Paula Olszewski-Kubilius’s research while affiliated with Northwestern University and other places

Talent development as a framework for services for advanced learners has gained traction within schools, but there are challenges that remain. In this paper, we address some of these, including identification systems that are consistent with a domain focus and geared towards the stage of talent development; exceptional abilities that are often ignored by schools but could be identified and cultivated; programming that is continuous, articulated with the school curriculum, with defined outcomes for growth and performance; better understanding and use of data for identification and monitoring of progress; and policies that support acceleration and advanced learning options. The major challenge for schools is the potential to bifurcate services into talent development for underserved learners versus gifted services for high achieving students, rather than providing multiple pathways for learners with different needs that lead to high achievement for all.

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.

Understanding and supporting gifted and talented children and adolescents Answers common questions of professionals and trainees Presents the state-of-art of theory, research, and practice Explores the characteristics of gifted students More about the book What is giftedness? How do talents develop? Are gifted people "different"? How can gifted children be recognized and supported in their development? Based on the authors’ many years of expertise in giftedness research and education practice, this book answers these and many other questions about giftedness and talent development in a scientifically sound and at the same time application-oriented way. This new volume offers an up-to-date overview of the theoretical foundations, pioneering studies, and research findings on gifted children and adolescents, and explores evidence-based options for diagnostics and support. The development of giftedness as well as the characteristics of gifted students, such as performance-related attributes and temperament traits, are also examined. This book is of interest to child psychologists and psychiatrists, educational and school psychologists, educators, and students, and is an ideal textbook for self-study or for those training to become a professional.

Insider knowledge is critical information about how to achieve success that is not available to the general public but is relatively well‐known to individuals within the domain and to those who have access to those individuals. The goal of this study was to examine the perceived role of insider knowledge in a sample of highly accomplished American professionals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We asked participants explicitly if insider knowledge had played a role in their talent development trajectory from K–12 education to their current creative work, with questions related to experiences at the undergraduate and graduate level and during their careers. The study was exploratory, so no formal hypotheses were put forward. Given the lack of research on the topic of insider knowledge as defined in this paper, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with a select group of individuals who had successful careers in STEM fields, both to see if insider knowledge was something that they considered important and to see if they felt that insider knowledge had played a role in their educational and career trajectories. Our hope is that the results of this paper will inform future in‐depth studies on the topic of insider knowledge.

The foundation for talent development as a framework for gifted education can be found in a synthesis of the psychological literature on creativity, eminence, giftedness, and high performance. The talent development framework acknowledges the contributions of both general cognitive ability and domain-specific abilities to achievement, as well as the malleability of these ability constructs. Talent development is also consistent with research on the contributions of non-cognitive or psychosocial factors to school achievement, as well as studies on factors that influence the attainment of scholarly productivity and artistry within specific domains of non-academic talent. Although there are several theoretical frameworks and models of giftedness, talent development, ability, and intelligence, each with varied areas of emphasis and desired outcomes, the research base and practical applications for the talent development megamodel (TDMM) can serve as a guide to leaders and school administrators in making fiscal and programmatic decisions that maximize short- and long-term impacts for individuals and society. In this article, we discuss some of the practical implications of the model for assessment, curriculum and instruction, and psychosocial development within a school context.

In this article, we describe a collaboration between a university and school district aimed at preparing more students who are typically underidentified and underserved in gifted programs for advanced STEM coursework in high school. Features of the collaboration included early intervention, significant outside‐of‐school programming and coursework in STEM through elementary and middle school (over 400 h), tutoring, and support for families. Data included scores on two standardized achievement tests for 14 cohorts of students who self‐identified as African American and/or Hispanic (361 total students) as they progressed from Grade 3 to Grade 8, placement in accelerated mathematics courses in Grade 9, and college matriculation. Comparisons were made to data for comparable demographic groups within the school district. Results showed greater growth in reading and mathematics compared to demographic peers in the district reaching achievement levels comparable to the highest‐scoring students in the district. There were significant increases in the percentage of students entering high school with advanced placement in mathematics as well as improvement over multiple cohorts in matriculation at more selective institutions of higher education. Results are discussed with respect to best practices for the identification of students with potential STEM talent, effective university–school partnerships, and STEM‐talent development pathways.