ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is about how to find and serve gifted children. It addresses how the perspective we offer differs from that of traditional gifted education. The book offers some seemingly harsh critiques of gifted education. It describes the adoption of the framework that would result in vastly improved K-12 educational experiences for bright students. The framework securely grounds programs and policies for gifted students within the context of major current educational initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards and Response to Intervention. The book argues for advanced educational opportunities that are intensely local, that is, that are closely tailored to the needs and values of a particular setting at a particular time. It focuses on helping schools conceptualize programming to foster more advanced levels of development in those domains.
