FOREWORD Section 806 (c) of Public Law 91-230 reads as follows: (c) (1) The Commissioner of Education shall: (A) determine the extent to which special educational assistance programs are necessary or useful to meet the needs of gifted and talented children, (B) show which existing Federal educational assistance programs are being used to meet the needs of gifted and talented children, (C) evaluate how existing Federal educational assistance programs can be more effectively used to meet these needs, and (D) recommend which new programs, if any, are needed to meet these needs. (2) The Commissioner shall report his findings, together with his recommendations, to the Congress not later than one year after the enactment of this Act. In response to the mandate of the law, the Office of Education evaluated the status of education for the nation's gifted and talented children in several ways. One of the most valuable sources of data came through public hearings held by the ten Regional Commissioners of Education at which interested educators, State educational agency administrators, parents, citizens, and gifted children from all 50 States, testified to the great importance of specialized attention to the gifted and talented child and the dearth of available resources for this purpose throughout the country. The study also included a review of the present Federal education programs, analysis of existing data bases, a review of research as it relates to critical issues in education of the gifted, and consultation with the nation's leading experts in gifted education. This report, "Education of the Gifted and Talented", published in two volumes, has been widely acclaimed as a landmark document in the education of gifted and talented children, an area which heretofore has received scant attention in our schools. Considerable public and professional as well as Congressional interest has been manifested in the report, which now is out of print. It is highly appropriate, therefore, that the report be made more widely available through its publication and distribution as an official document of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. As the author of the provision of law providing special educational assistance programs for gifted and talented children and authorizing the report, I should like to thank Senator Claiborne Pell, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Education, and Senator Harrison A. Williams, Chairman of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, for their interest in the education of gifted and talented children and for their cooperation in authorizing the printing of the report as a committee document. JACOB K. JAVITS, U.S. Senator. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION WASHINGTON. D.C. 20202 October 6, 1971 Honorable Spiro T. Agnew Dear Mr. President: In response to the 1970 Congressional mandate (P.L. 91-230, Section 806) for a status report on education of gifted and talented children, I am submitting ten copies of the Office of Education's Report to Congress (Volume I) and ten copies of the background papers prepared for this study (Volume 2). In this painstaking study, the Office of Education has called on the best minds within our agency and in the field of special education. It has confirmed our impression of inadequate provisions for these students and widespread misunderstanding about their needs. Chapter VIII of the Report outlines the immediate steps we are taking in response to some of the major deficiencies uncovered. A program group is being organized within the Office of Education for long-range comprehensive planning in cooperation with State and local educators. We welcome your advice and assistance in improving the education of one of our most neglected and potentially productive groups of students. Sincerely, S.P. Marland, Jr. U.S. Commissioner |