In 1919, Guy Montrose Whipple, Ph. D. wrote a book entitled Classes For Gifted Children: An Experimental Study of Method and Instruction.

This experiment was to respond to what he called "The Problem."   "No one... will contend that the pupils of a given grade are ipso facto alike or even very similar to one another in range of information, in susceptibility to training, in general intelligence.   "...a pace cannot be found that will prove at once suitable for the dull, the average and the bright child."

Within this book, Dr. Whipple examined the issue of selection - especially "what mental tests are most valuable..."   He also included some of Dr. T. S. Henry's work on which changes in methods of instruction and in organization of subject matter would be advantageous for these children.   It is from that work that I offer the following:

A. Recomendations, pertinent to any classroom, that assume added importance in classrooms for gifted children

1. The teacher of a special room for gifted children should possess a large fund of general information.

2. The teacher should have had adequate foundation in the theory and practice of teaching

"To get really efficient instruction there must be...ability on the part of the teacher to grasp and to execute adaptations and modifications of method that are suited to the education of gifted children."

3. The teacher should be characterized by energy, enthusiasm and an inspiring personality.

4. The special room should be equipped with movable desks, and should be well supplied with maps, charts, globes, pictures, and other aids to study.

"The use of movable desks gives much more freedom of movement to the pupils..."

5. Emphasis should be placed upon the development of the pupils' initiative.

6. Much use should be made of the "principle of application."

"...pupils must be encouraged in all ways possible to make immediate and practical application of what they have learned, in the acquisition of new knowledge and in the other activities of the schoolroom."

7. Instruction should be as much as possible by broad, underlying principles, rather than by detached facts.

8. An important feature of the teacher's method is the development of a proper perspective of the material of instruction.

"This implies the ability to estimate the relative importance of the different topics and pieces of subject matter in order to distribute time and energy properly among them and to insure that the more important topics receive the greater attention.   We have gained the perspective that this abiltiy to maintain and to develop perspective is more needed in the instruction of gifted children.

B. Recommendations pertaining specifically to classrooms for gifted children

9. The enrollment of a special classroom for gifted children should represent ordinarily a selection of approximately the top ten per cent. of the general school population in the grade that are to be represented.

"To lower the standard, say to fifteen per cent., would, we are sure, impair the working efficiency of the segregated group and lose most of the objectives for which the segregation was made.   On the other hand, when administrative conditions permit the raising of the standard, say to five per cent., there would be a decided gain in homogeneity within the group and a decided augmentation in the range, rate and brilliancy of the work accomplished."

10. Sound health should be a prerequisite for admission to classes for gifted children.

11. The method of selecting gifted pupils should be by mental tests, not by teachers' estimates of the pupils' ability nor by school administrators' inferences from school marks.

12. The teacher in charge of a special room should be carried along with it in its advancement, and should remain with it as long as it retains its organization.