Gifted education was, and is still, called gifted education. Heterogeneous cooperative learning does not offer a sufficient differentiated program for gifted children. Let gifted children cooperate with each other, on academic work that is appropriately complex, abstract, fast-paced and deep.

Talent development strategies designed for everyone do not offer an acceptable differentiated program for gifted children. The best ways of developing the talents of struggling learners will not provide differentiated ways of developing the talents or gifted learners.

Multiple intelligence theory does not offer a strong intellectual foundation for the education of gifted children. Multiple intelligence has been interesting, but it is time to move on.

It is time to move beyond these intellectual challenges to gifted education. It is time to refocus our efforts on the education of gifted children.

One evening I heard a presentation by Miraca Gross. Many of you have heard Miraca speak. She is the CHIP (Children of High Intellectual Potential) Lecturer in Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 1987 she won the Hollingworth Award for her research on Australian children of I.Q. 160+. She is dynamic, direct and an advocate of special programs for gifted children.

Among the other things that Miraca accomplished that night was that she made me think more profoundly about what it means for someone to be different, to be different from everyone else. Miraca presented statistics for I.Q. tests, and as I heard her review these statistics, I began to wonder what those numbers would look like.

For example, Miraca observed that one person in six can score 115 on an individual I.Q. test ... Everyone is not gifted. Children who are have very real and important needs, and they must have our help and support if they are not to be thrown away by a system that denies their exceptional characteristics as learners.

If all of us work together, we can, as our conference motto states, walk the talk, and all of our gifted children will get the education they truly need.