Gifted and Talented Specialist Holmdel Township Board of Education Holmdel, New Jersey, United States
Short Description: This session presents findings from a quantitative quasi-experimental study exploring strategies to foster divergent thinking in K–6 gifted and talented cluster classes. Grounded in Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, the intervention significantly boosted students’ creativity, illustrating the effectiveness of targeted instruction. Recommendations address assessment, intervention duration, and program integration to better nurture gifted students’ creative potential in mixed-ability classroom settings.
Learning Objectives:
Develop a plan of how to integrate divergent thinking assessments into formative evaluation practices to track growth and effectiveness within gifted and talented programming.
Engage in hands-on practice with specific instructional strategies from the Williams Model to enhance fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration in gifted and talented students’ divergent thinking skills.
Explain the significance of incorporating tiered instructional approaches in gifted and talented education and how research-based strategies can address diverse learning needs effectively.
