From the editor's desk.

Welcome to the Summer issue of volume 27 of the Roeper Review. In this issue we look at a variety of concerns that affect the education of gifted children, from resilience to legislation. In this multifaceted field, it is important to seek diversity in research as we attempt to do with the Roeper Review.

Our first two articles address resilience among gifted children. Margie Kitano and Rena Lewis examine the literature on resilience and apply it to gifted children who are at risk in their article "Resilience and Coping: Implications for Gifted Children and Youth At Risk." Cognitive ability has a role to play in overcoming adversity. Just how this ability enters into the equation and how it might be used to help children facing difficulties is still being explored, but the research show's promise for greater understanding in the future.

In their article "Implications of Risk and Resilience in the Life of the Individual Who is Gifted/Learning Disabled," Ursula Gardynik and Linda McDonald focus on the research in resilience as it relates to the Gifted/Learning Disabled child. This group is particularly vulnerable because of their dual exceptionalities.

Children from low socioeconomic status are often at risk of failure in part due to the lack of "optimal educational experiences" in the early grades. Kumon instruction has been utilized to improve mathematics skills in a variety of settings for some time now. Building on the success of Kumon use elsewhere, Michele McKenna, Patricia Hollingsworth, and Laura Barnes attempt to provide a more optimal educational experience to the Title 1 school students in their study. They report their optimistic findings in the article "Developing Latent Mathematics Abilities in Economically Disadvantaged Students."

Rose Huff, Beth Houskamp, Alice Watkins, Mark Stanton, and Bethany Tavegia describe their qualitative study in the article "The Experiences of Parents of Gifted African American Children: A Phenomenological Study." Because parents know their children better than anyone in the schools, it is imperative that we learn from them. This article examines a group that is even more underrepresented in the literature than their children: parents of gifted African American students.

Although some advances in gifted education services to students have come through legislation. many in the field are unaware of the laws on the books throughout the country. Perry Zirkel, in his article "State Laws for Gifted Education: An Overview of the Legislation and Regulations," summarizes the findings of his report to the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented comparing the laws affecting gifted education in all 50 states. Knowledge of these laws is helpful in our advocacy for gifted children.

Talent search programs have provided valuable information to gifted students since their inception, but it has been unclear how schools have utilized this data. Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Seon-Young Lee address this question in their study reported in the article "How Schools Use Talent Search Scores for Gifted Adolescents." It appears that schools have not taken full advantage of the information offered by talent search programs. Findings such as these may spur efforts to improve the use of this valuable information.

The Dissertation Abstracts section describes current research in gifted studies. I encourage yon to let our Dissertation Abstracts section editor, Judy Margison, know about the dissertation research you or your students may be completing. The book review in this issue is of Jane Piirto's book, "My Teeming Brain": Understanding Creative Writers, reviewed by Diane Montgomery.

As always, I hope you will find the contents in this issue of the Roeper Review useful and informative. Please feel free to contact me at the address below with your comments or questions.

Dr. Tracy L. Cross, Editor

Roeper Review

Teachers College

Ball State University

Muncie, Indiana 47306

[e-mail]