocates increase their connections.
    Taking on Advocacy as a Negotiator
    The concept of principled negotiating is covered in this article.
    Testing Your Gifted Child: A Springboard for Effective Advocacy
    This article describes how testing can be an ally when advocating for a gifted student.
    The miseducation of our gifted children
    This article written by Ellen Winner a professor of Psychology at Boston University addresses some of the issues gifted children often face. This article supports acceleration and gifted students needs for advancement within schools. This article suggests raising standards in all classrooms, to raise achievement for all students not just the brightest.
    The tea and terrorist society: Parent advocacy at the district level
    This article by Monique Lloyd explains "Many parents feel powerless when dealing with their public schools; this is especially true of parents with highly gifted children. I reached my end-point the day I realized I had a file drawer full of records of meetings, phone calls, and letters with school officials going back six years. For six years I'd tried to get school officials to understand that not challenging my children and others like them was hurting them. They hadn't listened. My children were still suffering."
    The unkindest cut: Seven stupid arguments against programs for the gifted
    Gifted students are expected to drift along with the tide, garnering whatever they can from the educational experiences offered - a commentary published by in April 2005.
    Thinking Big About Gifted Education
    This article is a synopsis of Jan Davidson's keynote speech, "Thinking Big About Gifted Education", presented at the Texas Association for the Gifted & Talented (TAGT) Conference , Dec. 3, 2009 in Houston.

  • Talent Development: General Talent Development

    Frequently Asked Questions: Profoundly Gifted Students & Gifted Education
    These questions and answers have been compiled over the past decade during which the the Davidson Institute has worked to fulfill its mission to recognize, nurture and support profoundly intelligent young people and to provide opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive difference.

  • Talent Development: Strategies & Tools

    Creating useful individualized education programs (IEPs)
    This article by Stephen Smith is tailored more to the learning disabled child, but the information on IEPs provided is still valuable. Working together, schools, teachers and parents can create an IEP that will help the child in question to be challenged at his or her level. The author specifically addresses making the transition from IEP to classroom practice.
    Do we know if gifted children are being served appropriately?
    This article by James Delisle discusses parental advocacy in the school. It suggests questions a parent can ask a principal, teacher and the student in order to see if needs are being met. Pull-out programs are also discussed in this article. The author stresses the need for the pull-out teacher and regular classroom teacher to interact so that the child's needs are understood.
    Educational Advocacy for Gifted Students
    This article by Julia Osborn is the third in a series of three articles on the processes parents go through in raising an exceptionally gifted child. This article, based upon a study of 12 exceptionally gifted students, discusses the experiences of these parents in advocating for appropriate school placement for their children. A list of practical advocacy recommendations is included.
    How to advocate for your child
    Everywhere we turn, parents are encouraged to be more responsible for their children's education. Most educators would agree, minimally, this means sending our children to school ready to learn, with a good night's rest, and a belly full of breakfast. Being responsible for our children's education also means advocating for them when a problem occurs at school. This article by Onnie Shekerjian offers help with advocacy. It includes 10 simple tips for parents. Each tip includes a brief description of how to implement it in action.
    Parenting tips on educational advocacy
    This article by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development offers parents tried-and-true strategies they can use to optimize their chances of changing the attitudes of teachers and administrators and find a solution that will optimize their child's education. These strategies include the following tips: obtain an assessment; be prepared; schedule a meeting. Advocacy is an ongoing process and parents need to remember there are no perfect schools, perfect classrooms or perfect teachers. As a child grows, additional accommodations will need to be explored and implemented.
    The spill-over effect: An advocacy strategy
    This article is excerpted from Gifted Child Today. Author Sandra N. Kaplan walks you through the steps of an advocacy strategy known as the "spill-over effect." This strategy advocates for gifted education by demonstrating how gifted curriculum can add to the education of students in other programs. The spill-over effect focuses on how gifted programs can enhance and coexist with other educational programs.