Gifted Education in the Balance: Building Relationships With General Education

Abstract

This article focuses on the relationship of gifted education to both special education and general education and traces the growing importance for gifted education of establishing linkages to general education and various aspects of the reform movement. The author advocates careful consideration by the field of the curriculum reform enterprise and suggests natural connections through the emphasis on mathematics, science, and technology; the emphasis on international education; the movement to infuse thinking skills into the curriculum; and the measurement-driven instructional focus. Moreover, the article considers recent research on teaching and learning and draws implications for practice by educators of the gifted. The effective schools literature and practice are also discussed in light of their effect on education for gifted learners. The author advocates a closer working relationship with general educators in order to address the major needs of the field in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and evaluation.