All AboutFor Leaders

Thoughts for administrators, directors, coaches, and other leaders of gifted and talented programs.

How Clear Is Your Gifted Program’s Purpose?

I’ve long been concerned about how gifted education, as a field, communicates it’s purpose. If we don’t have a clear story, some else will write our story for us and it won’t be pretty.

Running A Gifted Program: Parent Nights

I’ve been to over a hundred parent nights and my main takeaway is this: use the time to build a community and get to know your parents’ needs. And stay away from PowerPoint!

PD Rule: Speak from Experience

The key to a great presentation? Only talk about things you have actually, personally done. Oh, and always start with your failure!

The Many Problems With That “Rethinking Giftedness” Video

In this “Rethinking Giftedness” video the filmmakers make a claim that gifted programs cause fixed mindsets. The three questions I immediately wondered were: Where is the research? How were the students in this video selected? Did they visit any great gifted programs? Let’s dig into it. Where Is The Research? The video and its accompanying […]

Clearing Up Jargon

Clear communication is simple, succinct, and relies on words that people understand. Jargon is the opposite. Journey with me as I attempt to define some edu-jargon…

Making The Case For A Gifted Program

A common question I get is folks asking how to make the case for a gifted program. Usually someone is pitted against an administrator who doesn’t see the value in a gifted program. How do we change minds?