Understanding the Experiences of Gifted Education Teachers and Fidelity of Implementation in Rural Schools

Approximately one quarter of American students attend rural schools; however, the needs of these students are often overlooked in education policy despite well-documented limited financial resources and pervasive poverty. Relatively little is known about the experiences of gifted students in rural areas and even less about the teachers serving this population. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the rural-specific context to identify factors associated with rural teachers’ instructional decisions to deliver gifted curriculum with fidelity. More specifically, the study examined the experiences for teachers in rural schools when implementing a research-based language arts curriculum and how these experiences relate to fidelity of implementation. Findings suggest that rural-specific characteristics of gifted programming, limited resources, and time challenges present unique challenges for these gifted education teachers.