Professional Development for Promoting the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children

To carry out the demands of education reform, teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators must know and understand the subjects they teach, the students with whom they interact, and the local context in which they collaborate. The success of school reform hinges, in large part, on the qualifications and effectiveness of these educators. One way to address the elements of school reform is through professional development because it allows individuals to update their skills, socialize to new district initiatives, and provide a mechanism for implementing curriculum and school reform in a particular school and/or district (Van Tassel-Baska, 2002). The importance of professional development also has clearly been emphasized as a key component in national educational agendas (No Child Left Behind [NCLB] Act, 2001).