Meeting state mandates for gifted and talented: Iowa teacher preparation programs

The literature indicates that there is a marked difference in the way in which teachers, prepared or not prepared in education of the gifted and talented, relate to these students within the classroom. This researcher developed a survey of Iowa colleges and universities to determine what method, if any, is used to train undergraduates on giftedness within the teacher preparation programs. The findings indicate that colleges are meeting the state standard minimally by including content within professional education and content methods courses. Graduates from responding schools typically have received one to three hours of instruction about gifted and talented students.