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The purpose of this phenomenological study is to discover the impact of high-achieving executive leaders who neglect their trauma and insecurities on business decisions and success outcomes. For the utility of the study, trauma was defined as the chronic altering of emotional or cognitive processing of the brain due to an adverse experience. Insecurity was also defined as a negative perception of oneself due to a lack of certainty in safety, worth or capability. The self-determination theory and the implicit leadership theory informed the theoretical point of view guiding this research. A qualitative method with phenomenological research design was used to answer the research question: How has success for high-achieving executive leaders become a perceivably evolving, unattainable goal driven by trauma and insecurity that affects business decisions and outcomes? The study setting included existing data from an academic researcher and does not have a specific geographic location limitation. The study sample included thirteen primary interview participants of varying industries, ethnicities, genders, and backgrounds who obtained objective career success and were considered high performers. Data collection methods were interviews which were facilitated through the virtual meeting platform Zoom. Procedures included the researcher coordinating interview dates and times with individuals who expressed interest in participating in the study. Zoom platform information, a consent form, and a message verifying the sending of the consent form, including interview questions for the interview were sent ahead of time. Study results identified themes of Childhood Parental Dynamics, Social Proof, Coping Mechanisms, Work Ethic, and Quality of Life as contributors in the experiences and outcomes of high-achieving executives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Gifted students, characterized by exceptional intellectual abilities and unique learning needs, often find themselves navigating an educational landscape that may not fully cater to their specific requirements. Traditional teaching methods may fall short of engaging and challenging these students to realize their full potential. This dissertation delves into the efficacy of instructional conversations as an innovative pedagogical approach tailored to the distinctive learning profiles of gifted students. Through a comprehensive examination of relevant literature, theoretical frameworks, and empirical evidence, this study seeks to illuminate the impact of instructional conversations on the academic, social, and emotional development of gifted learners. The rationale behind this research lies in the recognition of the multifaceted nature of giftedness, acknowledging not only cognitive prowess but also socio-emotional dimensions. Instructional conversations, characterized by dynamic, open-ended dialogues between educators and students, are posited as a method that fosters critical thinking, problem-solving, and deeper understanding, aligning with the cognitive demands of gifted learners. Moreover, the interactive nature of instructional conversations is anticipated to address the socio-emotional needs of gifted students by creating an environment conducive to meaningful connections and a sense of intellectual belonging. This dissertation employs a qualitative research design with a qualitative analysis of teacher perceptions as measured across multiple data sets. By examining the experiences of educators, the study aims to provide a nuanced understanding of how instructional conversations contribute to the academic enrichment and holistic development of gifted students. Ultimately, this research aspires to inform educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders about the potential of instructional conversations in creating tailored and enriching learning experiences for gifted students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

According to ample claims from music educators, persistence beyond a student's initial enrollment in middle and high school music is a real problem in the U.S. (Kratus, 2007; Williams, 2007, 2011) and worldwide (Ng & Hartwig, 2011), making one-time enrollment metrics a misleading indicator of music's popularity in schools. Additionally, various lines of evidence show that prolonged engagement with music is associated with positive developmental outcomes for adolescents (Elpus, 2013). My prior work (Tucker & Winsler, 2023) looking at persistence in music during the transition from 8th to 9th grade showed that only 1 in 4 students persist during the transition to high school, and high academic achievers and students with disabilities were less likely to drop out of music during this transition. While this work provided valuable insight into music persistence, exploring differences in rates and predictors of persistence over a much larger time scale is the next step in this line of research. The current dissertation built off prior work from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP; Alegrado, 2021; Alegrado & Winsler, 2020; Tucker & Winsler, 2023; Winsler et al., 2020) and prospectively followed an ethnically-diverse (62% Hispanic), low-income (78% in poverty) sample of adolescents from the beginning of middle school to the end of high school (6th–12th grade) to better understand persistence in school music electives (band, chorus, orchestra, guitar) across all of middle (n = 4,165 music students) and high school (n = 2,194 music students). Multiple discrete-time maximum-likelihood survival analysis models (Allison, 1982) were run to identify the proportion of students that dropped out of ("did not survive") music each grade (e.g., 6th to 7th, 7th to 8th, etc.), and how particular factors (predictors of persistence; e.g., gender, ethnicity, poverty status, prior academic achievement, etc.) increased or decreased the probability of dropping out of music in each grade. Results confirm the concerns of many music educators, providing evidence of persistence problems throughout middle and high school with more students leaving music (as opposed to staying) at each grade transition. For students that began enrolling in music in 6th grade, 51% have dropped out of music by 7th grade, and 82% dropped out by 8th grade. As for students in high school (students in music in 9th grade, including late-joining music students that started enrolling in music after 6th grade), 57% of students drop out by 10th grade, 85% by 11th grade, and 95% drop out by 12th grade. High reading test scores and attending an arts-focused school were always related to reduced odds of dropping out of music in middle and high school, while gender, ethnicity, giftedness, and ELL status were never related to music dropout. Also, some predictors were important in some grades, but not others. High GPA was related to lower odds of dropout throughout middle school, and again in the last grade of high school, but GPA was unrelated to dropout in the first few grades of high school. Depth of family poverty was an indicator of increased odds of dropping out of music all the way through middle school but was unrelated to music dropout in high school. Students with disabilities were less likely to drop out of music their senior year, but disability status was not linked to dropout in any other grade. Moving to a new school was related to higher music dropout rates in every grade except for the final grade of high school. Additional survival analyses were run within each music subtype (band, chorus, orchestra, guitar), and results varied somewhat by music subtype. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

The purpose of this quantitative research was to understand resilience in alumni of SRSSs for gifted students through an analysis of relationships between adolescent ecological influences and resilience scores later in life. Resilience is an important skill for career advancement (Beltran, 2022), which was the reason many of these schools were created (MacFarlane, 2021a). However, students have formative experiences before they come to an SRSS, and these factors continue to influence their psychosocial development even as they attend the school away from home (Cross & Swiatek, 2009). To create an environment that fosters resilience in addition to academic excellence, stakeholders need baseline data to inform the design, programming, and operation of the SRSS. For this study, resilience was defined by the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), a validated scale that quantifies the factors that have been shown to be protective against adversity: personal strength (perception of self and perception of future), social competence, family coherence, social support, and personal structure (Friborg et al., 2003). Responses to the questionnaire were analyzed by subgroups describing external factors such as which school they previously attended, the urbanity of the community in which they were raised before attending, and the family structure in which they were raised. In chapter 2, the literature was reviewed to provide context on how resilience is fostered in gifted students and how a distinct setting, residential schools, can proactively support the development of resilience in this population. The theoretical foundations that guided this study described the internal (Kaufman, 2020) and external (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) forces that influence the development of resilience, and how inherent qualities of giftedness affect this psychosocial development (Dabrowski, 1964), including self-actualization, social ecology, and overexcitability. Through online distribution of an anonymous survey link that was facilitated by the administrators of the 12 residential schools in the National Consortium for gifted students, 521 responses were recorded. The major finding was the consistency of resilience scores across the sample, regardless of age or background. Future research should continue to explore resilience in American gifted individuals and how the SRSS model can better support students regardless of their background. Meanwhile, faculty and residential staff can continue to seek professional development on the unique needs of this population so SRSSs can help gifted students realize their potential as future leaders in an increasingly technical and competitive world. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

This phenomenological qualitative study addressed The Experience of Being Gifted and Talented From the Perspective of Adolescents. The literature review supported the idea that there are many facets to an individual's experience of self and their place within different groups. Factors like identity development, social and emotional development, formation of friendships, and the experience of bullying are all parts of an adolescent's daily experience. The researcher recruited participants who met criteria for participation and then conducted interviews over Zoom. The study was open to all gifted and talented adolescents who were between the ages of 11 and 13. Seven participants' interviews were utilized to help deepen the understanding of the phenomenon of giftedness and the experience of self through the transcendental phenomenological model of inquiry. The interviews revealed that gifted and talented youth seemed to focus most of their attention on the following textural themes: (a) Desire to be True to Oneself, (b) Desire to Have the Opportunity to be Creative or Follow Passions, (c) Desire to be Treated Like or Viewed as Any Other Person, (d) Desire to be Challenged in Ways That Feel Fulfilling. These textural themes in turn represented the structural themes of temporality, relationship to self, and relationship to others. The overall parting message that the participants shared was the sentiment that they wanted to be viewed and appreciated for the qualities they possessed beyond giftedness. Most of the gifted and talented adolescents shared that giftedness was simply the way they received and processed information and that the other parts of their identity were just as valuable and important than just intelligence. The deeper understanding of gifted and talented adolescents' experience of self has provided rich information that can be utilized by family members, teachers, and counselors to better relate to and support the development of gifted and talented young people. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

In the world of gifted education, educators must first find students who qualify for gifted services. Various stakeholders in public elementary education often nominate students for gifted identification and ultimately gifted programs. It is important to determine if stakeholders' conceptions of giftedness are the same or different, as conceptions influence actions. There is substantial research on teachers' conceptions of giftedness but limited research on parents' conceptions of giftedness. The purpose of this study was to explore stakeholders' conceptions of giftedness and answer the research question: How do stakeholder groups describe giftedness? Participants included parents of elementary gifted students (n = 217), general education K-5 teachers (n= 213), gifted teachers (n= 87), and gifted coordinators (n= 36) from 3 states and 23 schools that mandated gifted identification and programming. Gifted stakeholder groups described giftedness as differences from same age peers in four subthemes: (a) advanced capacity to learn and reason, (b) high-level performance, (c) the need for challenge, and (d) unique personality characteristics and behaviors. Stakeholder groups all described giftedness as differences from same age peers; however, the frequency of each subtheme varied. Parents emphasized a need for challenge beyond the typical age-based learning environment. General education teachers emphasized high performance. Gifted teachers and coordinators emphasized district and state criteria for gifted identification, stressing ability test scores and potential. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

This qualitative study was conducted to investigate the social and cultural characteristics of gifted and talented students and their perceptions of the educational factors that have contributed to the development of their gifts and talents. Twelve Puerto Rican English Language Learner (PR-ELL) students who are identified as gifted and attend a full-time academy for gifted and talented students were selected for the study. Both ethnography and comparative case methodology were used as the participants completed a questionnaire with 67 questions and then were interviewed and observed in their school. Students' cumulative records were also reviewed and analyzed. Interesting findings emerged in the study as participants identified the following characteristics that would identify them as gifted and talented: high potential, motivation, commitment, perseverance, self-confidence, maturity, and hard work. The participants believe that they work harder, expend more effort in their academic studies, take school more seriously, and have more enthusiasm for learning than students from other cultures who are identified as gifted and talented. They also reported that their parents encouraged their children to work hard and do well in school. All students agreed that the Gifted & Talented Academy they attended and their teachers provide them with a rigorous, enriched curriculum. The participants also indicated that they loved being challenged and encouraged by their parents and teachers to work hard and excel. They enjoy being exposed to new curriculum and learning new content, as opposed to the lack of challenge they experienced in their previous schools. This research contributes to new understandings regarding the characteristics of PR-ELL gifted students, family characteristics and educational factors that support and sustain high academic achievement; however, additional research is needed relative to the identification and characteristics of gifted ELL students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Considered one of the most marginalized groups in Western society, the lives of people with learning disabilities have been defined by being personally, socially, and institutionally cast-off and discriminated against (Hall, 2005). People with learning disabilities also experience disproportionate levels of violence and victimization that negatively impact both mental and physical health and general well-being (Wiseman & Watson, 2022). Gifted/talented neurodivergent people with historically minoritized ethnic identities (3e) face notable academic challenges because of inequitable practices during their K-12 journey that include lower teacher expectations, poorer quality educational experiences, limited enrichment opportunities, unqualified teachers, and harsher discipline (Mayes & Moore, 2016a). Further, 3e students are enigmatic learners who, despite their giftedness, are often disproportionately identified as special education students and significantly under identified as gifted students. It is generally understood that neurodivergent learners' formative K-12 educational experiences can shape adult outcomes in meaningful ways. 3e students navigate through lived experiences as multiply-marginalized people, in relationship to their various social identities, which are best understood through the lenses of positionality, spatiality, sociality, and temporality. Cross-disciplinary study, using a critical narrative inquiry methodological approach, can provide opportunities for educational leaders and researchers to develop a depth of understanding of complex processes like identity development and social and affective development. This knowledge can in turn guide the development of social and emotional supports and educational interventions that are critically important elements of effective educational and transition planning that can improve K-12 and adult outcomes for these incredibly brilliant but notably underserved learners. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Gifted and talented programs are a constant fixture within American public schools as most states require their schools to offer this programming across grade levels. As widespread as these gifted and talented programs are, there exists a nationwide equity issue when it comes to which students are more likely to be served in these programs. One of the most common entry points into these programs remains teacher referrals. This qualitative case study examines the perceptions of primary education teachers in a large eastern Washington school district related to the district's gifted and talented program and the role they play in making referral decisions. Through this study, I sought to understand the following research questions: (1) What factors do primary educators look for when referring students to gifted and talented services? (1a) How do primary educators describe an ideal gifted and talented student? (1b)In what ways do primary educators believe bias to impact the referral of gifted and talented students? (2) How do primary educators view current gifted and talented programs and referral procedures? (2a) How does a primary educators' views on gifted and talented programs impact their gifted and talented referral decisions? (2b) What benefits or drawbacks do educators see in gifted and talented programs as a whole and at the primary grades? (3) How prepared do primary educators feel they are to accurately identify gifted and talented students? Analysis of the interviews and artifacts collected from the district demonstrated several findings. Despite district and state definitions, there is no shared understanding of giftedness among educators, different behaviors are interpreted very differently depending on a child's assigned teacher. The inconsistencies present in the national understanding of giftedness are even more amplified amongst those educators asked to make gifted identification decisions. The lack of a shared understanding of giftedness contributes, along with other influences like parental advocacy, to the ongoing reproduction of privilege awarded to our most advantaged students. This study offers implications for policy makers, educational leaders, and researchers and serves as a starting point for conversations on what role gifted and talented education should play in modern equity driven schools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Research on how to best meet the academic needs and potential of gifted students with disabilities, known as twice-exceptional or 2e, has grown over the past 30 years. While recognition of 2e learners is slowly extending to educational policy, there are few school program options designed to accommodate 2e students and even fewer studies on the organizational aspects of implementing such programs. This promising practice study sought to understand the organizational performance dynamics influencing teacher success in a school for 2e students through the lens of the Clark and Estes gap analysis framework. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with middle-school teachers and a school administrator along with school documents and artifacts to ascertain the knowledge, motivation, and organizational assets contributing to success. The findings indicated that teacher performance was supported by knowledge of 2e characteristics, instructional strategies, and individual social-emotional competence. Teachers were motivated intrinsically and by self-efficacy. Organizational contributing factors were widespread transmission of the school's mission and vision, entrepreneurial mindset values, and identification with a shared purpose. The highly autonomy-oriented environment encouraged personal initiative and may have motivated teachers to seek learning resources independently. A teacher community of shared purpose developed, reinforcing collective knowledge and motivation systemically. Research-supported recommendations were made to address organizational challenges associated with cultivating successful 2e learning environments, followed by an implementation and evaluation plan guided by the New World Kirkpatrick Model. This study offers insight into key components influencing teacher performance within the dynamic and complex 2e learning environment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

This dissertation investigated teacher perceptions of the Advanced Academics Review and Referral process within a large urban school district. The study focused on the elementary level of implementation of the district process for identifying students for gifted education/advanced academic services. The study discloses gaps in teachers' understanding of giftedness and their preparedness to participate in the referral team process through interviews and document analysis. The research details the challenges of inconsistent implementation of the process and teacher biases all contributing to the inequities in gifted education identification. The findings emphasize the need for local educational agencies to explicitly define giftedness, teacher training and the expectations for educators regarding protocol implementation. The dissertation includes recommendations to ensure equitable access to gifted education through federal, state, and local policy changes, as well as professional development for educators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

Giftedness is a particular trait giving designation to a specific group of people in a school population. While identification methods vary from state to state, the status of being gifted is granted to some students, creating a dichotomy of those who receive gifted services and subsequent privileges and those who remain left out. Historically, Black students and other marginalized populations have had less participation in gifted programs. The literature highlights several factors connected to inequity in giftedness including lack of a cohesive definition of the term (or even if the concept of giftedness is real or socially constructed), nomination and recruitment issues, teacher bias, lack of enrichment exposure for marginalized communities, issues with self-efficacy, and poverty. This work seeks to understand the issues creating inequitable opportunities for students in the realm of gifted education and ways of providing enriched learning opportunities to all students to expand the academic possibilities for underrepresented groups. Reviewing the literature indicates the myriad of inhibiting factors to Gifted and Talented Educational (GATE) programming for students and, successful strategies to dually promote inclusion and enhanced participation. The local contextual focus of the problem of practice highlights the disproportional representation in one local public school. By examining the underrepresentation of Black students in one local school, the work highlights the issues of equity as they affect students daily and could serve as an example that is common nationally as well. Utilizing Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (1977), Renzulli's Three Ring Conception of Giftedness/School Wide Enrichment Model (1978), and improvement science tools, the work melds the theories to create an original framework to form a cohesive perspective on gifted potential and the crucial impact that enrichment work can have for Black students. A systems- wide analysis highlights the innate disparities in gifted delineation as a stark issue of disproportionality with Black students woefully underrepresented in the realm of gifted-type enrichment learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Given the imbalance in the ratio of male to female ADHD diagnosis, there is a dearth of information on the profile for women with ADHD, especially in adulthood and with those of higher intelligence levels (Rommelse et al., 2016). Each, if not all, diagnoses of ADHD or giftedness come from a parent, teacher, or outside observer's scale of symptoms and behaviors (Hay et al., 2007; Klesfjo et al., 2020; Polderman et al., 2007). In this study, ten gifted women with ADHD aged 29-77 completed semi-structured interviews to examine their lived experiences of education, career, and relationships. Using a dual framework of neurodiversity and self-concept, a narrative storytelling methodology was used to frame each perception of giftedness, ADHD, and intersectionality. Key findings from this study included the humanization of giftedness and ADHD characteristics, a societal mistrust of intuition, a need for stable, low-maintenance relationships, and the purpose of masking when defining how individuals construct their personal definition of giftedness and ADHD. New terms were determined to frame the twice-exceptional individual's lived experiences, including neurobordering, neurojuxtaposition, neuromixture, neuro-opposition, and social mistrust of intuition. Implications of this study include a need for more robust vignettes of giftedness and ADHD, understanding twice-exceptional communication needs, therapy and identification protocols, consideration of heritability in diagnosis, and representation in film, literature, and media. Future research consists of an auto narrative of the researcher, demographic variable isolation, widening of inclusion criteria, the impact of adverse life outcomes, intersectional narrative research, and lifetime perspectives. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

The higher than expected incidence of giftedness among Jewish students by several research workers is linked to the high valuation of learning within the culture. Unlike in other cultures, the gifted individual is held in high esteem. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Data were obtained from 130 adolescents. "The IQ means on the WAIS were 138 Verbal, 125 Performance, and 135 Full Scale. The WAIS profile presented indicated that the group tended to be two SDs above the mean on all the Verbal Scales except Digit Span which was one SD above. The Performance Scale was uniformly one SD above the mean except Block Design which was nearer two SDs above the mean… . Correlation between the performance IQ of the WAIS and the Binet was nonsignificant… . The Verbal subscales correlated significantly with each other as did the Performance subscales. There was little correlation between Verbal and Performance subscales though they both contributed equally to the Full Scale IQ." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)

The coded MMPI profiles of 1078 prisoners were sorted into IQ classification groups in accordance with their scores on the Revised Beta Examination. 6 of the diagnostic scales shifted significantly in code rank with increase in IQ. The profiles of the 2 most intelligent groups were indicative of behavioral characteristics associated with the character disorders; whereas the profiles of the average and below average IQ groups were found to be dominated by configurations usually associated with indices of neuroticism and anxiety. The probability of receiving benefit from psychotherapy appeared greater among the lower IQ groups due to the dominance in their group profiles of those scales that have been found more susceptible to change as a result of therapy. Intellectually superior persons tend toward greater degrees of feminine interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Several studies of the gifted child published since 1950 are reviewed. The author discusses various definitions of giftedness, the attitude of the gifted child toward school, his academic achievement, his reading tastes, his physical development, his personal adjustment, and his social status. Differentiations within the gifted group are also made. (33 ref.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Data from Rorschachs, exploratory psychiatric interviews, paper-pencil tests, teacher interviews, peer attitudes, and solitary play. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Extensional and intensional definitions of giftedness are presented. The operational validity of the IQ is assessed, and problems experienced and adjustments made in school are identified. Some suggestions are made for guiding the gifted. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

As part of a 7-year study, 76 gifted 3rd grade pupils from highly favored homes were given tests of intelligence, personality, and achievement. The interrelations are reported. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)