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Spatial thinking permeates much of our lives and is an asset when solving problems involving well-structured visual information or imagining solutions in physical or digital space. However, an estimated three million US school children have spatial talents that go unrecognized because of the tools commonly used for identification of academic talent. For decades, educational and psychological research has explored the range of spatial thinking skills that are demanded by many career fields, including science, engineering, and mathematics. Spatial thinking has been found to be particularly important to early mathematical thinking. In this article, we explore what spatial thinking entails, where it is important in the curriculum, and how we can begin to develop spatial literacy and identify spatial talents in our K-12 classrooms.

In 1972, the United States Office of Education (USOE) released a lengthy and unprecedented report about gifted education in response to a Congressional mandate. Both Congress and the USOE lamented the inadequate state of gifted programmes in American schools and urged that gifted education should become a greater national priority. In this essay, we argue that the federal government revived human capital and national security concerns in claiming that the unfulfilled potential of gifted and talented Americans had made the United States vulnerable. Better accommodating students with high abilities therefore became a paramount political agenda item. At the same time, amid efforts to eliminate poverty and facilitate greater equality of educational opportunity, both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government strategically portrayed the gifted and talented as a neglected and historically disadvantaged group in need of assistance. In establishing a broader and multi-faceted definition of giftedness, moreover, the USOE paid particular attention to racial minorities who were also gifted as a way of making its case. Such arguments fit within the political climate of the Great Society in directing public resources to historically marginalized groups. Deviating from longstanding characterizations of the gifted as inherently white and privileged, the U.S. government in the late 1960s and early 1970s portrayed them as racially diverse, "deprived," "disadvantaged," and warranting special educational opportunities. This example of federal advocacy thus marked a notable shift in the image of the gifted student in the United States.

Over the last two decades, the growth and development of the fields of Dance Science and Pedagogy, as practice, research and area of study, has changed the landscape of 21st Century training and performance. The aim of this paper is to stimulate thinking and initiate dialogue between practitioners and academics in the exploration of new solutions to ongoing pedagogical tensions within the vocational training environment. In recognising the challenge which an interdisciplinary approach brings to dance (integrating the science of content and the art of delivery), this paper explores the integration of coaching pedagogical concepts and practices, to inform an innovative approach to dancer empowerment, placing the dancer central to the learning environment. The paper proposes an empowered dancer focused framework for coaching with the emphasis being placed on the development of the dancer displaying the skills of self-determined, decision-making and are empowered across the life cycle of their career(s).

In the context of constructing regional education and talent hub, Macao's higher education talent development strategy impacts the creation of a regional talent hub and the process of industrial diversification. This study adopts a text analysis approach. Through the analysis of 118 texts and the construction of the game model, it reveals that Macao's talent development has been passing through a "market-controlled" and "policy-driven" stage due to the uniqueness of economic and social development. The model of cooperative game based on endosymbiosis implicates that the talent attraction strategy of higher education can play a leading role in socio-economic development to form a cooperative and symbiotic equilibrium with the region as a whole through the "climbing period" when the "actual state" catches up with the "expected value." This paper proposes some policy recommendations, including: prospective discipline layout, breaking down of institutional barriers, cooperation and exchange of talent cultivation, and the creation of a talent-sharing mechanism for promoting the construction of a regional talent hub.

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are undergoing financial, structural and cultural transformation. With the marketization of higher education, 'war for talent' is also gaining momentum. As bars are raised on evaluating academics' performance, the human resources and academic leadership need to rethink their approach to talent identification, development, and deployment. The staff development function needs some adaptations to sustain in this knowledge-intensive industry. In the light of literature review and professional reflection, I argue academics as 'the talent' for any higher education institution. This paper discusses talent development in higher education and advocates 'an exclusive' approach to their professional development. It unpacks the three levels of HEIs talent development needs and presents a framework to meet them. The paper also elaborates on the interventions that are favourable for the fulfilment of academics' and institution's talent development needs. It finally proposes areas for further research.

Purpose: This article provides an overview of the composition and evolution of China's high-level talent programs in higher education. Design/Approach/Methods: This article reviews key talent policies adopted by the Chinese government since the 1990s, using content analysis methods to identify policy characteristics and reform trends. Findings: Talent programs in China operate at four levels: the national level, provincial level, city level, and institutional level. The main objectives of China's high-level talent programs are to support and promote the development of young talent and to encourage overseas scholars to return to China. China's high-level talent programs have undergone various changes since 1993. The evolution is characterized by the following five major aspects: individual program optimization; replacement, integration, and separation; preventing overlapping funding; mitigating the unbalanced impact the programs have on higher education institutions across regions; and strengthening risk assessment for programs focused on attracting overseas talent. Originality/Value: This article offers a comprehensive assessment of the talent programs implemented by Chinese universities and explores the key trends and content of recent policy changes.

The aim is to develop a scale to demonstrate the instructional approaches that teachers apply in inclusive preschool classrooms, where typically developed and talented/gifted children are educated together. A total of 156 teachers working in inclusive preschools in Ankara formed the study group. The scale consists of 22 five-point, Likert-type items. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, a structure consisting of three factors and 18 items was obtained. The first factor termed as 'Differentiation' consists of seven items, while the second factor, 'Detection and Development of Potential' consists of eight items, and the third factor of the scale, 'Motivation' consists of three items. The scale accounts for 44.61% of the total variance. As a result of the confirmatory factor analysis, it determined that the scale was in good agreement with the model in general. The Cronbach alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale is defined as .88 and the reliability of the subscales is determined between 0.76 and 0.83. In addition, the correlation coefficients of the items in each factor are higher than 0.30. In general, it is found that the three-factor structure of the scale is valid and reliable.

Training is one of the most important activities in human resource management. Training aims at improving employees' levels of skills and knowledge. Hence, certain types of training can be implemented for specific purposes. In this research, we introduce the concept of talent-based training. This form of training is expected to improve employees' cognitive thinking and in turn, assist with cognitive engagement. Cognitive engagement is how employees and employers interrelate through participating in exchanging ideas and knowledge to solve organizational problems. This research seeks to analyse the concept of cognitive engagement as an outcome of talent-based training to improve individual performance. 150 employees from manufacturing companies participated in the study. Data was analysed using regression analysis. The results show that talent-based training and perceived organizational support relate positively to cognitive engagement and enhances individual performance.

Black girls experience numerous challenges to their academic development. This study examines the literature from the last 30 years related to the influences on the academic talent development of school-aged Black girls. Environmental and intrapersonal influences to Black girls' academic talent development are explored. Using a systematic approach, 43 articles are reviewed and summarized. Thematic analysis conducted on the results and findings sections from each article reveal four major themes related to personal attributes, racial identity, relationships, and institutions. The themes expand the understanding of the complexity of talent development of Black girls and identify several intrapersonal and environmental influences that can promote or hinder academic achievement. Implications for future research are discussed.

Creative, motivated, and high-achieving students are found in every college and university, but not all of these students participate in honors programs which might support their talent development. This comparative case study investigated the perceptions of 10 participants who completed university-level "Type III experiences." It extends the sparse research on enrichment and gifted education pedagogy in undergraduate students, framed on Renzulli's Four-Part Theoretical Model for Gifted Education in the 21st Century. Interviews explored students' perceptions of the experience and effects on their executive functions and future plans. Using Strauss and Corbin's technique of open, axial, and selective coding, one overarching theme of this study emerged: support provided for creative productivity led to autonomy and enabled students to complete advanced and creative projects.

Giftedness has long been recognised as a cultural construct. Further, the processes and practices for developing talents are culturally influenced. Yet, there is little existing research into Australian Aboriginal understandings of giftedness and talent. There is a need to move beyond pan-Aboriginality when considering Australian Aboriginal views, and with this in mind, this paper reports the findings of an investigation into Yol?u conceptions of giftedness, talent, and talent development. Importantly, for the Yol?u participants in this study, these constructs are grounded in their foundation law (Djalkiri Rom). It follows that identification of giftedness relies on observation of traits and behaviours that, when harnessed, will serve these cultural priorities. It also follows that the practices and processes used by the Yol?u to develop talents will be mediated by their cultural milieu. This has implications for young people from cultural minority backgrounds, including Australian Aboriginal students, who often find their approaches to giftedness and talent sidelined at school.

Differentiated instruction (DI) is an effective instructional strategy to maximize individual students' abilities; in practice, however, its implementation appears to be problematic. To better understand teachers' perspectives on DI and the effect different teaching contexts can have, we explored teachers' interactive cognitions of DI in their regular lessons and in "talent lessons." Four stimulated recall interviews were conducted with a sample of secondary school teachers (n = 4) in the Netherlands. We found that teachers' interactive cognitions varied depending on the context. More specifically, it appeared that in the "talent lessons," teachers focused more on small groups or on individual students than they did in the regular lessons. Also, regardless of context, teachers often take student characteristics into account, but how they do this varies among teachers. This study provides a valuable starting point for professional development trajectories and aimed to develop teachers' implementation of DI while taking individual differences among teachers into account.

As a result of globalization, talented employees have been needed in the workplace anymore. With being hired of talented employees, new understanding of management has appeared and talent management has gained importance due to this new understanding. Talent management is a kind of management understanding according to which employees feel motivated and have desire to move forward by taking the initiative, trust in their knowledge and expertise has increased, they believe that they can control the incidents and the conditions which enable them to fulfill the tasks which are suitable and meaningful for them for the sake of organizational purposes have been composed (Dogan, 2006). Talent management is composed of a five-step process, which these steps are hiring, keeping, improving, performance and strengthening personnel. The purpose of this study is to adapt the scale which was used by Oehley (2007) in the thesis of "The Development and Evaluation of a Partial Talent Management Competency Model" for prospective teachers in Turkey. The adaptation study was conducted with 133 prospective teachers who are continuing their education in the Faculty of Education of Sinop University. In the adaptation study, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted. The original scale is composed of 44 items. In the first step of the adaptation study, 40 items are included in the Turkish form with regard to expert opinions. As a result of exploratory factor analysis conducted, item 8 was excluded from the scale. The scale has come up with 8 sub-dimensions as it is in the original scale. To test its accuracy, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for 39 items.

The aim of this study is to recognize the level of career success for talented students who are graduates from programs of talented individuals in Jubilee School in Amman city and pioneering center for talented individuals in Salt city. The sample of the study includes (162) graduates from the mentioned programs. Also the study aimed to know the level of career success with gender variable and the kind of center that presents the program. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher prepared a scale of career success which contains five dimensions (psychological dimension, social, economic, mental features and work environment) and these dimensions are distributed on (66) paragraphs. Indications of sincerity and invariance of tool were extracted and the scale was applied on individuals of the sample by three ways: (direct interview, phone call and e-mail). To extract the results, the following elements were calculated: arithmetic means, standard deviations, regression analysis, correlation coefficients and analysis of two-way and multiple variances. The results of the study indicated that the talented individuals of the sample showed high level in career success according to the used scale, the results also showed that the level of career success for females was greater than the males and the results indicated that the career success for the individuals who are graduates from Jubilee School was greater than the career success for individuals who are graduates from leading center for talented students in Salt.

Finding and developing talented youth from low-income backgrounds is an ongoing challenge for U.S. gifted education policy. These students face strong headwinds, whereas advantaged students enjoy favorable tailwinds, and these factors accumulate throughout K-12, higher education, and beyond. Jonathan Wai and Frank C. Worrell explain how talented low income kids are left behind. They discuss the historical tension between the development of excellence and the pursuit of equity, explain the importance of early and universal talent identification and development in the critical K-12 years, and link that development to students' personal success and societal growth.

The assumption that students are differently talented often underlies the public and philosophical debate about the justice of school systems. It is striking that despite the centrality of the notion of 'talent' in these debates, the concept is hardly ever explicated. I will suggest two explications: First, philosophers who point to different talents often assume that these are somehow fixed potentials that pose limits to what someone can achieve. According to this understanding, no matter how hard someone tries, she simply cannot perform well due to a lack of talent. Second, talking about different talents can be understood as saying that two students who will receive the same amount of educational resources are nevertheless expected to perform differently in the future. In the public as well as the philosophical debate it is common to assume that educational prospects should be equalized when it comes to unequal social backgrounds, but not when it comes to unequal talents. In this paper, I put into question three reasons that could speak in favor of this assumption: the first refers to the connection between talents and limits, the second to the relation between talents and the transformation of resources and the last one to the idea that talents somehow go back to the person's true self.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to design a talent-based model for recruiting faculty members at regional comprehensive universities in Iran. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the purpose, grounded theory approach was used. The research population consisted of all experts in the field of higher education in Iran. Nineteen experts were selected through purposeful sampling by Snowball method and based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used and for the data analysis, a thematic analysis technique was applied. Findings: The findings showed that the model for recruiting the faculty members in Iranian regional universities included four components--Personal Characteristics, Professional Capabilities, Behavioral Capabilities and Cognitive Capabilities. Practical implications: This research identified the recruiting components and its results can be used to recruit capable faculty members purposefully and in accordance with the Iranian academic strategic plan. The method of this study can be applied in other applied fields as well. Originality/value: This study adds to the authors' knowledge about recruiting of the faculty members and also the factors that can be helpful in a talent-based selection. Therefore, in order to have capable faculty members, universities should make an effort to identify relevant components and design a comprehensive model to recruit more capable faculty members.

Gifted students' learning gains result from complex, advanced, and meaningful content provided by a knowledgeable teacher through high-quality curriculum and instruction at an appropriate pace with scaffolding and feedback. These elements exert influence that increases with dosage and within structures that facilitate student engagement in rigorous experiences, including interactions with one another. Talent development is a two-part process. First, educators and parents must provide opportunities for talent to surface, and then they must recognize the talent and provide educational opportunities that engage the emerging talent and move it to exceptional levels. Unfortunately, a variety of barriers exist that limit underserved students' participation in this process. We discuss these barriers within a proposed model of talent development. [This paper was published in "Journal for the Education of the Gifted," v39 n2 p103-131 Jun 2016 (EJ1101173).]

Nowadays, the success of any organization depends on the shaping of policies tailored to the needs of human resources; otherwise, it will lose the ability to adapt to today's complex environment and the ability to use the effectiveness of human resources. For this reason, Talent Management can help to attract, nurture and develop the next generation of public leaders. This study was conducted with the aim of finding the relationship between each of the main dimensions of talent management and improves the performance of faculty members at the university. This study is an applied research. The total population included all regular universities in Iran. Data were collected by the study of literature, interviews with experts and questionnaires so that data were analyzed using correlation analysis and Analytical Network Process (ANP) by SPSS and Super Decisions software. The results show that the "talents development" dimension is in first place and the dimensions of "attracting the talent" and "talents maintenance", they are respectively ranked second and third the most relevant dimensions of talent management in improving the performance of faculty members in educational services. Thus, before considering the work processes and relying on modern technology, the role of "in-service training courses", "continuous learning" and "technical skills training" are crucial in improving the performance of faculty members.

For decades, Scandinavian culture effectively prohibited the development of special provisions for talented students in higher education. However, in recent years, a cultural shift has gradually made more room for excellence and talent development in the national discourses. This paper analyzes the climate for talent development in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Following a first inventory of honors programs in Scandinavian higher education in which the only programs were found in Denmark, 10 experts were interviewed to analyze their national situation and reflect on the leading role of Denmark. In this country, external incentives, focus on quality, pioneers, and an open atmosphere were found to produce a culture more appreciative of excellence over the last decade. Starting from the Danish experience, the situation in Norway and Sweden is analyzed, showing that the combination of factors leading to change in Denmark is not yet present here. Lessons for other countries are highlighted, notably the importance of sharing information and exchanging knowledge at an international level.

The ultimate goal of gifted education programs is to cultivate students' competences through challenging, enriching, and engaging opportunities for talent development. The purpose of this review is to present two main approaches of enrichment programs for gifted learners in Taiwan: the programs following the law and the alternative programs initiated by local authorities, private organizations, and researchers. The rationale and practice of program evaluation are also discussed to analyze Taiwan's gifted education program logics and qualities to reflect on the development of these programs. Finally, the prospects of program design and evaluation are proposed: (a) defining the criteria for success or effectiveness, (b) selecting or developing valid and reliable measurement tools and strategies, (c) conducting long-term evaluation plans and follow-up studies, and (d) promoting evidence-based decision-making in gifted education.

The case study of Michael Jackson illustrates the concepts of high potential, talent, and precocity in the musical domain. Studying this case of exceptional musical talent highlights the usefulness of a multidimensional approach to exploring human potential, which is not limited to academic abilities. It offers a better understanding of the process of transforming a gift into talent and allows us to examine the asynchronies observed in some high-potential individuals between extreme talent and impaired socioaffective development--the interplay between strength and fragility where cognitive functioning cannot be dissociated from emotional functioning.

As an imprint of Confucian culture, China's education intersects state governance in making and governing educational subjects as 'talent', an official translation of the Chinese term 'rencai' (literally, human-talent). Whereas the English word 'talent' itself denotes '[people with] natural aptitude or skill', 'talent' is currently mobilized in China not only as a globalized discourse that speaks to the most aspired educational subjects for the 21st century but also as a re-invoked cultural notion that relates to Confucian wisdom. Drawing upon Foucault's biopower hypothesis and Confucian thought, this paper leverages upon China's unique manipulation of 'talent' as certain skills and human subjects, both cultivable through education, to problematize China's talent making and governing in two dimensions. First, it unpacks the various technologies of power entangled in China's talent making and governing within its 'state governance' paradigm. Second, it unpacks Confucian thought as an archaeological prototype for China's present talent appeal, meanwhile explicating their divergences in defining 'human', 'talent', and the human-talent interpellation. In so doing, this paper makes two arguments. First, the linguistic notion of 'talent' functions as a Foucauldian apparatus of biopower, making (up) new kinds of people and normalizing a certain population as the objective/object of China's state governance. Second, CPC's re-invocation of Confucian talent discourses is more of a rhetorical strategy than an authentic cultural renaissance gesture.

Are the gifted and talented destined for greatness in a neoliberally oriented knowledge economy? This is undoubtedly an important question for scholars, teachers, and parents advocating the value of gifted education to policy makers and employers worldwide. This review of literature from a multitude of relevant disciplines attempts to answer this question in drawing from political ideology, economic history, human universal behaviour, and principles of social evolution to the extent that we currently understand them. The analysis showed that while high ability is well underway to take centre stage globally in terms of stakeholder interest, the analysis also suggested that hopes projected onto the highly able are often illusory. The social dynamics characterizing the knowledge economy appears unlikely to accept potential contributions of the highly able, since it is not in the nature of a neoliberal economy to offer the necessary conditions needed for creative and innovative efforts. Given that these conclusions are reasonably correct, clearly much of gifted education, its research and raison d'?tre, will need to be reconsidered and new objectives and fields of research be explored.

The approach to the support of gifted and talented children and youth has changed considerably in the past twenty years. While, until the 2000s, provision programmes predominantly focused on extracurricular activities for pupils, gifted education now follows a systemic and inclusive approach, including all (educational) institutions--kindergarten, school, college and university--as well as the family, the economy, the working world and the community. Furthermore, there have been considerable efforts to provide for gifted children within the regular classroom by way of differentiation and individualised learning. This new approach to talent support was first outlined in 2011 in the "White Paper Promoting Talent and Excellence," which the Austrian Research and Support Centre for the Gifted and Talented published in cooperation with the interministerial Giftedness Research and Gifted Education Task Force. The present article outlines the reasons that led to this new strategy, explains its main features and attempts an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses.

While the focus in Germany was initially on disabled children only, the promotion of gifted and talented children has become increasingly important. Different organisations and institutions, ranging from parents' associations to foundations, offer a large variety of measures catering for the special demands of gifted and talented children, enabling the exchange of information on giftedness and the cooperation of different institutions. Talented children are also provided with access to scholarships as well as to special academies and competitions on different topics. Furthermore, educators and researches involved in the promotion of giftedness can attend conferences as well as gaining qualifications as specialists in gifted education and talent support. In addition to these nationwide, extracurricular measures, the individual federal states offer various acceleration and enrichment activities for children with high abilities at school. Overall, this leads to a diverse system of gifted education and talent support in Germany. It does, however, mean that Germany lacks a common national strategy of gifted education and talent support due to the lack of networking of the individual federal states. By exchanging ideas and information on their applied concepts of ability promotion, the federal states could benefit from each other's expertise and experiences. Further improvement could be achieved if concepts of gifted education and talent support were to become an integral part of various discussions, such as those on inclusive education or on the results of international comparative studies (e.g., PISA, PIRLS or TIMSS).

After a short historical introduction, the article provides an overview of the current talent support trends in Hungary. It gives an insight into the legislation, guidelines and institutional system associated with the national talent support strategy, and presents the main NGO initiatives present in the early 21st century, in particular the organisations brought to life by the Hungarian Talent Support Council and their effect on current education policy. At the same time, the article seeks to present the strengths and weaknesses of the national talent support strategy and the Hungarian talent support cooperation model.

This article presents the concept of creative potential and its link to talent. Psychological measures to assess creative potential in children and adolescents (EPoC) and adults (Creative Profiler) are then described. Implications for developing creativity are proposed.

How can high potential in childhood be transformed into outstanding adult accomplishment? Research indicates that individuals who become outstanding performers and producers have more than just raw talent in the domain or opportunities to develop their talent--they have the will, drive, and focus to take advantage of the opportunities with which they are presented, and the capacity to persist through failures even as the bar for success gets higher. Despite the importance of these psychosocial facilitators, they are among the least well understood in the field of gifted and talented research. In this study, we reviewed existing literature in order to build comprehensive list of the psychosocial variables associated with talent development across domains (visual art, dance, sports, academics, music, acting, medicine, and software engineering). With the help of psychologists with expertise in these domains, we completed an initial categorization of these skills and asked the experts to indicate at which of the three stages in talent development--the transition of abilities into competencies, competencies into expertise, and expertise to creative productivity or eminence--each psychosocial skill was important. We found promising general patterns of commonality as well as variation by domain and stage of talent development, and discuss the implications of this study on future research into psychosocial skill development.

Ellen Winner is a psychologist and a professor at Boston College. She specializes in psychology of art. In this interview, she answers the following questions including: (1) What are you currently working on, researching? (2) Could you elaborate on the intrinsic value of art education? (3) How might you compare your work today to earlier advocates such as Harry S. Broudy? (4) Could you discuss the role arts education can play across disciplines in the study of science, language arts, history? (5) How are gifted and average children different cognitively? (6) "How Art works: A Psychological Exploration" is your latest book. What were you trying to accomplish in this book? (7) Are there preexisting neural, cognitive, or motoric markers for musical ability? And why should we be sensitive to these things? and (8) Does arts education foster creativity? And if so, how does it do this? And how much time should be devoted to it on a daily basis? And does it also enhance talent?

Providing an optimal match in the pace of instruction and level of content increases student engagement and is essential for all students. And while the idea of optimal match makes sense educationally, it can be challenging to determine what pace and level of instruction is optimal for gifted students. Fortunately, there is an effective, research-based method for creating optimal match learning environments for gifted students. The model, known as Talent Search, was founded in the early 1970s by Dr. Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University as a way to identify exceptional mathematical reasoning ability in middle school students, through above-grade-level testing (giving younger students a test designed for older students, such as the SAT®). Since its origins, Talent Search programs have expanded beyond mathematics to assess both mathematical and verbal areas in elementary and middle school children. Today's Talent Search model consists of multiple components: (1) Early diagnosis and evaluation; (2) Guidance and recommendations for educational placement in school; and (3) Talent development opportunities. This article describes how the Talent Search centers and programs work and the importance of testing above grade level. A list of Talent Search programs/organizations and information on how to participate in Talent Search are also included.

In the United States, scholars both in and out of gifted education have been studying twice-exceptional students for the past several decades. These students often face significant challenges and barriers in the process of achieving their educational and career goals, as they are often confronted with combining their talent domains with the limitations associated with their learning, social, and/or behavioral difficulties. Yet studies have also identified distinct strengths within this population, such as their accelerated creativity. In this article, we reviewed the creativity and career development literature specific to twice-exceptional students and considered how creative approaches toward career intervention, such as the inclusion of the creative arts, may facilitate student exploration. Theoretical and research support for this approach are discussed.

The study investigates the practices of academic staff talent management at international branch campuses, with the aim of identifying a range of practical strategies that may address the unique challenges of managing talent in campuses located far away from the home country. These strategies are intended to improve service quality and add value to institution profiles. Based on an online questionnaire, ad hoc email correspondence and publicly available information, five case studies are presented. Talent management emerges as a key strategic area, directly managed at dean/president level. Referrals and online portals are commonly utilised as channels to attract talent, and the need to sometimes uplift local packages to recruit and retain talent is recognised. It is concluded that the development of academic staff should be viewed as an investment, and the availability of research funding and teaching awards on campus may be used to attract, develop and retain talent.

This paper summarizes five phases of a comprehensive Economic Impact Study conducted by the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) from 2009-2011. The methodology and assumptions of those analyses is summarized for those wishing to conduct similar studies. The paper also documents highlighted results, such as the school's estimated $521 million in 2009 contributions to the North Carolina economy, including over $20 million in institutional spending, $1.1 million in state taxes, and nearly $500 million in economic activity by NCSSM alumni. Over their lifetimes, each cohort of NCSSM graduates who reside in North Carolina contributes between $48.4 and $66.8 million in taxes to the state's treasury. As the publicly-supported school continues to expand enrollment, its economic impact on the region will continue to grow.

This article outlines the use of Gagne's (2008) Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent (DMGT) as applied to Tongan secondary school students in New Zealand. Two case studies of Tongan young women are shared with a particular emphasis on the influence of catalysts, the chance factor, and developmental processes upon the development of their gifts to talents. The article explains the Tongan way, a conceptual map for developing better understandings of Tongan gifted and talented students in New Zealand. The article concludes that the Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent is a framework teachers can use to explore giftedness with Pasifika families, communities, and students to assist in better understanding their special abilities, qualities, and needs. (Contains 5 figures and 1 footnote.)

Between 2006 and 2008 the Ministry of Education funded the evaluation of three Talent Development Initiatives for gifted and talented students. The methodology employed was one of participatory action research, a process of evaluation that enables learning by doing, as researchers and practitioners work alongside one another. Through the process of evaluating the three programmes, the researchers were also able to reflect on how and what formative feedback effects the development, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation of provisions for gifted and talented students. Based upon notes from team meetings, ongoing communications, and focus group discussions, the researchers concluded that an action research approach, despite some tensions, is useful and instrumental in the ongoing development of provisions for gifted and talented students.

Academically talented students in many urban areas in the authors' Northeastern corner of the county have limited access to gifted and talented programs due to lack of funding and attention focused on students who are achieving well below grade level. In the city of Hartford, for example, no gifted program has been available for more than a decade, and teachers and administrators acknowledge that the needs of many high-potential and gifted students often are not met in classrooms. In fact, the Renzulli Academy emerged from an initiative of the Assistant Superintendent with the full support of the Superintendent, Dr. Steven Adamowski. The creation of the Renzulli Academy is the result of this awareness and the collaborative effort between Assistant Superintendent Miriam Morales-Taylor and Sally Reis, professor and researcher in gifted education and talent development at the Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut. Over the course of several months, a preliminary plan was developed for the curriculum and instruction that would guide the program, as well as its organization. This article briefly describes the academy, its philosophy and model, social and emotional adjustment of the students, curriculum and instructional programming, strategies that worked, and changes and modifications.