A Letter From the Editorial Assistant

Abstract

Gifted education is a multifaceted area with relevance Pin a number of other fields. This interdisciplinary nature makes it essential that we examine issues from multiple perspectives, in order to fully understand the gifted individual and how to serve him or her. In this vein, this final issue of the Journal of Secondary Gifted Education deals not only with research perspectives, but also with practitioners' perspectives. We hear from a number of different stakeholders, including a practicing psychiatrist, classroom teachers, school personnel, students, and professors from various research institutions. Yet, among these authors from differing backgrounds, there is a tremendous overlap of themes. Overexcitabilities, emotional development, achievement issues, diverse populations, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender and African American students, are all interwoven in and across articles. Through this overlap of ideas across different outlooks, we get a true sense of the versatile nature of gifted education. In Underachievement in Exceptionally Gifted Adolescents and Young Adults: A Psychiatrist's View, Dr. Jerald Grobman, a practicing psychiatrist, reflects upon his experiences and observations from clinical work with highly gifted patients. He discusses the traits that emerged within this group, including perfectionism and motivation, among others, and explains how these traits developed and manifested as underachievement and self-destructive behavior. Weaving in corresponding gifted research, Dr. Grobman offers clinical insight that supports much of the research in gifted education. Finally, Dr. Grobman discusses how the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy helped many of these patients reverse their underachievement. Whereas Dr. Grobman examines the psychological underpinnings of underachievement, Dr. Joshua Smith deals with an external contributor: educational transition. In Examining the Long-Term Impact of Achievement Loss During the Transition to High School, Dr. Smith uses data from a national longitudinal study to determine how achievement loss at one educational transition affected first-year college retention. In light of continuity concerns in gifted education, Dr. Smith's findings regarding the potential long-term effects of education transition extend our understanding of underachievement considerably. This theme of achievement is further explored in Dr. Gilman Whiting's From At Risk to At Promise: Developing a Scholar Identity Among Black Male Adolescents. Dr. Whiting suggests promoting scholar identity, or an academic sense of self, within an underserved population (African American males) in order to help mitigate under-representation of this population in gifted programs. As serving diverse populations also has been a significant concern in gifted education, Dr. Whiting's proposed model can inform practice in ensuring equal representation, service, and opportunity to all students. Another diverse population addressed within this issue is gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) gifted students. …