Parents, teachers, and policy makers in educational interventions for gifted students: Systematic review study

Gifted students often encounter challenges in receiving the education that they need. To enhance adequate educational interventions for gifted students, it is important to explicitly consider the involvement of and interactions between key actors, such as parents, teachers, and policy makers. This systematic review study sought to explore the involvement of these key actors in educational interventions for gifted students, and to illuminate the current understanding of the mechanisms and conditions underlying the involvement and interactions. Results showed that studies investigating teachers, and studies focusing on participants' attitudes, perspective, or view were most prevalent in the literature. Additionally, research focusing on all three actor groups (i.e., parents, teachers, and policy makers) was scarce, varied in quality, and was mainly focused on evaluation of diverse educational interventions. Content analysis of these three-actor studies revealed the following requirements for successful gifted education: clear policies, effective communication and collaboration between the school and the home environment, awareness among teachers and parents on the impact of their views on the students, professional development of teachers, and support for parents. Further research is needed to uncover the underlying mechanisms and conditions forming the effectiveness of these requirements.