Improving The Social And Emotional Education Curriculum In A Middle School, School Within A School Gifted And Talented Program

The research question addressed in this capstone project was, how can staff address the social and emotional needs of gifted and talented students in a middle school, school within a school gifted and talented program? It documents a gifted and talented middle school teacher’s development of a social and emotional curriculum for 6th-8th grade students in a homogeneous gifted and talented program. The program includes lessons on social-emotional learning that is beneficial to all middle school students, as well as topics that are directed towards the specific needs of gifted learners. The author shares her research and the successes and limitations of the curriculum. The conclusions that the author reaches based on her research are that 1) gifted and talented students have unique social and emotional needs due to their asynchronous development; 2) there is not a curriculum that has been developed that can fully meet the specific social and emotional needs of gifted students; and 3) lessons on social and emotional needs must be authentic and related to the lives of the students that are using them