Gifted students have unique cognitive, social, and emotional characteristics that influence how they learn, interact, and respond to classroom experiences. In this self-paced online course, participants will explore the nature and needs of gifted learners and consider how educators can recognize and support gifted potential in a variety of students.
Throughout the course, participants will engage with interactive content, scenarios, reflection prompts, sorting activities, visual models, and knowledge checks that connect course concepts to real classroom practice. Learning experiences will focus on recognizing common characteristics of gifted learners, understanding social and emotional needs, examining myths and misconceptions, and identifying teacher actions that support gifted students without moving too deeply into curriculum and instruction, which is addressed in later G/T foundational training.
This course is aligned with the Texas State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) standards for Gifted Education and the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Teacher Preparation Standards in Gifted Education. It satisfies the Texas requirement for the Nature and Needs of Gifted/Talented Students component of the 30-hour foundational G/T training.
This is a self-paced course. Participants may enroll at any time during the registration period and complete the coursework at their own pace before the course closing date. Course access begins September 1 and ends December 31 2026