2. Losing our Way in the Maze of Federal Mandates and Standardization: Whatever Happened to Creativity as a Primary Goal of Gifted Education?

3.  Top 10 – 15% of students have been poorly served by the standards movement.  50% of gifted students are underachieving.  Flexible instructional grouping is important for both gifted students and students at the lower achievement levels.

4. Intellectual Play “I hope we live our lives in such a way that serious play is not an oxymoron but rather a natural and intuitive way to face the world. Carolyn Cotto, 2010 Valedictorian Falmouth Academy, Falmouth, MA

5. - Japanese Minister of Education to Sally Reiss

6. Reiss: Japanese test better. Americans value creativity.

7.  Singapore has better math and science scores. American kids test worse but do better in the real world.

8. Reiss: Singapore has an exam meritocracy. America has a talent meritocracy.

9. United States270 United Kingdom 100 Germany 70 Canada 10 China 2

10. Fareed Zaharia: “I went through the Asian educational system, which is now so admired. It gave me an impressive base of knowledge and taught me how to study hard and fast...

11. But when I got to the U.S. for college, I found that it had not trained me that well to think.”

12. American education at its best teaches you how to:  solve problems  truly understand the material  question authority  think for yourself and  be creative.

13. It teaches you to learn what you love and to love what you learn.

14.  These are incredibly important values, and they are why the U.S. has been able to maintain an edge in the creative industries and innovation in general. -Fareed Zaharia Time Magazine, November 14, 2011

15.  If students practice the traits of creative productivity, they will seek out that as adults. - Dr. Sally Reiss

16. Gifted programs should offer: Opportunities – to move faster, delve deeper, pursue interests

17. Resources – exposure to topics students may love

18. Encouragement – based on identification of talents, abilities & learning styles

19.  Pre-assess  Offer choice  Compact material  Consider learning styles  Provide creative opportunities

20. ...Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.