This article discusses three lessons that stand out as particularly poignant in the author’s career working with high-ability students. The author recounts personal and professional experiences that influenced his thinking. The three lessons are that identifying high-ability students is not an easy business, the development of talent requires more than ability, and success requires both head strengths and heart strengths.
BorlandJH (2005) Gifted education without gifted children: The case for no conception of giftedness. In: SternbergRJDavidsonJE (eds.) Conceptions of Giftedness. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–19.
2.
BorlandJH (2009) Myth 2: The gifted constitute 3% to 5% of the population. Moreover, giftedness equals high IQ, which is a stable measure of aptitude. Gifted Child Quarterly53: 236–238.
3.
BronfenbrennerUCeciSJ (1994) Toward a more developmental behavioral genetics. Social Development3: 64–65.
4.
CeciSJWilliamsWM (1997) Schooling, intelligence, and income. American Psychologist52: 1051.
5.
CôtéJBakerJAbernethyB (2003) From play to practice: a developmental framework for the acquisition of expertise in team sports. In: StarkesJAEricssonKA (eds.) Expert Performance in Sports: Advances in Research on Sport Expertise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, pp. 89–114.
6.
DuckworthALSeligmanMEP (2005) Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science16: 939–944.
7.
Durand-BushNSalmelaJH (2002) The development and maintenance of expert athletic performance: Perceptions of world and Olympic champions. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology14: 154–171.
8.
DweckCS (2006) Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books.
9.
EricssonKA (ed.) (1996) The Road to Excellence. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
10.
EricssonKA (2005) Recent advances in expertise research: a commentary on the contributions to the special issue. Applied Cognitive Psychology19: 223–241.
11.
EricssonKAKrampeRTTesch-RomerC (1993) The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review100: 363–406.
12.
EricssonKANandagopalKRoringRW (2005) Giftedness viewed from the expert – performance perspective. Journal for the Education of the Gifted28: 287–311.
13.
FulghumRL (1988) All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. New York: Ballantine Books.
14.
GallagherJJ (2002a) Gifted education in the twenty-first century. Gifted Education International16: 100–110.
15.
GallagherJJ (2002b) Society’s Role in Educating Gifted Students: The Role of Public Policy. Stows, CT: The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
16.
GallagherJJ (2007) According to Jim: The intelligence we never measure. Roeper Review29: 83.
17.
GallagherJJ (2008) Psychology, psychologists, and gifted students. In: PfeifferSI (ed.) Handbook of Giftedness in Children: Psychoeducational Theory, Research, and Best Practices. New York: Springer, pp. 1–11.
18.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 198-446, 118 Stat. 2647 (2004).
19.
KaufmanJC (2009) Creativity 101. New York: Springer Publishing Co.
20.
KaufmanJCSternbergRJ (eds.) (2010) The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
21.
KozbeltABeghettoRARuncoMA (2010) Theories of creativity. In: KaufmanJCSternbergRJ (eds.) The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 20–47.
22.
McClainM-CPfeifferSI (2012) Identification of gifted students in the United States today: A look at state definitions, policies, and practices. Journal of Applied School Psychology; 28: 59–88.
23.
MischelW (1974) Processes in delay of gratification. In: BerkowitzL (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 7. New York: Academic Press, pp. 249–292.
24.
MischelWShodaYRodriquezML (1989) Delay of gratification in children. Science244: 933–938.
25.
NeisserU (1996) Intelligence: Knowns and unknowns. American Psychologist51: 77–101.
26.
NisbettRE
(2009) Intelligence and how to get it. New York: Norton.
27.
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6319 (2008).
28.
ParkNPetersonC (2010) Does it matter where we live? The urban psychology of character strengths. American Psychologist65: 535–547.
29.
PetersonCSeligmanMEP (eds.) (2004) Character Strengths and Virtues. New York: Oxford University Press.
30.
PfeifferSI (2002) Identifying gifted and talented students: Recurring issues and promising solutions. Journal of Applied School Psychology19: 31–50.
31.
PfeifferSI (2003) Psychological considerations in raising a healthy gifted child. In: Olszewski-KubiliusPLimbrug-WeberLPfeifferSI (eds.) Early Gifts: Recognizing and Nurturing Children’s Talents. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press, pp. 173–185.
32.
PfeifferSI (2003) Challenges and opportunities for students who are gifted: What the experts say. Gifted Child Quarterly47: 161–169.
33.
PfeifferSI (ed.) (2008) Handbook of Giftedness in Children: Psychoeducational Theory, Research, and Best Practices. New York: Springer.
34.
PfeifferSI (2009) Leadership. In: KerrB (ed.) Encyclopedia of Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishers, pp. 520–523.
35.
PfeifferSI (2012) Serving the Gifted: Evidence-based Clinical and Psycho-educational Practice. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group; in press.
36.
PfeifferSIOverstreetJMParkA (2010) The state of science and mathematics education in state-supported residential academies: A nationwide survey. Roeper Review32: 25–31.
37.
PleasantsRStephensKRSelphHPfeifferSI
(2004) Incorporating service learning into leadership education. Gifted Child Today27: 16–21.
38.
PutallazMBaldwinJSelphH (2005) The Duke University Talent Identification Program. High Ability Studies16: 41–54.
39.
SternbergRJ (1996) Costs of expertise. In: EricssonKA (ed.) The road to excellence. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, pp. 347–354.
40.
SternbergRJ (1997) Thinking Styles. New York: Cambridge University Press.
41.
SternbergRJ (1998) Abilities are forms of developing expertise. Educational Researcher27: 11–20.
42.
SternbergRJ (2000) Giftdness as developing expertise. In: HellerKAMonksFJSternbergRJSubotnikRF (eds.) International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent. 2nd ed. Kidlington, Oxford, UK: Elsevier, pp. 55–66.
43.
SternbergRJGrigorenkoEL (1997) Are cognitive styles still in style?American Psychologist52: 700–712.
44.
VincentJGlamserFD (2006) Gender differences in the relative age effect among US Olympic Development Program youth soccer players. Journal of Sports Sciences24: 405–414.
45.
WallachMA (1970) Creativity. In: MussenP (ed.) Carmichael’s Handbook of Child Psychology. New York: Wiley, pp. 1211–1272.
46.
WallachMA (1976) Tests tell us little about talent. American Scientist64: 57–63.
47.
WallachMAKoganN (1965) Modes of Thinking in Young Children. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
48.
WolfendenLEHoltNL (2005) Tennis development in elite junior tennis: perceptions of players, parents and coaches. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology17: 108–126.