The idea for this series developed from a forum organized by the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, the National Science Foundation, and the Center for Education at the National Research Council on multiple methods in education research. At this forum, Dr. Pat Forgione, (now former) superintendent of the Austin School District, hosted a dialogue with two scholars who were each asked to analyze a problem situation Forgione provided from his district. The audience responded very enthusiastically to this exercise and in the evaluations expressed the desire for more complementary analyses of real-world problems that could serve as a component of research training in education. It is our intention to have this volume and the others in the series serve as case-based teaching material for graduate classes in education policy, and to inform the work of researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders. This particular case study is designed to explore the extent to which a teacher evaluation system is effective. It also addresses the challenge of measuring student achievement gains when the students in question are already at the high end of the scale, a different-yet important-problem in an era when many concentrate on "low-hanging fruit" or students "on the bubble" between failure and marginal performance. By presenting a realworld case, various research methods for studying issues raised by the case, and the interchange among scholars engaged in this effort, this volume will allow educational policymakers and practitioners to decide if a proposed approach is compelling and relevant for their settings. Concurrently, a comparison of various research methods addressing a real school-based problem provides an important learning tool for the research community, and for those who study and make policy.We also believe that the case study and the research designs will be useful for those with responsibility for framing and funding a research agenda in education that utilizes strong research designs applied to topics that matter to student outcomes at all levels of the U.S. education system and at all levels of pupil performance. And finally, we hope that doctoral programs that seek to prepare the next generation of education researchers will find our approach helpful in their work.

This volume, however, is not primarily concerned with what students should learn, nor even how they should learn. Rather it concerns how we can discover the best means and conditions for teaching them in school, at home, and in society. Expressed more explicitly, we seek to find out how students can learn efficiently or productively as much as possible within a given amount of time and resources. As in agriculture, medicine, public health, and modern industries, we can turn to rigorous science as one of the best sources for informing ourselves. Thus, the purpose of this book was to seek first-class authorities with a variety of views who could help answer this question. The intended audiences are not only scholars in a variety of academic disciplines but also research consumers, including educators, policymakers, parents, and citizens who seek principles to critically separate valid from invalid claims for the efficacy and efficiency of education products, personnel, and policies. Initial versions of the chapters were discussed at a national invitational conference sponsored by the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), the mid-Atlantic regional educational laboratory, at Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education. LSS operates under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.

questions are discussed in this interesting study about what it is like to grow up gifted, the realities of school, the expectations of others, and the choices the gifted make in adulthood.

"Contemporary Psychology "

This volume summarizes a study designed to assess the outcomes of early identification and schooling for a group of highly gifted children. The subjects were graduates of one of America's most selective educational institutions, the Hunter College Elementary School (HCES). HCES developed as an outgrowth of a series of experiments and philosophical statements reflecting the political and social history of the United States in the first half of the 20th century, and was created in1941 to serve children with IQ scores at least two standard deviations above the mean. This book proposes that the reported reflections of individuals in their 40s and 50s, who were selected at approximately age 4 for special instruction on the basis of high IQ scores, can provide insight into the development of future educational options for gifted students. The objective is to contribute these unique perspectives to the literature that describes and analyzes the long-term outcomes of educational decisions concerning the identification and education of gifted children.

"Talent development'AEu is a phrase often used in reference to the education of gifted children. Recently, it has been presented by researchers to refer to a specific approach to the delivery of gifted education services.

The idea for this series developed from a forum organized by the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, the National Science Foundation, and the Center for Education at the National Research Council on multiple methods in education research. At this forum, Dr. Pat Forgione, (now former) superintendent of the Austin School District, hosted a dialogue with two scholars who were each asked to analyze a problem situation Forgione provided from his district. The audience responded very enthusiastically to this exercise and in the evaluations expressed the desire for more complementary analyses of real-world problems that could serve as a component of research training in education. It is our intention to have this volume and the others in the series serve as case-based teaching material for graduate classes in education policy, and to inform the work of researchers, practitioners, and policy leaders. This particular case study is designed to explore the extent to which a teacher evaluation system is effective. It also addresses the challenge of measuring student achievement gains when the students in question are already at the high end of the scale, a different-yet important-problem in an era when many concentrate on "low-hanging fruit" or students "on the bubble" between failure and marginal performance. By presenting a realworld case, various research methods for studying issues raised by the case, and the interchange among scholars engaged in this effort, this volume will allow educational policymakers and practitioners to decide if a proposed approach is compelling and relevant for their settings. Concurrently, a comparison of various research methods addressing a real school-based problem provides an important learning tool for the research community, and for those who study and make policy.We also believe that the case study and the research designs will be useful for those with responsibility for framing and funding a research agenda in education that utilizes strong research designs applied to topics that matter to student outcomes at all levels of the U.S. education system and at all levels of pupil performance. And finally, we hope that doctoral programs that seek to prepare the next generation of education researchers will find our approach helpful in their work.

This volume, however, is not primarily concerned with what students should learn, nor even how they should learn. Rather it concerns how we can discover the best means and conditions for teaching them in school, at home, and in society. Expressed more explicitly, we seek to find out how students can learn efficiently or productively as much as possible within a given amount of time and resources. As in agriculture, medicine, public health, and modern industries, we can turn to rigorous science as one of the best sources for informing ourselves. Thus, the purpose of this book was to seek first-class authorities with a variety of views who could help answer this question. The intended audiences are not only scholars in a variety of academic disciplines but also research consumers, including educators, policymakers, parents, and citizens who seek principles to critically separate valid from invalid claims for the efficacy and efficiency of education products, personnel, and policies. Initial versions of the chapters were discussed at a national invitational conference sponsored by the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), the mid-Atlantic regional educational laboratory, at Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education. LSS operates under a contract with the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.

Lewis Terman heralded the field of gifted education in the United States by tracing the development of high-IQ children from their childhood in the1920s to midlife and beyond. The contemporary field of gifted education, building on the work of Terman and others, presumes that gifted children become exceptional adults. Longitudinal research offers the opportunity for critical examination of the way gifted children and adolescents are identified and illuminates the characteristics and experiences that affect sustained achievement. Only long-term studies can directly address whether or not gifted education is finding the right people and doing the right things. The studies demonstrate the fit between longitudinal methodology and the central issues of gifted education. Collectively, they investigate the early determinants of later academic and career achievement and creativity while employing varied identification practices, perspectives, theoretical orientations, and populations.

questions are discussed in this interesting study about what it is like to grow up gifted, the realities of school, the expectations of others, and the choices the gifted make in adulthood.

"Contemporary Psychology "

This volume summarizes a study designed to assess the outcomes of early identification and schooling for a group of highly gifted children. The subjects were graduates of one of America's most selective educational institutions, the Hunter College Elementary School (HCES). HCES developed as an outgrowth of a series of experiments and philosophical statements reflecting the political and social history of the United States in the first half of the 20th century, and was created in1941 to serve children with IQ scores at least two standard deviations above the mean. This book proposes that the reported reflections of individuals in their 40s and 50s, who were selected at approximately age 4 for special instruction on the basis of high IQ scores, can provide insight into the development of future educational options for gifted students. The objective is to contribute these unique perspectives to the literature that describes and analyzes the long-term outcomes of educational decisions concerning the identification and education of gifted children.