Attitudes of teachers in Indiana public schools toward needs of gifted and talented education: Perceived by teachers with and without formal training

Gifted education is an important part of the public school program in Indiana; however concern may be raised not only on a local level, but on a state, national, and international level regarding the preparation of teachers to teach gifted and talented young people. This study presented an investigation of the attitudes of public school teachers in Indiana toward (1) the perceived need for formalized college/university level training in gifted and talented education, and (2) the need for specialized programs and their effect on the gifted and talented children in Indiana. Public school teachers in Indiana completed a questionnaire concerning attitudes toward training in gifted and talented education and the need for special programs and the effects of these programs on identified gifted and talented children in Indiana public schools. The data were analyzed through the use of Chi-Square tests, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Student Newman Keuls test, Scheffe\u27s test, and multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA). The finding summaries are presented as follows: Research Question One. Is there a difference in the attitudes of teachers in the Indiana public schools regarding the need for additional training necessary to teach gifted and talented students? The answer is yes. There is a direct relationship between academic preparation and the perceived need for additional training to prepare individuals to teach gifted and talented students. Research Question Two. Is there a difference in the attitudes of teachers in the Indiana Public Schools regarding the need for gifted and talented programs in our public schools and the effects of such programs on our young people? The answer is yes. There is a direct relationship between academic preparation and the attitudes of teachers toward the need for gifted and talented programs. The researcher suggests the Indiana Department of Education consider mandating formal coursework for individuals interested in teaching gifted and talented education classes in the Indiana public schools. Also, it is suggested the process of inservice education needs to be investigated to determine if there are more effective methods of providing education for our public school teachers in gifted and talented education