The education of gifted K-8 students in Turkey: policy analysis and program evaluation

Abstract

This study intended to examine two major issues related to the education of gifted K- 8 students in Turkey. The first purpose of this study was to examine the existing policies and their elements regarding the education of gifted K-8 students. The second purpose was to conduct a program evaluation of K-8 Gifted Education Program to address how well the elementary schools with gifted programs respond to the needs of gifted students. The first purpose is carried out through content analysis of publicly available policy documents. The second purpose is fulfilled through case examples of three elementary schools educating gifted students. Two private and one public schools with gifted programs were included in the case. The Classroom Observation Scale (COS) was theinstrument used for classroom observation data collection. In addition, interviews were conducted with teachers and administrators. The findings of this study revealed there is a serious dearth of documented evidence regarding the education policy on gifted students and their schooling in Turkey. The study also revealed the lack of coherence in gifted education policy including definition, identification and placement concerns, and teacher training and personnel preparation. Data collected based on program evaluation provided considerable evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of gifted programs in a public and private schools. Besides some important strength in gifted programs, program evaluation revealed that there are issues of concern such as the lack of well-defined and implemented effective curriculum, weaknesses in instructional strategies and curriculum modification to respond academic needs of gifted learners, and the problems in parent involvement and necessary funding allocation specific to public school. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge related to the policy analysis and evaluation of gifted education programs in Turkey.