From the editor's desk.

Welcome to the Summer issue of volume 26 of the Roeper Review. The issue opens with an interview conducted by Tonya Moon with Carolyn Callahan, a leading figure in the field. Readers will enjoy hearing about Dr. Callahan's experiences and insights during her many years in gifted education.

We continue the Point/Counterpoint column with a discussion of who bears the primary responsibility for differentiated instruction--the student or teacher? Carol Ann Tomlinson, a researcher well known for her work with differentiation in the classroom, suggests that differentiation should be a team effort, with shared responsibility among students and teachers. George Betts, who also has years of practice and research in gifted education, sees a tier of responsibilities from a prescribed curriculum to a teacher-directed level of differentiation and finally to the level of the learner's own differentiation. As more schools move towards differentiation within heterogeneous classrooms, such discussions are of paramount importance.

The next three articles utilize a case-study approach to research among gifted children and their teachers. In her article "Case Studies of Gifted Kindergarten Children: Profiles of Promise," Naomi Sankaar-DeLeeuw describes the characteristics of 5 gifted kindergartners. This approach has value in providing great detail about many aspects of gifted students' lives. Tarek Grantham also uses qualitative analysis in an effort to understand why one young African American has chosen to remain and be successful in gifted classes when so many of his peers reject them. In his article "Rocky Jones: Case Study of a High-Achieving Black Male's Motivation to Participate in Gifted Classes," Grantham explores Rocky's influences and beliefs, providing perspective on this population that may not be obvious through quantitative analyses.

Effective teachers have an extremely important role to play in the education of gifted children. We all hope that teachers will be able to provide the best environment for children's learning, and understanding the beliefs and practices of our best teachers is an important step in making that hope a reality. In his article "About Creativity, Giftedness, and Teaching the Creatively Gifted in the Classroom," Ugur Sak explores one teacher's beliefs and practices.

The student's responsibility for differentiating instruction is the subject of Deborah Douglas's action research. In her article "Self-Advocacy: Encouraging Students to Become Partners in Differentiation," Douglas finds out first-hand how students feel about their responsibility. The more children learn about themselves, the more they can do to achieve their potential.

Frances Karnes and Elizabeth Shaunessy share information about finding children with special educational needs in their article "A Plan for Child Find in Gifted Education." Several states have guidelines that may be helpful.

The issue is rounded out by Judy Margison's collection of dissertation abstracts and two book reviews from our book review editor Claire Hughes. Janice Walz reviews Ritchie and Wilson's book Teacher Narrative as Critical Inquiry: Rewriting the Script and Elizabeth Shaunessy reviews Sousa's How the Gifted Brain Learns.

I hope you enjoy this issue. Please feel free to contact me with comments or questions.