Standards-to-Standards Linkage Under Title III: Exploring Common Language Demands in ELD and Science Standards

A great deal of measurement research is currently being utilized to improve instruction at the elementary and secondary levels, but many opportunities for improving utilization are still untapped. The author proposes specific approaches to increased collaboration between researchers and practitioners to meet the burgeoning research needs of the nations' schools and to assist in data-based decision-making efforts. Society's increasing demands for accurate, usable data have contributed to the urgent current need for viable, appropriate research. This need can be met only by reseachers and practitioners working together to provide answers to critical educational questions.     

Mystery to mastery: Shifting paradigms in gifted education

We provide here a brief historical analysis of a movement in progress from a belief‐based “mystery” model to an evidence‐based “mastery” model of giftedness and talent development. We have observed that educators concerned about exceptionally capable learners are moving from a categorical notion of “the typical gifted child” with somewhat mysteriously defined attributes and learning needs, toward the perspective that some children have exceptionally advanced learning needs that require more flexibly responsive educational attention. We discuss factors that differentiate the two models, and observe some benefits of the shifting paradigm, arguing that by conceptualizing gifted education as providing a dynamically responsive educational match for students who otherwise experience a mismatch with the curriculum normally provided, the mastery model is socially, educationally, and politically more defensible. We discuss some practical implications of this shift in perspective.