Interest and attitude: Affective connections for gifted and talented readers

Abstract

For many years gifted readers have been offered either the standard curriculum or an accelerated program which is often unresponsive to their needs. The result can be a profound loss of potential in our society. An area of reading development often ignored is affect. It is the thesis of this article that affective dimensions are basic in the development of gifted learners' reading potential. Two crucial areas of investigation examined in this article are interest and attitude. Specific instructional implications are suggested which can help strengthen reading programs for gifted learners.