Very helpful. Research-based. ( )

I asked for this book as my sons are labeled as gifted in mathematics but they had very different journeys though their elementary years. I wanted to see if the approaches used in their classrooms matched the recommendations. In one case yes, the other, no. I thought that even though the book was clearly written for professional educators, I as a layperson still got a good sense of what good practices were for a variety of approaches to gifted education, from integrated classes to separate schools.

It was also nice to see that some of the things I did as a homeschooler met their ideas -- techniques such as started a unit with a pretest and then letting the students go straight to more complex ideas and uses if they showed immediate mastery.

The whole common core approach to schooling is quite foreign to me since we don't use it in our state, so I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. The book spoke of several ways to teach gifted students by separating them from their classmates, or a variety of options for keeping them in the same room as other students. One of the helpful things I found in the book were charts with sample lessons. These charts compared what you would happen with most students next to a lesson for gifted students. This illustrated the difference in lessons more than I felt the text itself did.

There were some disappointments in the book. While I found the people involved in the standards and why a book was created interesting, this explanation took up too much of the book and could have been summarized in a few pages rather than ten. The most important thing I felt was missing were the actual math standards. It would have been helpful if there were standards in the book or in the appendix at least. Also, I would have liked to know if there were standards for gifted students in development. One element that bothered my, solely a personal thing, was the authors kept referring to the book as a "booklet". To me, it's a book.

Using the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics with Gifted and Advanced Learners is a good beginner book when researching how to teach students who are gifted. Through several charts, the reader is able to see how lessons might differ between the average and gifted learners in your class. ( )

Using the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics With Gifted and Advanced Learners is a booklet created by a committee of the National Association for Gifted Children. It's a compilation of several short chapters that cover why they created the book and the research behind it as well as information about differentiating instruction, interdisciplinary studies, and assessment. For administrators, there is a section on implementing and aligning the CCSS with gifted education. In addition, the book proposes an additional standard be added to the current eight standards for mathematical practices: Solve problems in novel ways and pose new mathematical questions of interest to investigate.

Personally, I was very disappointed in the book. Despite its over 100 pages, it simply gives suggestions on what good mathematics and gifted education look like but very few examples on how to actually implement it. Basically I understood that a teacher could use the CCSS by taking the same standard and using it for differentiated instruction. One student might be working on first grade standards for measurement. Another student, having shown mastery of the first grade standard through pre-assessment, might be working on third grade standards in measurement. Another might be creating new problems. One chapter gave some specific examples on instruction for the typical learner and then expanding it for the gifted learner. Unfortunately, I was hoping the entire book would be like that. This book might be a good introductory read for the person unfamiliar with gifted education or CCSS, but it provides little practical help for the classroom. ( )

Using Common Core State Standards for Mathematics with gifted and advanced learners is a highly detailed and comprehensive book. It is a short book but it is very focused. I think it would be best for those developing curriculum.