Center for Gifted Education

In 1987 the College of William & Mary began a commitment to the education of gifted students, hiring a scholar of national distinction and creating a new center for research and development in gifted education. The Center for Gifted Education was to be a model for defining ways to address the needs of an often neglected group of learners in public schools: gifted students. Joyce VanTassel-Baska was appointed as the Jody and Layton Smith Professor in Education and the founding director of the Center for Gifted Education. She came to the college with a vision for gifted education and more than 20 years of experience in the field. She created an environment that supported graduate studies, research and development, and a laboratory for working directly with high-ability students.

Twenty years later, the Center for Gifted Education represents the realization of VanTassel-Baska's vision. Today the Center is nationally and internationally recognized as an organization that develops and disseminates research-based curriculum materials for K–12 students and offers quality graduate programs for master's and doctoral candidates in a context that provides opportunities for working with school districts and precollegiate learners to foster talent development.

The statement that “the Center for Gifted Education is a learning community that values and fosters the talent development process of individuals over the life span” became the Center's mission and its foundation for the clear articulation of its goals. With some revisions, the following goals have remained constant beacons to initiate and illuminate best practices and to guide work at the Center:

• To provide graduate education for individuals interested in teaching gifted students and assuming leadership positions in the field of gifted education
• To provide a learning laboratory for precollegiate learners and those who facilitate their learning
• To engage in research and development work that promotes effective learning within gifted and talented populations
• To serve as a community resource for gifted students, their families, and educators through outreach programs and services
• To disseminate innovative and exemplary methods and materials

In 1994 the Center produced its first formal Strategic Plan, establishing specific action plans for each goal and anticipated outcomes for the next several years.

Graduate programs in gifted education are offered at the master's and doctoral levels. Each program is embedded in a corresponding program area. The master's program is within the Curriculum and Instruction program for teachers, and the doctoral program's emphasis is within Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership. The Center also has provided courses for teacher endorsement in gifted education to Virginia school districts over the past 20 years as well, many of them conducted on site.

Early research at the Center focused on the study and development of effective programs, curriculum, learning strategies, and teaching models in gifted education.