From the editor's desk.

Welcome to Volume 24, Number 1 of the Roeper Review. This issue marks my first serving as editor. My team and I will try to continue the fine editorial work of my friend and colleague, Ruthan Brodsky, who for many years was the heart and soul of the journal. She deserves a great deal of credit for years of hard work and dedication to seeing that this fine journal was published. My involvement with the Roeper School is due to Ruthan inviting me to become an Editorial Advisory Board Member and later a member of the Roeper School Board of Trustees. Thank you Ruthan for all you have done for the journal, the field of gifted education, and for me.

My plan is to include a section "From the Editor's Desk" at the beginning of each issue. It is intended to introduce the contents of the issue and provide an occasional observation in the field. Before discussing the articles and book reviews, I would like to introduce you to our editorial team. I have been responsible for a state-funded residential high school for gifted students for over five years. I was trained as a research psychologist, and have focused my research on the psychology of gifted students and the experience of being gifted. My degrees (B.S., M.A., Ed. S., and Ph.D.) are from the University of Tennessee. I am a tenured Professor of Psychology and hold the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professorship in Gifted Studies at Ball State University. With my passion being the psychology of gifted students, I have developed a specialty in the suicidal behavior of gifted students. Over the past two decades, I have published more than 60 articles, several book chapters, and two books, and evaluated 40 or so schools and programs for gifted students. I have served as president of two state associations for gifted educators and am the current president of The Association for the Gifted (TAG) of the Council for Exceptional Children. I am currently completing my term as editor of Gifted Child Quarterly.

Jennifer Cross, the new managing editor of the Roeper Review, has served as assistant editor for the Gifted Child Quarterly for over 4 years and as an editorial assistant in the past several years for the Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, The Teacher Educator, and the Journal of Humanistic Education. She has a master's degree in educational psychology from Ball State University and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Tusculum College. Jennifer is a regular speaker at conferences on the topic of parenting gifted children.

Barbara Spike has worked as an editorial assistant with Gifted Child Quarterly for over 4 years and will be an editorial assistant for Roeper Review. She has run the Executive Director's office at the Indiana Academy for 7 years, and has raised four gifted children who have all become successful adults. Barbara holds a bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and is a very talented artist.

Rachel Brumfield, also a new editorial assistant for Roeper Review, is a second-year graduate student in counseling and social psychology at Teachers College at Ball State University. She has been an editorial assistant with Gifted Child Quarterly for 1 year and has been very active in the manuscript acceptance, response, and monitoring system for the Roeper Review over the past three months. I am very pleased to have such a fine team working on behalf the journal.

I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Claire Hughes has agreed to continue as book review editor of the Roeper Review. She has contributed significantly in this role for some time. Claire recently received her Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary.

There are many ways one can serve as an editor. My preferred practice is to polish the apples of the authors, letting the authors' personalities and values shine through their work. I believe that I have done my job well if my personality is not obvious and my editorial hand leaves few prints. I also prefer complete manuscripts over those that only touch the surface. Therefore, I often encourage authors to be detailed and provide nuances sometimes missing in our field. I will continue to encourage new authors as well as those from outside the field of gifted education to contribute to the journal.

In this issue of the Roeper Review there are seven articles and four book reviews. It should be noted that these were originally accepted under Ruthan's editorship. We call the first series of articles "Gifted Education: Perspectives from Down Under" because all four of them come to us from Australia or New Zealand. In the first article, "Beyond the Image: The Giftedness of Jimi Hendrix," Anne-Marie Morrissey utilizes literature from the field of gifted studies to explain that this talented musician was much more than the "authorized version" many of us recognize from the popular media. This is a very interesting, thought-provoking read, and we look forward to more work from this talented author.

Because of their outstanding abilities in other areas, educators often overlook the fact that their gifted students do not always possess the foundation needed to understand higher concepts. In their article "Developing Young Children's Multidigit Number Sense," Carmel Diezmann and Lyn English describe the exercises they developed to help a class of young gifted children understand large numbers. As students express an understanding of difficult concepts, it is easy to overlook seemingly minor misconceptions. The authors remind us of the value in exploring our students' misunderstanding.

In our constant effort to provide optimal opportunities for our gifted students, it is helpful to learn about options available to their peers world wide. Wilma Vialle, Tracey Ashton, Greg Carlon and Florence Rankin, in their article "Acceleration: A Coat of Many Colours," synthesize three studies conducted in New South Wales, Australia. The research was conducted to explore the issues that are at the center of the acceleration debate in Australia. The issue of acceleration often brings critics out of the woodwork, despite the fact that few educators and parents seem to fully understand how it is currently used and what benefit it offers.

Adding to the body of knowledge we are amassing concerning gender differences is the next article, "An Examination of Self Concept in Academically Gifted Adolescents: Do Gender Differences Occur?" by Ainsley Luscombe and Tracy Riley. By teasing apart the myriad aspects of gender differences, we can come closer to addressing those issues that impact gender equality.

In our second section, "Issues in the Development of Individuals with Gifts and Talents," authors explore a variety of issues facing gifted children. David Yun Dai and Robin Schader study "Parents' Reasons and Motivations for Supporting Their Child's Musical Training." Why are some parents willing to put forth the effort required for their child to become an accomplished musician? As we learn about this population, perhaps there are lessons for other fields of endeavor.

Health care, particularly mental health care, can be an issue facing parents of gifted children. These parents can benefit from the experience of Christopher Anderson, a former managed care case manager who examines this subject in his article "The Role of Managed Mental Health Care in Counseling Gifted Children and Families." Advocacy for our gifted children must take place in many areas. The large health care system is no exception.

"Gifted and At Risk: Four Longitudinal Case Studies of Post-High-School Development," by Jean Sunde Peterson is an interesting look into the lives of four gifted late adolescents who were at risk for poor educational outcomes. Through frequent contact with these individuals over a period of years, Dr. Peterson was able to examine issues that were significant in their development. By sharing their stories, Dr. Peterson invites us to learn more about this difficult period. Although their experiences are unique, we can gain a valuable perspective on the lives of gifted adolescents struggling with school and the possibilities that lie ahead for them.

Finally, I hope you will enjoy the four book reviews Dr. Hughes has provided. We look forward to working with the Roeper Review in our time ahead, continuing the mission that was initiated by the Roeper School a half century ago. Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions.

George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Gifted Studies, Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana 47306. [e-mail]