ABSTRACT
As we turn our attention toward evaluating gifted program processes and outcomes, it may help us to consider a metaphor. As we put together this text, we realized that the process of creating a comprehensive and defensible program for gifted students is not unlike planning a journey. What we have envisioned is that at this point in your reading, you will have read about options and determined your desired destination-that is, the appropriate outcomes for a solid and defensible program. Your destination determined, you are now prepared to make sound and carefully considered choices about who should go on this journey (definition), and how you will find these travelers (identification). You are prepared to choose and train appropriate travel guides (teachers and counselors) to lead students along their journeys. By considering all the possible points of interest along the way (the wide range of curricular options, the myriad service delivery options, etc.), you have explored the many routes that may be offered to gifted and talented students to take them to the desired destination. You very likely may have determined that not all of the students in your gifted program have to take the exact same route to get to their destinations, and accordingly planned side trips, express routes, and extended stops along the way. Now you can look at your itinerary, your roadmap, and your destination, and begin to make plans for how you will evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and power of the journey itself.
