Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics (Free Spirit Professional(tm)) Revised, Updated Edition

I have been referencing and recommending the first edition of this book, from its first release, to student teachers and practicing teachers. This new edition is even more helpful in establishing a solid foundation in the topics that are so crucial for the field today, especially in areas of equity and in comparing and contrasting historical practices and improvements. At a time when gifted education courses struggle for enrollment numbers and gifted programs around the country are being debated for closure, discussions of defensible practices are critical for meeting the needs of the real students. Teachers also need to see how gifted education fits within the larger scope of education. This book has practical ideas, a clear writing style, and many avenues for conversation. It should be used in teacher preparation courses and professional development opportunities to build expertise and reflection. I look forward to the conversations that I will have with both new and experienced educators as a result of this new edition. –Nikki Myers, founding director of Academy for Advanced and Creative Learning and member of the Colorado Academy of Educators for the Gifted, Talented, and Creative

In the new edition of Differentiation for Gifted Learners, Diane Heacox and Richard Cash truly do go beyond the basics to help teachers extend their knowledge of the skills needed to differentiate instruction and apply this knowledge to a variety of student populations. Both Heacox and Cash have written and presented extensively on differentiation, and their knowledge of context truly enriches the content in this important book. I was especially interested in the focus on underserved populations, including ELL students and students who have ASD or ADHD and/or face other learning or behavior challenges. This addition is in sync with the trend in gifted education that emphasizes the fact that we teach all types of gifted students and must program for them. I personally appreciated the information in chapter 5, which offers guidelines for creating honors/advanced courses and a curricular framework that infuses the pedagogy of gifted education into secondary courses. Too often we forget secondary gifted students, but Heacox and Cash do not. I endorse this book and encourage those who are serious about meeting the needs of gifted students to read and apply the information presented. –Felicia A. Dixon, Ph.D., educational consultant and professor emerita, Department of Educational Psychology, Ball State University

Dr. Heacox is also the author of four books. Her first book for Free Spirit Publishers was Up From Underachievement: How Teachers, Students, and Parents Can Work Together. Her second book, Differentiating Instruction in the Regular Classroom: How to Reach and Teach All Learners was updated and re-released in 2012. Making Differentiation a Habit earned the 2010 Association of Education Publishers Distinguished Achievement Award and was updated in 2017. Her book coauthored with Richard Cash, Differentiation for Gifted Learners: Going Beyond the Basics, received the 2014 Legacy Book Award for Educators by the Texas Association for Gifted and Talented.

Dr. Heacox s books have been translated into Dutch, Hungarian, Korean, Arabic, and Portuguese. Her Differentiation Classroom Practices Inventory was used by the Ministry of Education in Portugal for conducting a national survey of classroom practices.

Dr. Heacox serves on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (MN ASCD) and the Minnesota Department of Education Gifted Education Advisory Board. She is the past chair for the Middle Level Network and the Education committee for National Association for Gifted Children and the current facilitator of the Higher Education Division for international ASCD.

Dr. Heacox was recognized by the Minnesota Educators of Gifted and Talented as a Friend of the Gifted for service to gifted education. She is also in the University of St. Thomas Educators Hall of Fame for contributions to the field of education.

Dr. Richard M. Cash is an award-winning author and educator who has worked in the field of education for over twenty-five years. His range of experience includes teaching, curriculum coordination, and program administration. Currently, he is an internationally recognized education consultant (www.nrich.consulting). His consulting work has taken him throughout the United States, as well as into Canada, the Czech Republic, China, England, Indonesia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey. 

Richard received his doctorate in educational leadership and a master s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Along with his bachelor s degree in education from the University of Minnesota, Richard holds a bachelor s degree in theater from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. For over ten years, he codirected a children s theater company in Minnesota, and coauthored four award-winning children s plays. He was recipient of the National Association for Gifted Children s Early Leader Award (2011), recognizing his leadership in programming for gifted children. Richard was also named the Friend of the Gifted, 2016 by Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented.
 
His areas of expertise are educational programming, rigorous and challenging curriculum design, differentiated instruction, 21st century skills, brain-compatible classrooms, gifted and talented education, and self-regulated learning. Dr. Cash is the author of Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning f