Exceptional talent includes the ability and willingness to solve varied, complex problems, and having a knowledge structure that facilitates problem solving and creativity. The purpose of this study was to determine changes in students’ knowledge structures resulting from fidelity of implementation of Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS), a vehicle for igniting, cultivating, extending, and strengthening exceptional talent. Using regression analysis, we found teachers’ fidelity of implementation was a significant predictor of student growth (F [4, 413] = 7.194, p < .001) in total scores and subscores on concept maps, a measure of knowledge structure. Implementation of principles for talent development in the dimensions of content, processes, products, and learning environment had differential, but positive, effects. Because concept maps have no ceiling, students already scoring at high levels can show growth. Concept maps can be used as assessments of learning, for learning, and as learning.

Homeschooling has been a growing movement worldwide since the 1970s and a research topic for the last 30 years in Australia. Despite this body of knowledge, no studies have focused specifically on gifted homeschooling in this country. Using a qualitative approach, 10 mothers of 10 gifted children were interviewed; data were analysed using qualitative content analysis methodology. Five major themes emerged: (1) homeschooling motivations, (2) giftedness challenges, (3) homeschooling provision, (4) facilitators for homeschooling, and (5) barriers to homeschooling. In the findings, it was suggested that homeschooling is chosen for the majority of families as a healing process from a school system that has damaged them emotionally and cognitively. Families of gifted children value the freedom and flexibility of the homeschooling option to encourage their gifted children’s abilities and interests. The outcomes of this study present a clearer understanding of the decisional and implementation processes of home schooling carried out by families of gifted learners and its effect on their lives.

Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS) is an evidence-based model for building on and extending the characteristics of gifted learners, enabling them to develop their exceptional talents. The purposes of this study were to (a) identify teachers who implemented the method at a high level of fidelity and (b) describe their ways of applying principles for talent development in content, processes, products, and learning environments. Fidelity of Implementation was high, ranging from 3.0 to 5.8, with a mean of 4.7 on a scale from 0 to 6. Teachers used methods identified as important for exceptionally talented students: engagement, challenge, interest, and relevance. Administrators enabled this high level of implementation. Because the study was conducted in one school, we recommend extending the research to other schools and contexts, and to consider the importance of real-world problem solving in developing the understanding and values needed to use exceptional talents wisely.

Two questions that often plague teachers are ‘How can I identify gifted students?’ and ‘How can I best teach gifted students?’ Rosemary Cathcart addresses each of these questions in her book, Understanding and working with gifted learners. “They’re not bringing my brain out”. Cathcart has worked in gifted education since the early 1980s, and in 2005 established Responding to Exceptional Ability in Children (REACH) Education, a specialist education consultancy that offers professional learning for teachers. Understanding and working with gifted learners. “They’re not bringing my brain out” aims to provide anyone an insight into the gifted individual, and presents some practical strategies to identify and respond to the gifted learner.

There is a considerable gap in empirical research on the prevalence rates of twice-exceptional students in Australian schools. Governments expect statistics when developing education policy and implementing funding support, so it is therefore imperative, as far as practicable, to quantify the number of twice-exceptional learners in Australia. Within the international literature, a number of different estimates exist of the prevalence of twice-exceptional students. However, the challenges of identifying two (or more) exceptionalities means that the exact prevalence rates of these learners remains unknown. Current research in this area is limited. Given the prevailing notions of giftedness and disability, this article explores the viability of convincingly estimating the number of twice-exceptional students in Australia. Knowledge of this prevalence is important to garner support and funding for these learners across schooling sectors.

In this first edition book, editors Jolly and Jarvis have compiled a range of important, contemporary gifted education topics. Key areas of concern focus on evidence-based practices and research findings from Australia and New Zealand. Other contributors include 14 gifted education experts from leading Australian and New Zealand Universities and organisations. Exploring Gifted Education: Australian and New Zealand Perspectives, introduced by the editors, is well organised. Jolly and Jarvis’s central thesis in their introduction is to acknowledge the disparity between policy, funding and practice in Australia and New Zealand. Specifically, in relation to Australia, they note that a coordinated, national research agenda is absent, despite recommendations published by the Australian Senate Inquiry almost 20 years ago.

This study investigated the provisions and other support measures available to gifted students in rural and remote Queensland high schools through a systematic website and document analysis. The aims of the study were to identify those provisions and measures being implemented for identified gifted students in rural and remote Queensland high schools, to identify the provisions and supportive measures that are being implemented most often, and the attitudes in rural and remote Queensland high schools toward provisions and supportive measures for gifted education. One of the recommendations of the study is the need for further in-depth research on provisions and supportive measures for gifted students living in rural and remote areas of Queensland.

Moral development in gifted education is an issue of imperative importance due to the potential of gifted students to change the world. In consideration of this issue and the lack of research on the topic, this study examined the extent to which moral development was present within the senior secondary English curricula at an academically selective gifted and talented school. Due to multiple criticisms of the Stages of Moral Development theory, which is commonly used in educational research on morality, this study was guided by an alternative framework - Rest's Four Component Model of Morality. The findings of the study indicated that moral development was reflected only to a limited extent within the English curricula offered at the academically selective gifted and talented school.

Associate Professor Margaret Plunkett, Federation University, Australia, has over 30 years' experience in education. She currently coordinates and lectures in a range of courses and programs in both secondary and primary education, related to gifted education and professional experience. Margaret has won a number of awards for teaching excellence including the Monash Vice Chancellors Teaching Excellence Award (Special Commendation, 2010); the Pearson/ATEA Teacher Educator of the Year Award (2012); and a National Office of Learning of Learning and Teaching (OLT) Citation in 2014.

Editorial for the December 2020 issue of the Australasian Journal of Gifted Education