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| Which career cycle might facilitate students development following teachers gift |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (6 reads) | |
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Abstract
introduction:
the educational philosophy advocating that “students from all economic and cultural backgrounds should reach their full potential” has not extended to the most capable student cohort, leaving gifted students underserved. Over the past decade, academic attention has turned to the teachers serving these students, as growing evidence indicates that a widespread lack of professional development support for gifted education. This means that even when teachers lack essential knowledge and experience regarding the characteristics and needs of gifted learners, they still bear significant responsibilities.
methods:
this study, grounded in the five-stage theory of teaching careers, examines how teacher training related to gifted education impacts student learning outcomes.
results:
through propensity score matching and heterogeneity treatment effects, it reveals that the effectiveness of gifted education training follows an m-shaped curve as teacher experience accumulates.
discussion:
this empirically supports the heterogeneous treatment effect (hte) of teacher training, laying the foundation for personalized professional programs for gifted educators.
1 introduction
cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal abilities are crucial for positive development and achievement across multiple domains, including education, employment, health, and well-being (oecd, 2019). However, empirical research on the antecedents or associated factors influencing these variables remains urgently needed. Simultaneously, the educational philosophy advocating that “students from all economic and cultural backgrounds should reach their full potential” has not been extended to the gifted student cohort. Just as students struggling academically require supportive interventions, top performers should also receive specialized guidance to ensure they gain opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills.
the standards for gifted educators in the united states are jointly developed by nagc and cec. In 2024 (national association for gifted children; council for exceptional children, 2024), the organization updated its initial preparation standards for gifted educators. Compared to the previous 2013 version (national association for gifted children; council for exceptional children, 2013), the latest edition features three prominent characteristics: first, it introduces new requirements for teachers to address students’ social, emotional, and psychological dimensions. This shift reflects a transition in gifted educations focus from “high academic achievement” to “whole-person development,” correcting the misconception that “giftedness” equates to “high scores.” Second, it prioritizes teacher professional development (hereafter referred to as “pd”). Nacg and cec emphasize that pd should be supported by evidence-based practices and facilitated through effective instructional and environmental supports. Third, it maintains the critical importance of recognizing student individuality. Teachers are required to provide tailored instruction that meets student needs, respond to the interests and talents of the gifted and talented, and design meaningful, challenging learning experiences.
cpc central committee and the state council (2025) has issued the “outline for building a leading education nation (2024–2035),” which places particular emphasis on building a high-quality, professional teaching workforce and enhancing teachers’ professional competencies. Regarding pd program for teachers, the outline requires strengthening training for all teachers. Additionally, ministry of education of the people’s republic of china (2020) introduced the “guidelines for teaching curricula for primary and secondary school teachers” in 2020. This initiative aims to advance the pd of primary and secondary school teachers while enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of training programs. The guiding principle behind this framework is that teacher training for primary and secondary school teachers should promote their professional growth, with the ultimate goal of fostering student outcomes.
unlike other countries, teacher supply and attrition are not significant concerns for public school teachers in china’s basic education sector, as they enjoy quite stable salaries and benefits. However, in terms of career development, this job security may actually dampen teachers’ enthusiasm for participating in pd programs, thereby potentially affecting teaching quality.
2 literature review
the scope and content of professional development are broadly defined in the literature. Little (1993) posits that professional development encompasses any activity designed partially or primarily to enhance the classroom practice and educational reform of school staff. Although pd training varies significantly in content and format, it shares “a common purpose” - most often, the improvement of student learning outcomes (guskey, 2002).
2.1 teacher training related to gifted education
for decades, research on teacher professional development training has primarily focused on two themes. The first involves “antecedent variables” related to teachers, examining which characteristics influence their decision to participate in pd. Examples include teachers’ expert knowledge and self-efficacy (carney et al., 2016; chen et al., 2021; sancar et al., 2021). The second records “outcome variables” related to teachers, such as changes in satisfaction, attitudes, or beliefs following training participation (guskey, 2002). Existing literature reveals significant research gaps: how do different teachers perform and benefit during professional development? Beyond teacher-related variables, can professional development training tangibly impact student growth? Furthermore, as a key benchmark for evaluating educational investment, is there empirical support for changes in student learning outcomes?
from a methodological perspective, on the one hand, most studies on teacher training employ interviews or open-ended surveys (avidov-ungar et al., 2023). On the other hand, quantitative research has measured the effectiveness of such training, though the evidence typically exhibits low power. For instance, by comparing students’ outcomes at the beginning and end of the semester using t-tests, it was found that teacher participation in pd activities could enhance student learning (antoniou and kyriakides, 2013). Research designs like this are largely incapable of controlling for confounding variables, presenting numerous threats to internal validity. It is difficult to rule out the possibility that observed changes stem from factors unrelated to professional development. In other words, endogeneity issues remain unresolved.
further study about professional development training for teachers related to gifted education reveals that no work on giftedness, talent, and creativity dedicates an entire chapter or more to teacher training, such as plucker and callahan (2021) or robinson and kolloff (2021). As noted by the world council for gifted and talented children (2021), professional development training in gifted education requires stronger empirical support beyond mere rationales. In other words, there exists a crisis of confidence regarding whether training that equips teachers with specialized knowledge and skills can tangibly contribute to the learning and development of gifted students - and specifically, which student competencies such training can enhance.
unlike general educators, gifted education places higher demands on teachers. On one hand, gifted students possess unique learning needs: beyond advanced knowledge, they tend to actively seek information, generate novel ideas, and engage in complex thinking (gallagher, 2013). Without appropriate instructional interventions, gifted learners may lose interest in formal education and disengage from learning (preckel et al., 2010). Furthermore, within the gifted population, as many as one in six students exhibit some form of learning difference alongside their high intelligence (world council for gifted and talented children, 2021). Consequently, educators must not only address the unique learning and developmental needs of gifted students but also account for the diversity within this cohort. They must help students identify and structure real-world problems aligned with their interests while simultaneously providing the methods, resources, and skills necessary to solve these specific challenges.
however, a review of research on teacher characteristics and instructional practices reveals that a substantial body of evidence indicates that few teachers, whether pre-service or in-service, are capable of providing specialized instruction for high-ability students (robinson and kolloff, 2021). This stems from teachers’ lack of knowledge regarding how to adapt curriculum for students whose abilities extend beyond the scope of grade-level courses and prescribed standards documents (callahan and reis, 2004; hertberg-davis, 2009). Teachers’ self-reports further confirm that insufficient knowledge of gifted education pedagogy leaves them feeling ill-equipped to effectively serve gifted students (antoun et al., 2020). This underscores the need for the gifted education field to provide teachers with robust training, enabling them to create novel and appropriate learning experiences that support students’ capacity development.
conversely, if teachers lack professional training, it will negatively impact teaching practices, student outcomes, and the entire education sector. Specifically, in terms of teaching practices, untrained teachers not only lack knowledge about how and when to adjust instructional pace for gifted students but also fail to understand how to employ differentiated instruction strategies to increase the depth and complexity of instructional content (van tassel-baska et al., 2021). Regarding student outcomes, it may result in insufficient challenges, inadequate differentiated instruction, increased underachievement or dropout rates among students, and diminished achievement for all gifted learners (reis and renzulli, 2010). For the education sector, teachers’ lack of specialized expertise may lead to misconceptions about identifying and nurturing gifted students, exacerbating the separation between gifted education and general education (sánchez-escobedo et al., 2020).
2.2 21st century skills
the report “educating for life and work: developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st century” by the national research council (2012) distilled three broad domains of competence: cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills, collectively referred to as “21st century skills”(see figure 1). These three dimensions of 21st-century skills integrate cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional domains - marking a distinct departure from traditional education’s narrow focus on cognitivism. Cognitivism was limited to examining internal mental processes within individual learners, viewing social interaction merely as a backdrop to learning. The introduction of 21st century skills address the shortcomings of cognitivism by recognizing social interaction as a fundamental factor shaping what individuals can know, do, and become. It views skill development as a constructive process resulting from continuous interaction with biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. This shift reflects progress toward a more comprehensive, healthy, and productive concept of human development (pellegrino, 2020).
figure 1
academic circles have interpreted the three dimensions of 21st-century skills. First, regarding cognitive ability, numerous renowned frameworks exist, including carroll’s (1993) three-stratum theory, snow’s (1984) radex model, and sternberg’s (1985) triarchic theory. Second, about interpersonal skills, as the era of lone genius fades (suresh, 2013), complex challenges and opportunities now demand the efficient integration of diverse thinking styles. Interpersonal acuity and collaborative abilities are becoming increasingly critical. Third, about intrapersonal ability, gardner (2006) emphasizes the importance of intrapersonal intelligence, which core lies in identifying and evaluating one’s strengths, weaknesses, talents, and interests, and utilizing these insights to develop adaptive, goal-oriented self-direction. In his differentiated model of giftedness and talent (dmgt), gagné (2004) highlights that intrapersonal or self-management act as catalysts in talent development, influencing growth through both directional and intensity factors.
the development of the three major ability domains - cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal - may be asynchronous both across different groups and within the same individual. For instance, while gifted students may lead their peers in cognitive ability compared to average students, they do not necessarily exhibit giftedness in all domains (winebrenner, 2020), and other skills still require gradual cultivation (gagné, 2004). Similarly, within the gifted population, some students may exhibit exceptional intellectual abilities while lagging in social–emotional development (silverman, 2012). This implies that gifted educators must not only recognize how the learning styles and socio-psychological needs of gifted students differ from those of their peers, but also hold professional awareness of the internal variations and diversity within the gifted cohort itself.
both cognitive ability and “non-cognitive ability” - comprising interpersonal and intrapersonal skills - exhibit plasticity. Psychologists emphasize that one should not assume students possessing cognitive ability and possess psychosocial competency, nor should it be assumed these skills emerge without direct instruction and teaching (subotnik et al., 2011). In other words, the diversity in students’ developmental trajectories demands that educators provide multifaceted perspectives on learning, addressing both cognitive and psychosocial needs (cathcart, 2020). It is evident that gifted students thrive only when teachers guide them in meeting their cognitive and psychosocial developmental requirements. Thus, the key to improving school education lies with the teachers.
3 theoretical foundations
3.1 pedagogical content knowledge
shulman (1986) proposed the pck model for teacher professional development training, emphasizing that such training should encompass pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, and subject pedagogical knowledge. Schulman’s pck model aligns with perspectives from other educational experts. For instance, robinson and aronica (2009) contends that secondary school teachers require strong preparation in three domains: pedagogical knowledge, subject matter knowledge and subject-specific pedagogy.
in the pck model, pedagogical knowledge encompasses knowledge related to teaching strategies, classroom management, and other areas. As scholars have pointed out, training for teachers engaged in gifted education must include classroom management skills (tomlinson and allan, 2000). Content knowledge relates to the academic discipline itself. Teachers less familiar with a particular subject area can expand their knowledge base by participating in professional development training within that specific field. The overlap between pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge (pck), which requires teachers not only to be proficient in the subject matter but also to be able to apply appropriate teaching strategies to help students understand.
this study designed a dichotomous independent variable based on shulman’s pck framework, examining whether teachers’ pd training experiences encompassed the following three dimensions: teaching subject-specific knowledge to gifted students, involving pedagogical knowledge related to gifted education, and delivering higher-level subject knowledge to gifted students (e.G., Teaching university-level subject knowledge to secondary school students). When teachers selected “no” for all three aspects, they were considered to have not participated in training specifically targeting gifted education.
3.2 the professional life cycle of teachers
michael huberman has made outstanding contributions to research in teacher education, having taught at the university of geneva in switzerland and columbia university in the united states. His co-edited work with guskey, professional development in education: new paradigms and practices, was named “staff development book of the year” by the national staff development council (nsdc). The “professional life cycle” model stands as one of his most notable achievements. American educational research association (area) also established the michael huberman award for excellence in outstanding scholarship on the lives of teachers to scholars who have made distinguished contributions to research on teachers’ lives.
the professional life cycle comprises five distinct phases. Starting from the first year a teacher enters the education field, the initial 1 to 3 years are termed the “career entry”; years of 4 to 6 constitute the “stabilization” phase; years of 7 to18 represent either an “activism” or “self-doubts” state; years of 19 to 30 are termed the “serenity” or “conservatism” period; and years of 31 to 40 constitute the “disengagement” phase approaching retirement (huberman et al., 1993). Detailed characteristics of each stage are outlined in table 1.
table 1
| years of teaching | career cycle | characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| 1 ~ 3 | entry | survival or discovery |
| 4 ~ 6 | stabilization | clear commitment to the profession, comfortable with teaching environment |
| 7 ~ 18 | active vs. Self-doubts | action-oriented teaching experiments, career advancement opportunities, or crises of professional reassessment |
| 19 ~ 30 | serenity/conservation | maintaining a rational distance from students, no longer having high expectations of oneself |
| 31 ~ 40 | disengagement | bitter or serene |
the professional life cycle of teachers.
as shown in table 1, once teachers successfully navigate the demanding survival struggles and teaching challenges of the first 3 years, they experience a sense of accomplishment and excitement about discovering new things. They typically enter a stable phase - the second stage - and gradually establish themselves in their professional track. It is not until the third phase - the mid-career stage - that educator may find teaching demands become routine, prompting them to explore new instructional materials and strategies. However, some teachers in this same phase may also encounter fresh challenges and fall into self-doubt. For instance, after reflecting on the gap between actual teaching outcomes and “expected” results, they may begin questioning the meaning and value of their work during the first half of their professional cycle. By the fourth stage, many educators return to the status of calm. Finally, in the twilight of their careers, teachers may feel bitter or serene, lacking the passion to commit further to their work (huberman and middlebrooks, 2000).
this study proposes a heterogeneity hypothesis based on the lives of teachers. Specifically, it posits that the effectiveness of teachers’ participation in training related to gifted education varies according to the five career stages outlined by this theory. In other words, teachers at different states derive distinct benefits from professional training, which manifests as varying impacts on student learning outcomes.
4 methods
4.1 key concept
professional development and teacher training are two ends of the same continuum. Early understanding of teacher training tended to favor short-term, externally driven models focused on the input of knowledge. In contrast, professional development emphasizes the construction and transformation of knowledge and has gradually gained widespread acceptance. Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, professional development represents a long-term, higher-level process of knowledge reconstruction compared to teacher training (avalos, 2011).
a representative definition of professional development is as follows: borko (2004) approaches the concept from the perspective of temporal boundaries, arguing that professional development is not a one-time training event, but rather a continuous series of learning opportunities after teachers have obtained their initial certification. Timperley et al. (2007) further emphasize the outcomes-oriented perspective, defining professional development and learning as formal and informal learning experiences designed to development knowledge and skills teacher need to achieve better student learning outcomes.
in the field of gifted education, vantassel-baska (2003) applied shulman’s pck framework to curriculum planning and instructional design for gifted students, working backward from student outcomes to determine teacher behaviors. In a review study, rogers (2007) noted that gifted students cannot be fully developed through merely slight modifications to standard classroom instruction; they require instructional arrangements and curricular experiences that align with their abilities, interests, and learning styles. This reflects an approach that integrates content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and the learning characteristics of gifted students. Building on this, weber and mofield (2023) explicitly expanded pck into gt-pck (gifted and talented - pedagogical and content knowledge), stating that professional development for teachers of gifted students should encompass deep subject knowledge, specialized instructional strategies, and a profound understanding of the social and emotional needs of high-ability learners.
based on a review of existing research on teacher training and professional development, this study adopts the following definition: professional development for teachers in the gifted education field refers to all formal and informal learning opportunities that enable teacher, after obtaining certification, to develop the content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and deep understanding for the needs of talented students.
4.2 research design
the research question of this study is to examine the impact of secondary school teachers’ participation in gifted education training on student learning outcomes, and how its impact is influenced by the teachers’ career stage. In statistical terms, the independent variable is whether teachers participate in professional development in the field of gifted education; the dependent variable is cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal development of gifted students; and the moderator is the life cycle of teachers. In terms of variable types, the moderator and the dependent variable are both continuous variables, while the independent variable is a dichotomous variable.
in the conceptual framework diagram, the design of the independent variables is based on the pck model, incorporating the findings of van tassel-baska, rogers, weber mofield, and others who have applied this framework to the field of gifted education. It is summarized by three indicators: pedagogical knowledge (pk), content knowledge (ck) and pedagogical content knowledge (pck). Only when a teacher selects “yes” for all three items is that teacher considered to have participated in professional development in the gifted education field; if a teacher selects “no” for at least one item, he or she is considered not to have participated in a professional development program for gifted education. Specifically, the question corresponding to pk is “does the professional development you participated in include pedagogical knowledge for gifted students?,” The question corresponding to ck is “does the professional development you participated include subject content knowledge?,” And the question corresponding to pck is “does the professional development you participated in include pedagogical knowledge for subject content tailored to gifted students?”
the outcome variable is based on the 21st century skills proposed national research council, which encompasses three dimensions: cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Among these, cognitive domain as involving thinking and related abilities; interpersonal competencies are those used both to express information to others ... And respond appropriately; intrapersonal ability includes self-regulation – the ability to set and achieve one’s goals. To be specific, cognitive includes nonroutine problem solving critical thinking, systems thinking; interpersonal skills include complex communication, social skills, teamwork, cultural sensitivity, dealing with diversity; intrapersonal skills include self-management, time-management, self-development, self-regulation, adaptability, executive functioning (council n. R, 2012) in addition, many researchers refer to interpersonal ability and intrapersonal ability as social–emotional ability (schoon, 2021). The dependent variable is operationalized using a questionnaire (ipq) designed by hong et al. Specifically for teachers of gifted students.
the moderator variable is operationalized within huberman’s theory and represented by teacher’s years of teaching. To better align the operationalization of the teaching life cycle with the definition in huberman’s theory, we use years of teaching experience rather than chronological age as the variable.
in terms of analysis, this study employs two statistical methods: propensity score matching (psm) and the heterogeneity treatment effects (hte). The advantages of using psm in this research are as follows: first, teachers exhibit self-selection in deciding whether to participate in training, which introduces significant systematic bias in traditional estimation methods (such as ordinary least squares (ols)). Psm reduces the impact of such selection bias. Second, it resolves the challenge of establishing a control group in previous teacher professional training studies, which often employed single-group pre-post designs, thereby enhancing the power of causal inference. The hte employed in this study follows the psm to further examine potential heterogeneity in intervention effects (xie, 2013), assuming that the effectiveness of pd training varies across teachers at different career stages.
following the counterfactual model framework, let denote participation in training related to gifted education professional development, and let denote non-participation in such training. Participation is determined based on the following criteria:
in equations 1, 2, is the latent choice variable used to partition the treatment and control groups; is the observable variable, obtained by conducting likelihood ratio test (lrt) on the variables listed in table 2. Specifically, these variables include the teacher’s age, gender, job title, subject, whether they have contact with gifted students, and whether they are familiar with gifted education, as well as two interaction terms: the product of the teacher’s age and job title, and the product of whether teacher has contact with gifted students and whether the teacher is familiar with gifted education; represents the unobserved heterogeneity of individuals in the choice process. The logit model is used to estimate the probability of teachers choosing to participate in gifted education professional development training.
table 2
| variable | item | mean | sd | item-test correlation | alpha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cognitive ability | cog1 | 2.72 | 0.849 | 0.8869 | 0.9683 |
| cog2 | 2.82 | 0.831 | 0.9179 | 0.9651 | |
| cog3 | 2.70 | 0.858 | 0.9110 | 0.9660 | |
| cog4 | 2.87 | 0.792 | 0.9272 | 0.9642 | |
| cog5 | 2.84 | 0.817 | 0.9348 | 0.9634 | |
| cog6 | 2.85 | 0.802 | 0.9422 | 0.9627 | |
| cog7 | 2.89 | 0.827 | 0.9243 | 0.9644 | |
| test scale | 0.9697 | ||||
| interpersonal ability | inter1 | 2.73 | 0.870 | 0.8924 | 0.9605 |
| inter2 | 2.77 | 0.852 | 0.8822 | 0.9612 | |
| inter3 | 2.60 | 0.945 | 0.8680 | 0.9632 | |
| inter4 | 2.87 | 0.809 | 0.9055 | 0.9595 | |
| inter5 | 2.82 | 0.819 | 0.9143 | 0.9589 | |
| inter6 | 2.77 | 0.884 | 0.8858 | 0.9611 | |
| inter7 | 2.75 | 0.847 | 0.9139 | 0.9589 | |
| inter8 | 2.75 | 0.826 | 0.9214 | 0.9583 | |
| test scale | 0.9650 | ||||
| intrapersonal ability | intra1 | 2.76 | 0.849 | 0.9196 | 0.9793 |
| intra2 | 2.83 | 0.817 | 0.9388 | 0.9780 | |
| intra3 | 2.74 | 0.827 | 0.9420 | 0.9778 | |
| intra4 | 2.75 | 0.851 | 0.9430 | 0.9778 | |
| intra5 | 2.79 | 0.840 | 0.9476 | 0.9775 | |
| intra6 | 2.85 | 0.831 | 0.9444 | 0.9777 | |
| intra7 | 2.88 | 0.837 | 0.9330 | 0.9784 | |
| intra8 | 2.81 | 0.841 | 0.9422 | 0.9778 | |
| test scale | 0.9807 |
reliability of the instrument (n = 348).
next, under the heterogeneity a hypothesis, the result model is as follows:
in equation 3, represents the baseline value of student learning outcomes prior to the intervention; denotes the heterogeneity of intervention effects, whose significance indicates whether participation in professional development training impacts student learning outcomes. This model partitions propensity scores into several intervals, using semiparametric or nonparametric methods to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated (att) for treated individuals within each interval, then aggregates the results across intervals.
4.3 sample selection
the target participants of this study consist of teachers from chinese secondary schools (including junior high and senior schools) who are either involved in or responsible for the education and instruction of gifted students. The sample was primarily identified through two platforms:
the first is an explicit information source – the china association for science and technology (cast). This association is responsible for organizing and implementing china’s middle school talent program, which has been in operation for over a decade since its launch in 2013. The program’s official website publicly lists the participating schools. Through collaborative research projects with the association, we identified teachers, principals, and heads of teaching and research departments at relevant secondary schools; through these key intermediary figures, we further established contact with in-service secondary school teachers.
the second is an implicit source of information – tracing back to identify secondary school that offer the “junior class” by examining the student recruitment sources for the “talent program.” Specifically, the “junior class” is a distinctive program at the university of science and technology of china. Launched in 1978, it has been in operation for nearly half a century. Its admissions primarily select gifted and talented from secondary schools; some of these students have only recently entered junior high school but are admitted early to the university due to their outstanding performance for advanced training. Our research does not focus on these students who enter university early, but rather on using publicly available information about their high schools to compile a list of their former schools. We then use channels such as professional programs for teachers and research collaboration to contact with teachers or administrators at these high schools. This is because the fact that these students have the opportunity to enter university early indicates that their schools must have top-notch talent development programs in place to qualify for early university admission. It is precisely these secondary schools with such programs that we seek to identify.
relying on the two official platforms mentioned above, we establish contact with current secondary school teachers through key intermediaries.
4.4 sampling procedure
data collection was conducted via an online platform (questionnaire star). During the sampling process, we mainly focused on two considerations: first, the similarity between the sample data and the actual regional distribution of the data. Teachers involved in gifted education constitute a sparse population, meaning their distribution across regions and schools is uneven. Taking into account the implementation of the middle school talent program, the availability of regional resources, and program quality, we adopted a regional approach – covering the eastern, central, and western regions – to ensure that the sample distribution aligns as closely as possible with the actual distribution. Second, we included both teachers in gifted classes and teachers in mixed-ability classes, so as to contact as many as secondary schools as possible that implement the middle school talent program or offer talent programs, minimizing omissions and ensure comprehensive sampling coverage.
specifically, regarding regional characteristics, to ensure a more rigorous design, we stratified secondary school teachers based on regional distribution, with the sample ratio for the eastern, central, and western regions being approximately 5:3:2. Regarding school type, since middle school talent program is a top-down policy implemented in public schools, our sample also focused on public schools to minimized selection bias.
prior to data collection, in addition to briefly introducing the research content, we emphasized the following four points to teachers: first, participation is entirely voluntary. Since we contacted some teachers through department heads or principles, we stressed that their participation and responses would not be linked to their job performance, and that results would not be shared to administrators or authorities. Teachers were asked to answer based on actual circumstances to minimize social desirability bias. Second, inform that the survey is intended solely for academic research, and participants will have access to findings. Third, assure the confidentiality and anonymity of the dataset. Fourth, inform participants that they may withdraw at any time without penalty. Finally, explain that the estimated completion time is approximately 8–12 min. The ethics strictly adhere to the guidelines set forth in the belmont report.
4.5 instrument and its reliability and validity
the instrument tool used is the instructional practice questionnaire (ipq) designed by hong et al. (2011)1, which comprises three dimensions: cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal ability. The cognitive dimension includes seven items, such as “students have opportunities to develop critical reading skills” and “students have opportunities to apply problem-solving skills.” Interpersonal items in include eight questions such as “students have opportunities to improve their relationships with their talented peers” and “students have opportunities to practice active listening skills.” Intrapersonal measurement items include “students have opportunities to set goals within areas of their interest” and “students have opportunities to demonstrate a sense of responsibility,” among eight other items.
in the pilot study, the chinese version of the questionnaire was reviewed by experts in gifted education and psychometrics to ensure content validity. A total of 80 pilot samples were collected, and the questionnaire content was revised according to the returned responses. For example, technical terms such as “procedural knowledge,” which frontline teachers might find difficult to understand, were removed. At the same time, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the pilot sample: the kmo statistic was 0.867, meeting the “good” standard, indicating the presence of common factors among the variables and confirming the suitability of factor analysis. The p value was < 0.001, rejecting the null hypothesis, that is, rejecting the assumption that the net correlations matrix is not an identity matrix and accepting the alternative hypothesis that the net correlation matrix is an identity matrix. This indicates the presence of common factors among the correlation matrices of the population, confirming the suitability of factor analysis. The reflectance matrix showed that the msa values for all items ranged from 0.78 to 0.92, all exceeding 0.50, indicating that all items were suitable for factor analysis. The communality indices indicated that the communality of each item ranged from 0.61 to 0.83, all exceeding 0.20. Ultimately, there were three common factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, cumulatively explaining 71.81% of the total variance. Based on the rotated factor matrix, it is appropriate to name the three factors “cognitive ability,” “interpersonal ability” and “intrapersonal ability,” respectively. Additionally, using the pilot sample, the clarity of the wording and the appropriateness of the language were verified, and the estimated completion time was determined to be less than 15 min.
in the formal survey, a total of 351 samples were collected. The collected data underwent the following checks: removal of excessive missing data, removal of data with all answers selected identically or with excessively short completion times, and removal of logically inconsistent responses. Ultimately, the number of valid samples was 348. The results of the reliability and validity tests for the formal survey are as follows.
as shown in the table above (table 2), the cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the three dimensions in the questionnaire range from 0.97 to 0.98, indicating that all dimensions exhibit “highly ideal” internal consistency. Furthermore, removing any single item would not improve the overall reliability of its respective dimension, suggesting that no item need to be deleted (table 2).
in terms of validity (table 3), the standardized factor loadings ranged from 0.82 to 0.95, indicating that each item effectively reflects its respective construct, and that the items are of high quality. The r2 values ranged from 0.67 to 0.89, indicating that the three dimensions provide good explanatory power for the items they comprise. The average variance extracted (ave) values were all 0.8 or higher, indicating that the three dimensions possess excellent convergent validity. Since the instrument is adapted from another well-established questionnaire, we had expected its internal consistency and reliability to be sufficiently good.
table 3
| variable | item | ? | R2 | cr | ave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cognitive ability | cog1 | 0.850 | 0.723 | 0.970 | 0.822 |
| cog2 | 0.890 | 0.791 | |||
| cog3 | 0.882 | 0.779 | |||
| cog4 | 0.921 | 0.848 | |||
| cog5 | 0.933 | 0.870 | |||
| cog6 | 0.945 | 0.893 | |||
| cog7 | 0.923 | 0.852 | |||
| interpersonal ability | inter1 | 0.855 | 0.732 | 0.965 | 0.777 |
| inter2 | 0.843 | 0.710 | |||
| inter3 | 0.818 | 0.669 | |||
| inter4 | 0.908 | 0.825 | |||
| inter5 | 0.915 | 0.837 | |||
| inter6 | 0.880 | 0.775 | |||
| inter7 | 0.911 | 0.830 | |||
| inter8 | 0.916 | 0.840 | |||
| intrapersonal ability | intra1 | 0.903 | 0.816 | 0.981 | 0.865 |
| intra2 | 0.930 | 0.864 | |||
| intra3 | 0.933 | 0.871 | |||
| intra4 | 0.933 | 0.870 | |||
| intra5 | 0.942 | 0.887 | |||
| intra6 | 0.937 | 0.878 | |||
| intra7 | 0.925 | 0.856 | |||
| intra8 | 0.935 | 0.875 |
validity of the instrument (n = 348).
5 findings
5.1 sample characteristics
during the formal survey phase, we received responses from secondary school teachers in 14 cities across 9 provinces in eastern, central, and western china, resulting a total of 348 valid responses.
as shown in table 4, the sample spans ages 22 to 60, covering all age groups of in-service teachers. Furthermore, the subjects taught by these teachers encompass all disciplines at the secondary school level, thus ensuring considerable representativeness.
table 4
| variable | number | percent |
|---|---|---|
| age | 22 (min) 60(max) | 38.78 (mean) 8.96 (sd) |
| years of teaching | 0 (min) 40(max) | 14.49 (mean) 9.98 (sd) |
| gender | ||
| female | 184 | 52.87% |
| male | 164 | 47.13% |
| job position | ||
| instructor | 321 | 92.24% |
| manager with teaching responsibility | 21 | 6.03% |
| administrator | 6 | 1.72% |
| subject | ||
| language | 44 | 12.64% |
| math | 53 | 15.23% |
| foreign language | 42 | 12.07% |
| moral education | 25 | 7.18% |
| history | 17 | 4.89% |
| geography | 23 | 6.61% |
| physics | 35 | 10.06% |
| chemistry | 36 | 10.34% |
| biology | 26 | 7.47% |
| computer | 16 | 4.60% |
| physical education | 16 | 4.60% |
| arts | 5 | 1.44% |
| others | 3 | 0.86% |
| missing data | 7 | 2.01% |
| contact with g&t students | ||
| no | 137 | 39.37% |
| yes | 211 | 60.63% |
| knowledge about g&t education | ||
| no | 147 | 42.24% |
| yes | 201 | 57.76% |
| grade | ||
| 7th grade | 40 | 11.49% |
| 8th grade | 30 | 8.62% |
| 9th grade | 53 | 15.23% |
| mixed junior high school grades | 8 | 2.30% |
| 10th grade | 132 | 37.93% |
| 11th grade | 30 | 8.62% |
| 12th grade | 45 | 12.93% |
| mixed senior high school grades | 8 | 2.30% |
| teacher’s self-assessment | ||
| normal | 281 | 80.75% |
| gifted and talented | 67 | 19.25% |
| teacher’s education background | ||
| associate | 23 | 6.61% |
| bachelor | 209 | 60.06% |
| master | 109 | 31.32% |
| doctoral | 3 | 0.86% |
| missing data | 4 | 1.15% |
| teacher’s parents’ education background | ||
| associate | 72 | 20.69% |
| bachelor | 33 | 9.48% |
| master | 1 | 0.29% |
| doctoral | 2 | 0.57% |
| missing data | 240 | 68.97% |
| school location | ||
| rural | 30 | 8.62% |
| small town | 22 | 6.32% |
| suburb | 66 | 18.97% |
| urban area | 155 | 44.54% |
| downtown | 75 | 21.55% |
| school level | ||
| junior high only | 114 | 32.76% |
| senior high only | 181 | 52.01% |
| both junior and senior | 53 | 15.23% |
| total number of students at the school | 2,695 (median) | 1,500 (25th percentile) 4,015 (75th percentile) |
sample information (n = 348).
in addition, participants were asked to provide the names of the g&t programs at their schools, including “shing-tung yau youth class,” “pure innovation class,” “olympic school,” and “youth engineering institute,” etc. This information also serves as evidence of the validity of the data.
among the variables related to sample characteristics listed above, the following were identified through lrt test as suitable matching variables: teacher’s age, gender, job title, subject, contact with g&t students, and knowledge about g&t students.
5.2 matching effect
the balancing test results in table 5 show: first, the absolute values of standardized differences after matching remained below 10%. Second, the bias in nearly all covariates significantly decreased, indicating that matching improved balance. Third, covariates with significant differences before matching (p < 0.01, p < 0.1) became non-significant after matching, suggesting that matching reduced differences in means. Fourth, all variables exhibiting excessive intergroup differences showed improved performance after matching. Finally, summary metrics reveal that the post-matching mean bias distance falls well below the 25% critical threshold, while variance differences narrow to an acceptable range, with overall effectiveness significantly enhanced. Variables within the model achieved the intended outcomes.
table 5
| variable | unmatched | mean | %bias | %reduct | t-test | v(t)/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| matched | treated | control | |bias| | t | p > t | v(c) | ||
| age | u | 37.28 | 38.31 | ?11.4 | 73.4 | ?1.02 | 0.309 | 0.84 |
| m | 37.19 | 37.46 | ?3.0 | ?0.33 | 0.743 | 1.03 | ||
| gender | u | 1.50 | 1.42 | 16.9 | 49.0 | 1.49 | 0.136 | 1.02 |
| m | 1.47 | 1.51 | ?8.6 | ?0.85 | 0.394 | 1.00 | ||
| position | u | 1.11 | 1.05 | 20.8 | 88.3 | 1.72 | 0.086 | 3.13* |
| m | 1.04 | 1.04 | ?2.4 | ?0.36 | 0.716 | 1.08 | ||
| subject | u | 8.95 | 9.08 | ?4.0 | ?143.4 | ?0.35 | 0.723 | 1.05 |
| m | 8.97 | 8.66 | 9.8 | 0.96 | 0.339 | 1.00 | ||
| direct contact | u | 1.72 | 1.43 | 61.2 | 99.6 | 5.50 | 0.000 | 0.83 |
| m | 1.69 | 1.69 | ?0.3 | ?0.03 | 0.978 | 1.00 | ||
| indirect knowledge | u | 1.71 | 1.36 | 75.1 | 96.1 | 6.71 | 0.000 | 0.89 |
| m | 1.69 | 1.71 | ?3.0 | ?0.30 | 0.765 | 1.03 | ||
| age*position | u | 42.11 | 39.96 | 13.1 | 75.5 | 1.08 | 0.280 | 3.19* |
| m | 38.44 | 38.97 | ?3.2 | ?0.48 | 0.629 | 1.10 | ||
| direct*indirect | u | 3.05 | 2.01 | 86.2 | 98.5 | 7.54 | 0.000 | 1.18 |
| m | 2.96 | 2.98 | ?1.3 | ?0.12 | 0.905 | 1.03 |
| sample | ps r2 | lr chi2 | p > chi2 | meanbias | medbias | b | r | %var |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unmatched | 0.141 | 62.83 | 0.000 | 36.1 | 18.9 | 87.9** | 2.50** | 25 |
| matched | 0.004 | 2.19 | 0.975 | 3.9 | 3 | 14.9 | 1.32 | 0 |
balance test.
* if variance ratio outside [0.77; 1.30] for u and [0.76; 1.32] for m. ** If b > 25%, r outside [0.5; 2].
in terms of balance, the standardized deviations of covariates prior to matching were relatively large, with some exceeding 80%. Meanwhile, after matching, the covariate deviations between the treatment and control groups approached 0 (see figure 2). Regarding joint support, a significant number of samples in the control group did not overlap within the joint support range, and the same was true for the treatment group. A close correspondence exists between the samples of the two groups (see figure 3).
figure 2
figure 3
5.3 propensity score matching, stratification, and weighting
we employed six estimation methods based on semi-parametric and non-parametric approaches: nearest neighbor matching, kernel matching, local linear regression matching, spline matching, mahalanobis distance matching, and stratified matching (see table 6). These yielded the average att for student learning gains from the intervention.
table 6
| matching | 1–4 nearest neighbors with callipers | kernel | local linear regression | spline | mahalanobis distance | propensity score stratification | propensity score weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (bootstrap std. Err.) | (Std. Err.) | (Robust std. Err.) | |||||
| att | 0.243* | 0.279** | 0.228** | 0.255** | 0.301*** | 0.266*** | 0.236** |
| (0.132) | (0.115) | (0.103) | (0.110) | (0.107) | (0. 109) | (0.109) | |
| atu | 0.276** | 0.285*** | 0.301*** | 0.285*** | 0.329*** | – | – |
| (0.134) | (0.099) | (0.085) | (0.079) | (0.101) | – | – | |
| ate | 0.255** | 0.281*** | 0.255*** | 0.266*** | 0.311*** | – | 0.257*** |
| (0.114) | (0.100) | (0.090) | (0.089) | (0.104) | – | (0.095) | |
| obs | 341 | 338 | 341 |
gifted education pd enhance students’ 21st century skills but exhibit heterogeneity.
***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1.
as shown in table 6, the estimated att results for nearest neighbor matching, kernel matching, local linear regression matching, spline matching, mahalanobis distance matching, and hierarchical matching are 0.243, 0.279, 0.228, 0.255, 0.301, and 0.266, respectively, indicating relatively close values.
to compare changes in teaching practices under the same standard, we further employed propensity score weighting. Propensity score weighting differs from the other six matching methods mentioned above in that the latter six use distinct approaches to estimate distances between samples. Propensity score weighting, however, converts propensity scores into weights using a specific formula and employs ols to estimate the att. The weight calculation formula is as follows:
the weighting results of propensity scores calculated using equations 4–6 are presented in the final column of table 6. Furthermore, by comparing the att and atu values in table 6, it can be observed that, overall, the positive impact of teacher participation in pd training on student learning outcomes is smaller than the positive effect observed when teachers did not receive such training. This suggests that the heterogeneity hypothesis may be supported.
5.4 heterogeneous treatment effects
heterogeneous treatment effects (hte) refers to the possibility that the impact of teacher participation in pd training on student learning outcomes may vary depending on the teacher’s career stage. Figure 4 presents the hte results for student achievement following specialized training in gifted education.
figure 4
in figure 4, the horizontal axis represents the probability of participants enrolling in gifted education training programs; the vertical axis indicates the likelihood of training yielding positive outcomes for students; the solid black line denotes the average change rate corresponding to each propensity score; the shaded area represents the confidence interval (ci). If the ci includes the value 0, the null hypothesis (h0: ate = 0) is unacceptable at the 95% confidence level, meaning student outcomes show no change. Conversely, if the ci excludes 0, it indicates a significant change in student learning outcomes.
as previously mentioned, teachers’ willingness to participate in gifted education training is influenced by their direct contact with gifted students or their understanding of gifted education. Therefore, the propensity score is affected by teachers’ relevant experience in the field of gifted education. In other words, the moderating effect manifests as an interaction: teacher age and the probability of teachers choosing to participate in training jointly influence student learning outcomes, but this relationship is not linear. As shown in figure 4, the impact of teacher participation in professional training on student learning gains exhibits an overall “m”-shaped pattern. Based on whether the gray shaded confidence intervals include zero, the trend of the black line can be broadly divided into five stages, aligning precisely with the five career stages of teachers as categorized by huberman. During the second and fourth career stages, teacher participation in pd significantly enhances student learning outcomes. Conversely, during the first, third, and fifth stages, students’ cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills do not appear to show marked improvement following teacher participation in gifted education training.
5.5 robustness check
to conduct robustness check, we used the rosenbaum method. Results indicate that att is only affected when a highly significant unobserved factor exists, doubling the likelihood of teacher participation in professional development (p < 0.01). Thus, the findings demonstrate high robustness.
6 conclusion and discussion
the education field has long emphasized personalized instruction tailored to individual needs, and teacher training is no exception. Over the past 25 years, scholarly efforts to focus on the core characteristics of effective professional development have grown rapidly, leading to a proliferation of concise design checklists. However, such apparent consensus can easily lead to the misconception that these conclusions are based on rigorous evidence, when in fact their empirical foundation is problematic (asterhan and lefstein, 2024). This study aims to address this gap. Unesco (2019) stipulates that professional learning should be an indispensable component of every teacher’s career, spanning their entire professional journey and possessing a global perspective. Recently, the chinese government has actively response by initiating policies to promote pd training for all teachers. Based on this, we extended the pck theoretical model to the field of gifted education to examine the effectiveness of teacher professional development. Using a sample of in-service secondary school teachers, this empirical study evaluates the impact of professional development training on student gains, and provide evidence for the personalized design of such training. Propensity score matching (psm) and heterogeneity of treatment effect (hte) models are used to address endogeneity issues such as omitted important variables and sample self-selection.
overall, contrary to the common belief that “the more experienced a teacher is, the better their teaching outcomes,” this study found that the impact of teacher experience on learning outcomes shows a “bimodal” pattern. At the two peaks of this “m”-shaped curve, specifically, during the 4th to 6th, 19th to 30th years of teaching, participation in pd about gifted education significantly promotes the development of these talent students.
in detail, joining in professional development has led to noticeable improvements in the development of teachers who are in the career stability phase (stage 2) and the career serenity/conservation phase (stage 4). According to huberman’s classification of teachers’ life cycle, teacher in the stability phase (stage 2) have completed their period of practical adaptation and are beginning to feel excited about exploring new things. They have accumulated sufficient foundational classroom experience while retaining the exploratory spirit of early-career teachers who have not yet been constrained by daily routines. These factors combined make the career stability phase a critical window for translating the effectiveness of pd in gifted education. Similarly, teachers in the career serenity/conservation phase (stage 4, with 19–30 years of experience) also exert a significant impact on student growth following participation in pd about gifted education. Sims et al. (2023) proposed an igmp framework for professional development, arguing that motivation is the most critical, and the most easily overlooked component in the conversion of pd outcomes. If professional development programs lack incentive mechanisms aligned with teacher’s intrinsic motivation, the acquisition of pedagogical knowledge (pk) and content knowledge (ck) will not automatically result in practical changes. This aligns with huberman’s description of teachers in the serenity/conservation phase of their careers. He notes that the 4th stage of life cycle is a restructuring phase that shifts from being driven by external recognition to the pursuit of intrinsic meaning. Teachers in serenity/conservation phase no longer seek validation through external evaluations but actively pursue professional challenges with intrinsic significance. This internal motivation makes the transfer of knowledge into practice particularly thorough, ultimately yielding a significant impact on the development of gifted students.
however, professional development in gifted education have not empowered teachers in stage 1, 3, and 5, that is, for students taught by teachers in these stages, student outcomes have not shown marked improvement following teachers’ participation in pd.
with regard to teachers in the first stage of their careers, admiraal et al. (2023), drawing on cross-nationals date from 24 countries, found that newly hired teachers generally feel that are not adequate prepared for the job. Nevertheless, pd programs for gifted education require teachers to simultaneously master pedagogical knowledge and content knowledge, while also responding to the unique social–emotional needs of gifted students. Particularly when workloads are excessive, or when the content of pd programs is too far from the immediate survival needs of novice teachers, such programs may actually become an additional source of stress rather than a supportive resource. The most direct implication for pd in gifted education is that investing in specialized pd training about gifted education for novice teachers who are in the entry and adaptation phases is a suboptimal choice in terms of efficiency.
for teacher in the third stage (with 7–18 years of experience), huberman describes this phase as a period of either active growth or self-doubt – some teachers successfully enter a new cycle of career advancement, while others fall into crisis or burnout. According to sims et al. (2023), since knowledge alone is unlikely to bring about changes in practice. Therefore, professional fail to yield educational outcomes if it does not motivate teachers to adopt goals around changing their practice. The findings of this study also confirm the high heterogeneity of teachers’ motivational states at this stage (farias et al., 2012): for some teachers in a state of self-doubt, pd occur during a window of motivational disengagement, where the acquisition of new knowledge clashes sharply with the reconstruction of job meaning. This situation, combined with that of other teachers in a proactive state, systematically offsets the impact of pd programs overall.
with regard to teacher nearing the end of their careers, brouhier et al. (2023) argue that their work resources and demands are in conflict with one another. This is because the field of education is characterized by the constant updating and evolution of knowledge; students’ heterogeneity, technological innovations, and the implementation of educational reform policies all place ongoing pressure on teachers nearing the end of their careers. The rapidly changing and increasingly demanding external environment undermines the health and work quality of these teachers.
7 implications and limitations
the main finding of this study is that professional development related to gifted education has a significant conditional impact on students’ cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal development, with the nature of this impact varying depending on the stage of the teacher’s life cycle. This provides both theoretical and practical insights for programs targeting gifted students and teacher professional development:
in terms of theoretical contributions, first, this study responds to the calls that have merged over the past decade or so to address the unique developmental needs of gifted students. For nearly a century, beginning with lewis terman, discussions about gifted students have focused solely on static outcomes in the single dimension of cognitive ability, with their non-cognitive or socio-emotional competencies were not only neglected but even deemed unnecessary. The root cause lies in teachers’ lack of professional understanding of the multidimension developmental needs of gifted students, which is also the core reason for the failure of differentiated instruction. Baccassino and pinnelli (2023) use the term “myth of happiness” to describe a common misconception among teachers regarding gifted students. This refers to teachers’ neglect of the sentimental complexity of gifted students and their mistaken belief that such students are always happy. The misconception like this obscures the genuine social–emotional and relational complexities present in gifted students. This study provides an empirical foundation for the 21st century skills framework to serve as a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of pd.
furthermore, this study advances the theory of teacher professional development stages from a descriptive framework of characteristics to a predictive, explanatory framework. A meta-analysis by scholars from harvard university and brown university, integrating 60 causal studies, note that effective professional development is individualized, time-intensive, sustained, context-specific, and focused on discrete skills (kraft et al., 2018). These studies attribute the effectiveness of pd to the design of the institutional environment, while the role of teachers remains ambiguous. In contrast, based on huberman’s classification of teacher life cycles, this study extends the theoretical significance from describing the characteristics of pd to explaining how teachers’ psychological states moderate the transfer of pd program effects.
regrading teaching practice, this study found that the effectiveness of professional development programs for gifted education teachers depends not only on the program design itself but also, to a large extent, on the degree of fit with the teachers as recipients: prioritizing the allocation of resource-intensive gifted education programs to teachers in the second (stabilization) and fourth (serenity/conservation) stages of their careers may enable the precise allocation of limited resources to high-efficiency recipients, thereby enhancing the overall return on investment in gifted education pd programs. As for teachers in the first stage (entry) of their careers, preparatory training should be design with gifted education as the core objective, rather than focusing on a comprehensive specialized knowledge system; for teachers in the third stage (active/self-doubt) of their careers, particularly those experiencing self-doubt, support should first be provided to help them redefine their professional purpose, followed by the gradual introduction of content related to gifted education; for teachers in the fifth stage (disengagement) of their careers, evaluations of pd programs should better distinguish between “impact on students” and “values to teachers”. Providing teachers in the final stage with more opportunities to participate in pd may enhance their professional well-being. In this way, this study established a comprehensive strategy for improving the efficient of resource allocation across teacher’s life cycle.
like all educational improvement models, this study faces certain insurmountable challenges. Although the causal inference within the model is grounded on a theoretical framework, more research could conduct measurements at different time points for further validity. Additionally, the findings in this study are primarily applicable to the secondary school level and require extension to other educational stages to verify. Furthermore, since the professional development of teachers in this study focused solely on the field of gifted education, its applicability to general education or other special education settings is limited.
statements
data availability statement
the raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
author contributions
xq: data curation, formal analysis, funding acquisition, methodology, software, visualization, writing – original draft. Gx: data curation, formal analysis, supervision, validation, writing – review & editing. Ll: conceptualization, funding acquisition, investigation, project administration, resources, supervision, writing – review & editing.
funding
the author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. This research was funded by national social science fund of china (grant number bia240122), and china scholarship council.
acknowledgments
special thanks to chao zhou from nanjing no.1 middle school for coordinating the data collection. Keer zhou and lei zhang discussed the theory with the authors and we appreciate their suggestions.
conflict of interest
the author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
generative ai statement
the author(s) declared that generative ai was not used in the creation of this manuscript.
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footnotes
1.^Reproduced with permission from the author, hong et al. (2006).
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sancarr.Atald.Deryakulud. (2021). A new framework for teachers’ professional development. Teach. Teach. Educ.101:103305. Doi: 10.1016/j.Tate.2021.103305
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sánchez-escobedop. A.Valdés-cuervoa. A.Contreras-oliverag. A.García-vázquezf. I.Durón-ramosm. F. (2020). Mexican teachers’ knowledge about gifted children: relation to teacher teaching experience and training. Sustainability12:4474. Doi: 10.3390/su12114474
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schooni. (2021). Towards an integrative taxonomy of social-emotional competences. Front. Psychol.12:515313. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.515313,
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shulmanl. S. (1986). Those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching. Educ. Res.15, 4–14. Doi: 10.3102/0013189x015002004
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silvermanl. K. (2012). Giftedness 101. New york, ny: springer publishing company.
46
simss.Fletcher-woodh.O’mara-evesa.Cottinghams.Stansfieldc.Goodrichj.Et al. (2023). Effective teacher professional development: new theory and a meta-analytic test. Rev. Educ. Res.95, 213–254. Doi: 10.3102/00346543231217480
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snowr. E. (1984). Toward a theory of cognitive aptitude for learning from instruction. J. Educ. Psychol.76, 347–376. Doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.76.3.347
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sternbergr. J. (1985). Beyond iq: a triarchic theory of human intelligence. New york: cambridge university press.
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subotnikr. F.Olszewski-kubiliusp.Worrellf. C. (2011). Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: a proposed direction forward based on psychological science. Psychol. Sci. Public interest12, 3–54. Doi: 10.1177/1529100611418056,
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sureshs. (2013). To tap the world’s vast and growing potential for new ideas, we need new rules. Sci. Am.309:60. Doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1013-60
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timperleyh.Wilsona.Barrarh.Fungi. (2007). Teacher professional learning and development: best evidence synthesis iteration (bes). Wellington, new zealand: ministry of education. Available online at:
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tomlinsonc. A.Allans. D. (2000). Leadership for differentiating schools and classrooms. Ascd: alexandria, va.
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van tassel-baskaj.Crosst. L.Olenchakf. R. (2021). Social-emotional curriculum with gifted and talented students. New york, ny: routledge.
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https://world-gifted.Org/professional-learning-global-principles.Pdf(accessed april 11, 2026).58
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summary
keywords
21st century skills, gifted education, heterogeneous treatment effects, propensity score stratification, propensity score weighting, teacher training
citation
qin x, xiao g and lv l (2026) which career cycle might facilitate students’ development following teachers’ gifted education training?. Front. Psychol. 17:1813855. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1813855
received
19 february 2026
revised
30 march 2026
accepted
02 april 2026
published
23 april 2026
volume
17 - 2026
edited by
alberto rocha, higher institute of educational sciences of the douro, portugal
reviewed by
ramón garcía perales, university of castilla-la mancha, spain
ana fuensanta hernandez ortiz, university of murcia, spain
updates
copyright
© 2026 qin, xiao and lv.
this is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license (cc by). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*correspondence: linhai lv, lvlinhai@nju.Edu.Cn
disclaimer
all claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. |
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| WATCH LIVE: Candidates for California governor take debate stage - NewsBreak |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (5 reads) | |
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By alix martichoux no media credit provided. ,
3 hours ago
(nexstar) – six candidates competing to lead the country’s most populous state will face off wednesday night in a debate hosted by nexstar.
the candidates arrived ahead of the 7 p.M. Pacific time at kron4 studios in san francisco, a sister station of this news outlet. We’ll be streaming the debate once it begins in the video player at the top of this story.
it’s a crowded field and a tight race that has been shaken up by the recent dropout of former rep. Eric swalwell, who resigned from office and suspended his campaign this month as sexual assualt allegations surfaced.
who is the frontrunner for governor of california? Here’s what polls say following swalwell’s resignation, nexstar media group and emerson college conducted a fresh poll to see which candidates would qualify for wednesday’s debate. In the end, six made the cut: two republicans – conservative commentator steve hilton and riverside county sheriff chad bianco – and four democrats, businessman and activist tom steyer, former health and human services secretary xavier becerra, former rep. Katie porter and san jose mayor matt mahan.
voters are looking for a breakout star from wednesday night. As many as a quarter of californians say they’re still undecided with six weeks left in the race.
in a strange twist of events for a deep blue state, some liberals fear that two republicans might advance to the general election. Heading into debate night, hilton and bianco were polling the highest, thanks to a crowded field splitting opinions on the left.
copyright 2026 nexstar media, inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to wane 15. |
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| Nicole Kidman Was So Sick She Almost Missed Filming - What She Did Next Left Her |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (5 reads) | |
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The oscar-winning actress refused to let a brutal flu derail a massive production day, stunning her costars with her fierce commitment.
nicole kidman has built a four-decade career on discipline and dedication — but even her most devoted fans might be floored by what she pulled off on the set of apple tv+’s newest hit, margo’s got money troubles.
the 58-year-old actress, who also serves as executive producer on the show, makes her debut as former pro wrestler lace in the april 22 episode. What viewers won’t see on screen is everything that happened behind the scenes that day — a story that her costar nick offerman says he won’t forget anytime soon.
a massive production day, a major problem
the cast and crew had prepared something big for kidman’s first day on set. Offerman, 55 — best known for playing ron swanson on parks & recreation — describes the setup as “a huge set piece” packed with hundreds of extras, stunt doubles, and professional wrestlers. The scene required kidman’s character, lace, to reunite with his character, jinx, at a wrestling fan convention attended by margo (played by elle fanning).
the logistics were elaborate. The energy was high. And then, around 8 a.M., The production received word that kidman had come down with the flu — and might not make it in at all.
“we’re getting warmed up, some of us are going to be performing some actual wrestling,” offerman told people. “And the word comes in that nicole has the flu, and we might not get nicole today.”
for a crew that had built an entire circus around a single shooting day, the news was a gut punch.
she showed up anyway
by 11 a.M., The word had changed: nicole was coming.
she arrived visibly unwell. Offerman described her as “so pale, shaken,” suffering from a severe flu that would have sent most people straight to bed. But kidman pushed through every shot, every take, every physical demand the scene placed on her — without cutting a single corner.
“she showed up and made sure that we got every shot,” offerman said, calling it “total superhero style.” According to him, the production didn’t lose “one scrap” of what they needed from her character.
the moment the cameras stopped rolling, kidman was taken directly to the hospital to receive an iv drip for dehydration and recovery.
“i already admired you so much,” offerman recalled telling her, “but this is how you get to be nicole kidman — you show up so that your show doesn’t lose a minute of your value. It was so generous. It was astonishing.”
related the devil wears prada 2 will transform newark on sept. 10 — here’s what locals should know
from terrified to “let’s go”
kidman’s commitment didn’t start on that difficult day — it began well before cameras ever rolled. She told people that she underwent wrestling training ahead of production, admitting she was initially “so scared about getting injured.”
but once she actually stepped into the ring, something clicked. “When i got in the ring, i just went, ‘okay, let’s go,” she said at the show’s new york city premiere on april 8. “Whenever i do something, i go, ‘okay, i’ve gotta be really careful,’ and then i just forget about any sort of protection in my body, and i go crazy.”
she was quick to give offerman credit for keeping her safe during the physically demanding scenes — saying he “had me covered” throughout. And she’s already eyeing more time in the squared circle. “I would love to do more wrestling,” she confessed.
offerman, for his part, admitted he “felt like a mouse” in the ring across from her — but called the whole experience “a treat.” His rhetorical question pretty much sums it up: “whoever thought that i would get beat up in a wrestling match by nicole kidman?”
about the show
margo’s got money troubles is adapted from rufi thorpe’s bestselling 2024 novel of the same name. The series premiered at the 2026 sxsw film & tv festival on march 12, 2026, and debuted its first three episodes on apple tv+ on april 15, 2026, with new episodes dropping weekly through may 20.
it currently holds a 96% approval rating on rotten tomatoes based on 55 critic reviews.
elle fanning leads the show as margo, a college dropout and aspiring writer navigating single motherhood, mounting debt, and an unexpected path to financial survival through an onlyfans account. Her estranged father jinx, played by offerman, shares wisdom drawn from his wrestling days to help her navigate the chaos. Michelle pfeiffer plays her mother, shyanne. The ensemble cast also includes marcia gay harden, greg kinnear, michael angarano, rico nasty, and lindsey normington.
this marks the fourth collaboration between creator david e. Kelley and nicole kidman, following big little lies (2017), the undoing (2020), and nine perfect strangers (2021).
new episodes of margo’s got money troubles drop every wednesday on apple tv+. |
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| California governor debate: Candidates tackle housing, homelessness, social medi |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (5 reads) | |
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By alix martichoux no media credit provided. ,
1 hours ago
(nexstar) – six candidates competing to lead the country’s most populous state faced off wednesday night in a debate hosted by nexstar.
it’s a crowded field and a tight race that has been shaken up by the recent dropout of former rep. Eric swalwell, who resigned from office and suspended his campaign this month as sexual assualt allegations surfaced.
who is the frontrunner for governor of california? Here’s what polls say following swalwell’s resignation, nexstar media group and emerson college conducted a fresh poll to see which candidates would qualify for wednesday’s debate. In the end, six made the cut: two republicans – conservative commentator steve hilton and riverside county sheriff chad bianco – and four democrats, businessman and activist tom steyer, former health and human services secretary xavier becerra, former rep. Katie porter and san jose mayor matt mahan.
the debate was largely substantive and focused on issues important to california voters , like the cost of housing, the gas tax and private insurers leaving the market following years of devastating wildfires.
with an estimated 187,000 people in california are experiencing homelessness, it’s no secret it’s a big issues in the golden state. A majority of californians believe the problem is staying the same or getting worse. All six candidates were pressed to give gov. Gavin newsom a letter grade for his performance on solving homelessness .
some more niche – but still important – issues also came up, such as kids’ and teenagers’ use of social media. Two candidates, steyer and becerra, said they’d support a ban on social media for all under 16.
voters went into wednesday night looking for a breakout star. As many as a quarter of californians said they were still undecided with six weeks left in the race.
in a strange twist of events for a deep blue state, some liberals fear that two republicans might advance to the general election. Heading into debate night, hilton and bianco were polling the highest, thanks to a crowded field splitting opinions on the left.
copyright 2026 nexstar media, inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to wane 15. |
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| 2026 Gives Michelle Pfeiffer The Best Chance At Her First Emmy |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (5 reads) | |
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Michelle pfeiffer’s prolific career has hit many milestones, but 2026 could finally bring her one surprising first. Since her onscreen debut in 1979, pfeiffer has built a reputation as one of the most fantastic hollywood actors out there. She has appeared across virtually every genre and has appeared in the marvel franchise as janet van dyke and the dc franchise as catwoman.
the actor’s impact simply cannot be understated. Pfeiffer won a woman in film award in 1993, a cinema icon award in 2012, and she has been inducted into the online film & television association’s hall of fame. She received a star on the hollywood walk of fame in 2007, and she was named woman of the year at the 2011 elle women in hollywood awards.
despite all these incredible accomplishments, she is missing two major awards from her resume. Michelle pfeiffer has won at the baftas, golden globes, and critics choice awards, but she has never received an oscar or an emmy. This year, she doesn’t have any movies coming out, so an oscar isn’t going to happen in the next award season.
however, apple tvs margo’s got money troubles could change everything for her on the emmy front. Online buzz has already started, with viewers discussing her potential to win awards for her performance as shyanne. Pfeiffer could absolutely succeed at the 78th primetime emmy awards on september 14, 2026. Plus, for the first time since 1981, she has double the chances of winning. This season, she also released the madison on paramount+.
michelle pfeiffer gives emmy-worthy performances in both margos got money troubles & the madison
both margo’s got money troubles and the madison gave michelle pfeiffer the opportunity to showcase her incredible emotional range, and margo’s got money troubles displayed her impressive comedic timing. Each proves why pfeiffer is considered a top-caliber actor and why she should have already earned an emmy.
reviews for the madison were extremely polarized, with an average critic rating of 6.4 out of 10 based on 47 reviews. However, pfeiffer’s incredible acting is the one point of consensus that stretches across the aisle. Even the most critical reviews describe her performance as “strong,” “exceptional,” and “powerhouse.”
pfeiffer overcame the limitations of the writing, giving a performance that could rightfully earn her an emmy. She brings an earnestness to her character, making her emotional moments more impactful. Her nuanced performance makes stacy feel like a real person with both strengths and flaws. I hate the show, and i would happily celebrate if she won an emmy for the role.
her more recent show, margo’s got money troubles, has overwhelmingly positive reviews, and pfeiffer’s acting is once again mentioned as a key strength, though her co-stars also get quite a bit of praise. Pfeiffer plays shyanne, one of the most nuanced characters in the show. The showrunner and production team knew that michelle pfeiffer was the only actor for the role.
shyanne tries to balance her new life as a pastors fiancée with her past life as a party animal and hooters waitress. She wasn’t thrilled about margo getting pregnant and having a baby, and she struggles to connect with her grandson, bodhi. That doesn’t change that she really cares about margo. She doesn’t want to help margo because she disapproves of her choices, but she will still yell at jinx for making margo’s life harder.
michelle pfeiffer is the perfect person to balance all these opposite sides of the character in margos got money troubles. The actor never flattens down shyanne, injecting the character with complexity. Her great comedic timing makes her the funniest person in almost every scene. It feels impossible to hate shyanne, no matter how much she makes ridiculous decisions.
pfeiffer’s incredible performance isn’t surprising, considering she connected deeply with the character from the start. She told time, “i know fullerton. I grew up in orange county. I know this woman. In some ways, i’ve been longing to play this part.” With two phenomenal performances from pfeiffer, she could easily get her first emmy during the next award season.
a 2026 emmy would make up for michelle pfeiffers past emmy snubs
because of how incredible the actress is, it’s genuinely shocking that michelle pfeiffer has never won an emmy. She may appear in movies more often than on tv, but she has given award-worthy performances in many tv shows and made-for-tv movies.
her only emmy recognition is a 2017 nomination for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie for her performance as ruth madoff in the wizard of lies. Looking back, her not winning the award is frustrating since every other nomination was a limited series that went on to get another season. Plus, she gave a compelling enough performance to earn that emmy.
she was also overlooked for her roles in delta house, the children nobody wanted, and callie & son. All of those included top-notch performances. However, the most egregious snub is when she didn’t get a nomination, let alone an emmy, for her performance as betty ford in the 2022 show the first lady. Ultimately, michelle pfeiffer deserves to finally gain recognition at the emmys for her incredible acting prowess, and 2026 could very well be her year.
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your comment has not been saved
margos got money troubles- release date
- 2026 - 2026-00-00
- network
- apple tv
cast
-
elle fanningmargo millet
-
lace
margos got money troubles follows the journey of margo, a college dropout and aspiring writer, grappling with financial woes. As the daughter of a former waitress and ex-pro wrestler, she navigates the challenges of raising a new baby amidst mounting bills, seeking solutions to secure their future.
- main genre
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drama - creator(s)
- david e. Kelley
- executive producer(s)
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brittany kahan ward, checka propper, dakota fanning, david e. Kelley, dearbhla walsh, elle fanning, eva anderson, matthew tinker,
nicole kidman, per saari, rufi thorpe, sam french, michelle pfeiffer, boo killebrew - seasons
- 1
-
your comment has not been saved
the madison- release date
- march 14, 2026
- network
- paramount network
cast
-
michelle pfeifferstacy clyburn
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patrick j. Adamsrussell mcintosh
the madison is a heartfelt examination of grief and human connection, centering on a new york city family navigating personal struggles in the madison river valley of central montana.
- main genre
-
drama - creator(s)
- taylor sheridan
- executive producer(s)
- art linson, bob yari, david glasser, david hutkin, john linson, michelle pfeiffer, ron burkle, taylor sheridan, christina alexandra voros, michael friedman
- seasons
- 1 |
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| A new chapter for a big grocer |
| Posted on Thursday, April 23 @ 00:02:20 PDT (5 reads) | |
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On april 15, los gatos welcomed its latest supermarket, a brand new whole foods, a couple blocks north of its previous location on the corner of los gatos boulevard and los gatos almaden road.
the much larger location is at the site of a former chevrolet dealership—a casualty of the 2008 recession. It’s situated next to the tesla sales and service center, which opened last year.
two blocks down, twice the size
the 15650 los gatos blvd. Address was developed by sand hill property company as part of an eight-figure deal. For 32 years, the previous whole foods served as a primary grocer to many local residents. Los gatos is a suburban town, where couples come to raise their children, in large part due to a reputation for excellent schools. But finding a grocery story that is reliable and familiar—and with high-quality merchandise—is a key ingredient for that lifestyle.
even though the whole foods just moved up the street, the interior tells a totally new tale. Customers will be walking through a 43,000 square foot structure—twice the size of the previous space.
past and present
famously, john mackey (a college dropout) and renee lawson (hardy), 21, borrowed $45,000 to kick-off their journey with a small natural foods store in austin, texas, called saferway.
the original whole foods market started in 1980 (it was 10,500 square feet).
by 1989, it expanded to the west coast with a store in palo alto. In 1994 whole foods staked its claim in los gatos.
then, in august 2017, amazon purchased the corporation for $13.7 billion.
since then, whole foods has added thousands of brands to their offerings. The new los gatos location will feature an assortment of more than 2,000 local items (meaning from california-based suppliers).
sheila reno is a manager and co-owner at the los gatos cafe across the street from the latest whole foods. Reno has been at the cafe since before whole foods even arrived in the bay area. She’s quite excited about the local opening.
“it’s very beautiful,” she said. “I’m excited for them. And it’s nice that it’s right across the street. I think it’s good, because it will offer more options, like organic or specialty products.”
and what about whole foods’ former home?
the rite aid next door closed—and is now in the midst of transforming into a club fitness, according to the los gatos town facebook page. Sure there are rumors about what might take the place of the old whole foods. However, there are no official announcements just yet.
in an image from 1967, archived in the los gatos library’s collection, the cornerstone shopping center is visible at the intersection of los gatos boulevard and blossom hill road. This quaint photograph is a reminder that change is inevitable, and oftentimes for the better.
you can stop by the new whole foods at 15650 los gatos blvd. During its operating hours from 8am-10pm daily. |
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| Sports in Marin: Wednesday, Thursday |
| Posted on Wednesday, April 22 @ 00:01:43 PDT (11 reads) | |
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Wednesday’s local events prep baseball san domenico vs. Urban, 3:30 p.M., San francisco
marin academy vs. Lick-wilmerding, 4 p.M., Skyline college
boys golf san marin vs. Tam, 4 p.M., Mill valley gc
men’s golf dominican at pacwest championship, all day, las vegas
women’s golf dominican at pacwest championship, all day, las vegas
boys lacrosse head-royce at marin academy, 3:30 p.M., San rafael
girls lacrosse bishop o’dowd at branson, 4 p.M., Ross
prep softball archie williams at novato, 4:30 p.M., Novato
tam at terra linda, 4:30 p.M., Terra linda hs
marin catholic at redwood, 4:30 p.M., Larkspur
san marin at san rafael, 4:30 p.M., San rafael
prep swimming san domenico vs. Jewish school, university, 4 p.M., San francisco
boys tennis bcl quarterfinal: san domenico vs. Marin academy, 3:30 p.M., Dominican
thursday’s local events prep badminton san domenico at international, 4 p.M., San francisco
college baseball napa valley at marin, 2 p.M., Kentfield
boys golf san rafael vs. Novato, 3 p.M., Marin country club
marin academy vs. Drew, 3:30 p.M., Presidio gc
redwood vs. Archie williams, 4 p.M., Meadow club
branson vs. Terra linda, 4 p.M., Mcinnis park
men’s golf dominican at pacwest championship, all day, las vegas
women’s golf dominican at pacwest championship, all day, las vegas
boys lacrosse san marin at redwood, 4 p.M., Larkspur
san rafael at tam, 4 p.M., Mill valley
university at terra linda, 4 p.M., Terra linda hs
girls lacrosse lick-wilmerding at marin academy, 3:30 p.M., San rafael
archie williams at novato, 4:30 p.M., Novato
branson at marin catholic, 6 p.M., Kentfield
redwood at san marin, 6:30 p.M., San marin hs
tam at san rafael, 7 p.M., San rafael
college softball dominican at menlo (dh), noon, atherton
prep softball rancho cotate at redwood, 4:30 p.M., Larkspur
sonoma valley at archie williams, 4:30 p.M., San anselmo
san marin at terra linda, 4:30 p.M., Terra linda
prep swimming drew, urban at marin academy, 4 p.M., San rafael
boys tennis archie williams vs. Branson, 4 p.M., Com
redwood vs. Marin catholic, 4 p.M., Ross valley bay club
san marin vs. San rafael, 4 p.M., Terra linda hs
terra linda at novato, 4 p.M., Novato
college track and field dominican at pacwest championships, all day, san diego
boys volleyball novato at marin catholic, 5 p.M., Kentfield
terra linda at archie williams, 5 p.M., San anselmo
tam vs. San rafael, 5 p.M., Terra linda hs
redwood at san marin, 5:30 p.M., San marin hs |
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| Center For Family Health Jackson County Scoreboard - April 21st, 2026 | JTV |
| Posted on Wednesday, April 22 @ 00:01:43 PDT (12 reads) | |
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Girls soccer madison heights bishop foley at lumen christi. Photo by hannah tacy, jtv sports
baseball
concord 12, stockbridge 1: nate fritz batted 3-4 to lead the yellowjackets. Three other players added two hits, and gavin riske earned the pitching win with seven strikeouts.
concord 13, stockbridge 3: nate fritz, colton gray, and adam miller each batted two hits for concord. Chs improves to 4-7 overall.
(3 inn.) Marshall 3, parma western 2: the game was delayed in the 3rd inning due to rain.
(4 inn.) Springport 4, union city 1: the game was delayed in the 4th inning due to rain.
(3 inn.) Hastings 9, northwest 8: the game was delayed in the 3rd inning due to rain.
lansing cc 9, jackson college 0
softball
stockbridge 9, concord 2
stockbridge 15, concord 0
spring arbor univ. 8, goshen 0
spring arbor univ. 15, goshen 4
lumen christi 10, gpw liggett 6: lily ganton drove in four runs on two hits to help lead the titans in game one. Mallory arcaro batted 3-4, and alison furnas batted 2-4 with an rbi.
lumen christi 10, gpw liggett 4: alison furnas batted 3-4 with an rbi to lead the titans to a sweep. Bree okoniewski earned the pitching win, throwing five strikeouts and allowed one hit. Lc improves to 8-2 overall.
(4 inn.) Springport 0, union city 0: the game was delayed in the 4th inning due to rain.
(4 inn.) Hastings 3, northwest 1: the game was delayed in the 4th inning due to rain.
(2 inn.) Marshall 6, parma western 3: the game was delayed in the 2nd inning due to rain.
boys golf
cascades jamboree at hankerd hills gc:
1st: parker gough, columbia central (39)
2nd: adam senkewitz, columbia central (41)
3rd: ayden boyk, hanover horton (42)
t-4th: cam pasch, leslie; lucas schwartz, addison (43)
cascades jamboree at ella sharp park gc:
1st: lucas conaway, napoleon (40)
2nd: damian falls, napoleon (41)
3rd: cayne hays, michigan center (43)
t-4th: gavin davis, napoleon; gavin lewallen, homer; jack sturgill & cole trumper, jonesville (45)
dexter, aa huron at jackson:
2nd: brayden norton, jackson (39)
t-4th: ethan haldane & leo nguyen, jackson (41)
big 8 jamboree at timber trace gc:
1st: maximilian argumedo, springport (39)
2nd: jax sergent, quincy (40)
t-3rd: brody baum, springport; brady garrett, concord (42)
t-5th: eli worth, springport; john ransom & wyatt loso, stockbridge (43)
cascades boys golf jamboree at hankerd hills gc. Photo by joseph miller, jtv sports
track & field
coldwater at northwest: the meet was delayed due to rain. Results from completed events here
hastings at western: the panthers dominated in the boys race, and the girls just edged out the saxons by a team score of 69-68. Full results here
leslie, east jackson at napoleon: leslie defeated both napoleon and ej, and the pirates defeated ej in the boys race. The host pirates defeated both opponents in the girls race. Full results here
jackson at chelsea: chelsea defeated the vikings in both the boys and girls races. Full results here
track & field grass lake, hanover horton at michigan center. Photo by kelly evans, jtv sports
on deck – wednesday april 22nd
baseball
columbia central at manchester 4pm
hanover horton at michigan center 4pm
vandercook lake at east jackson 4pm
jonesville at grass lake 4pm
homer at napoleon 4pm
jackson at ypsilanti community 4:30pm
lumen christi at chelsea 4:30pm
softball
columbia central at manchester 4pm
hanover horton at michigan center 4pm
vandercook lake at east jackson 4pm
jonesville at grass lake 4pm
homer at napoleon 4pm
girls soccer
springport at stockbridge 5:30pm
manchester at columbia central 5:30pm
leslie at grass lake 5:30pm
jonesville at michigan center 5:30pm
hanover horton at napoleon 5:30pm
northwest at jackson christian 5:30pm
jackson at tecumseh 5:30pm
coldwater at parma western 6:30pm
track & field
big 8 tri-meet at springport 4:30pm
lacrosse
kalamazoo central at jackson united (lumen christi hs) 6pm |
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| Lenco president passes the torch to a new leader |
| Posted on Wednesday, April 22 @ 00:01:43 PDT (11 reads) | |
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Adrian — although lenco credit union is 56 years old this year, only two people have ever served as its president and ceo.
now a third person is joining those ranks, as longtime leader ben neal prepares to retire and hand over the reins to fran brant.
neal started working at the credit union in 1985, not long after graduating from college. He became president about a decade ago upon the retirement of david chambers.
he has seen a lot of growth since he started working at lenco. The credit union’s assets have expanded from $4 million in 1985 to $143 million today. Membership has grown as well — both in terms of numbers and in terms of who can join. Lenco was originally founded to serve teachers, but a little over 25 years ago, the national credit union administration — the federal agency that regulates credit unions — made it easier to form community charters. Now it’s open to anyone who lives, works, worships, or attends school in lenawee, hillsdale, jackson, monroe or washtenaw counties.
services have expanded as well; for example, the credit union started offering mortgages about a decade ago.
and there have been plenty of other changes. Most notably, although the credit union did have computers in 1985, the technology was in its infancy.
“we were writing receipts and then entering the information into people’s accounts,” neal said.
reflecting on his four decades with the credit union, neal said: “it’s been a privilege to serve the members. It’s been made simple by a very good board that i’ve served under over the years, mentoring by a good friend and former ceo, dave chambers, and also made easy by the tremendous staffs i’ve had over the years.”
neal’s successor is a lifelong lenawee county resident, having grown up at devils lake and attended addison community schools. Brant has lived in adrian since a few years after graduating from eastern michigan university.
brant has about 30 years of experience in financial services, having started out working in banks. She joined lenco in 2024 as vice president of consumer lending. She said she aims to have a “member-first” approach as president and ceo.
“i just am a strong believer in giving back to our community,” she said.
she aims to continue keeping pace with technology, noting as one example that the credit union has added support for digital wallets. A new website is coming soon as well.
brant’s children attended madison schools, and she has served with numerous organizations including the lenawee county association of realtors, catherine cobb shelter, zonta of lenawee, habitat for humanity, the boys and girls club, and catholic charities. |
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| MassLiveHS Scoreboard: Check out all the scores from April 21 |
| Posted on Wednesday, April 22 @ 00:01:43 PDT (11 reads) | |
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Note: scoreboards are based on results sent to masslive. If a result is missing, coaches should email sports@masslive.Com.
boys volleyball
tuesday, apr. 21
catholic conference
chelmsford high school 3, saint johns high school (shrewsbury) 0 - box score
east
southwick regional school 3, chicopee high school 0 - box score
pioneer valley christian academy 3, east longmeadow high school 0 - box score
sci-tech high school 3, ludlow high school 0 - box score
south
southwick regional school 3, chicopee high school 0 - box score
pioneer valley christian academy 3, east longmeadow high school 0 - box score
sci-tech high school 3, ludlow high school 0 - box score
independent
chelmsford high school 3, saint johns high school (shrewsbury) 0 - box score
boys tennis
tuesday, apr. 21
pioneer
west springfield high school 4, chicopee comp high school 1 - box score
tri-county
palmer high school 2, springfield central high school 1 - box score
girls tennis
tuesday, apr. 21
pioneer
pope francis prep school 3, palmer high school 2 - box score
valley league
amherst-pelham reg high school 5, belchertown high school 0 - box score
boys lacrosse
tuesday, apr. 21
bay state - herget
walpole high school 14, needham high school 8 - box score
catholic conference
minnechaug regional high school 11, saint johns high school (shrewsbury) 8 - box score
xaverian 15, catholic memorial school 4 - box score
staples 4, st. Johns prep 3 - box score
pioneer league
pittsfield high school 19, belchertown high school 6 - box score
suburban league
mount greylock regional school 15, monson high school 3 - box score
valley league
pope francis prep school 13, algonquin regional high school 10 - box score
valley wheel
minnechaug regional high school 11, saint johns high school (shrewsbury) 8 - box score
independent
pope francis prep school 13, algonquin regional high school 10 - box score
staples 4, st. Johns prep 3 - box score
girls lacrosse
tuesday, apr. 21
bay state - carey
natick high school 17, mansfield high school 3 - box score
pioneer league
amherst-pelham reg high school 15, belchertown high school 1 - box score
valley league
amherst-pelham reg high school 15, belchertown high school 1 - box score
valley wheel
west springfield high school 11, wachusett regional high school 8 - box score
algonquin regional high school 15, agawam high school 7 - box score
independent
west springfield high school 11, wachusett regional high school 8 - box score
algonquin regional high school 15, agawam high school 7 - box score
natick high school 17, mansfield high school 3 - box score
baseball
tuesday, apr. 21
bay state - herget
needham high school 3, st. Johns prep 2 - box score
walpole high school 7, westwood high school 2 - box score
hingham high school 4, braintree high school 3 - box score
milton high school 7, attleboro high school 1 - box score
bi-county north
chicopee high school 23, ware jr./Sr. High school 0 - box score
catholic conference
needham high school 3, st. Johns prep 2 - box score
franklin high school 3, catholic memorial school 2 - box score
xaverian 3, taunton high school 2 - box score
boston college high school 2, chelmsford high school 1 - box score
suburban west
chicopee high school 23, ware jr./Sr. High school 0 - box score
tri-county north
smith voc. High school 18, sci-tech high school 4 - box score
mccann technical high school 5, pathfinder tech 2 - box score
westfield technical academy 22, palmer high school 3 - box score
tri-county south
smith voc. High school 18, sci-tech high school 4 - box score
gateway regional high school 14, smith academy 4 - box score
lee middle/high school 27, high school of commerce 10 - box score
putnam voc/tech high school 2, libertas academy charter school 1 - box score
valley east
east longmeadow high school 13, belchertown high school 3 - box score
independent
franklin high school 3, catholic memorial school 2 - box score
xaverian 3, taunton high school 2 - box score
boston college high school 2, chelmsford high school 1 - box score
walpole high school 7, westwood high school 2 - box score
hingham high school 4, braintree high school 3 - box score
milton high school 7, attleboro high school 1 - box score
softball
tuesday, apr. 21
franklin east
blackstone valley regional voc/tech high school 14, franklin county tech. School 1 - box score
franklin west
mount everett regional high school 27, housatonic valley (ct) 13 - box score
suburban east
granby jr./Sr. High school 21, chicopee comp high school 12 - box score
chicopee high school 23, ware jr./Sr. High school 0 - box score
springfield international charter school 4, pathfinder tech 2 - box score
suburban west
hoosac valley middle/high school 24, taconic high school 12 - box score
wahconah regional high school 13, mount greylock regional school 4 - box score
valley wheel
mccann technical high school 18, lee middle/high school 0 - box score
mccann technical high school 20, lee middle/high school 1 - box score
pioneer valley regional high school 7, mohawk trail regional middle/high school 4 - box score
independent
blackstone valley regional voc/tech high school 14, franklin county tech. School 1 - box score
mount everett regional high school 27, housatonic valley (ct) 13 - box score |
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