History of American Gifted Education

Jennifer Jolly is Associate Professor of Gifted Education at the University of Alabama, USA.

"It may be impossible to navigate where the field of gifted education is going without a deep understanding of where it has been. A History of American Gifted Education is an essential text for anyone who studies or practices gifted education. Jolly deftly narrates the people and events that shaped the conceptual foundations of the field from the end of the nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century."—Todd Kettler, Ph.D., University of North Texas, USA"The reader will learn, in particular, about the contributions to the field of a range of scholars and educators (with biographical background to offer some context) and also about the activities of organisations that are influential in the story being told. These accounts of the work of specific characters and groups build into a narrative that gives a picture of an area of educational work subject to the whims of political policies and trends. This is a very informative book, and despite its national focus makes an interesting read for educators outside the United States who have an interest in gifted education. It links to core issues found elsewhere. History is an account of contingencies. Reading how support for carrying out gifted education policies ebbed and flowed in response to unrelated political imperatives in the United States brings to mind parallels elsewhere."—Keith S. Taber, University of Cambridge, History of Education

• Section 1 Chapter 1: The Foundational Underpinnings of a Field Chapter 2: Early Empirical Influence, High Ability, and Individual Difference Chapter 3: A New Psychology Chapter 4: Individual Difference and Its Measurement Chapter 5: The Proliferation of Psychological Study Chapter 6: Progressive Era of Education Section 2 Chapter 7: A Field of Their Own Chapter 8: Preliminary Studies of High Ability and Eminence Chapter 9: Staggered Attempts at Meeting the Educational Needs of Bright Children Chapter 10: Father of Gifted Education Chapter 11: Mother of Gifted Education Chapter 12: The Residue of Eugenics Chapter 13: Challenging the Status Quo Section 3 by Jennifer L. Jolly and Jennifer H. Robins Chapter 14: The Growth of Gifted Education Chapter 15: Legislative Initiatives Chapter 16: Technology and Science Driven Reform: Searching for Talent Chapter 17: Identification, Educational Practices, and Considerations Chapter 18: Recognizing the Need and Establishing Advocacy Organizations Chapter 19: Creativity as an Empirical Investigation Section 4 Chapter 20: Building and Sustaining Capacity Chapter 21: Continued Growth, Creativity Research, and Implementation Chapter 22: The Marland Report Chapter 23: Capacity Building Chapter 24: Acknowledged Neglect and Competing Priorities Chapter 25: Gifted Education’s Failings: Underserved Populations Chapter 26: Competing Conceptions and Definitions of Giftedness