Being a gifted education teacher has always posed special challenges. In their first book together, two veteran educators of the gifted give teachers the information, advice, and encouragement they need. They explain how to set the foundation for a gifted program; how to evaluate, identify, and select students; how to plan and implement a range of programming options (including differentiated instruction in the regular classroom, ability grouping, pull-out classes, special classes for gifted students, weighted grades, and others); and how to conduct ongoing program evaluation.
Jim Delisle, Ph.D., has taught gifted children and those who work on their behalf for more than forty years, including twenty-five years as a professor of special education at Kent State University.
He has taught students in elementary and secondary schools and, for the past six years, has worked part time with highly gifted ninth and tenth graders at the Scholars’ Academy in Conway, South Carolina. The author of more than 250 articles and twenty books, Jim is a frequent presenter on gifted children’s intellectual and emotional growth.
Jim and his wife Deb live in Washington, D.C., and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Barbara A. Lewis is a national award-winning author and educator who teaches kids how to think and solve real problems. Her students at Jackson Elementary School in Salt Lake City, Utah, initiated the cleanup of hazardous waste, improved sidewalks, planted thousands of trees, and fought crime. They instigated and pushed through several state laws and an amendment to a national law, garnering ten national awards, including two President’s Environmental Youth Awards, the Arbor Day Award, the Renew America Award, and Pledge and a Promise Environmental Award. They have also been recognized in the Congressional Record three times.
Barbara has been featured in/on many national newspapers, magazines, and news programs, including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Family Circle, CBS This Morning, CBS World News, and CNN. She has also written many articles and short stories for national magazines.
Her books for Free Spirit Publishing―What Do You Stand For? For Kids, What Do You Stand For? For Teens, The Kid’s Guide to Social Action, Kids with Courage, The Kid’s Guide to Service Projects, The Teen Guide to Global Action, and The Survival Guide for Teachers of Gifted Kids―have won Parenting’s Reading Magic Award and been named “Best of the Best for Children” by the American Library Association, among other honors.
Barbara has lived in Indiana, New Jersey, Switzerland, Belgium, Utah, and Poland. She and her husband, Larry, currently reside in Park City, Utah. They have four children: Mike, Andrea, Chris, and Sam, ten perfect grandchildren, and a forest of shy deer, a bold moose, busy squirrels, and feathered friends.
