Current status of gifted education in Saudi Arabia

Correspondence Heuristic and Filter-Empowerment Heuristic: Investigating the Reversed Gender Achievement Gap in a Sample of Secondary School Students in Saudi Arabia within the Framework of Educational and Learning Capital

“…On the other hand, however, students can also actively seek out potential learning environments rich in educational capital on the basis of their learning capital and use them more or less effectively based on their own learning capital. This process, shown schematically in Figure 1, has already been used successfully both to analyze achievement trends in Arab countries [73] and specifically in the KSA [74] as well as to analyze gender differences [75,76].…”

Exploring Gifted Secondary School Students’ Needs for English Learning in Saudi Arabia

“…"The course does not provide extracurricular activities" and "Feeling bored in English class because they already know the information presented" are rated by gifted secondary school students as top difficulties they face while studying the language. These results are supported by Alfaiz et al (2022), who highlighted the significance of enrichment for GSs, and Alamar (2014), who asserted that GSs could not be expected to expand their talents if the curriculum does not give them adequate knowledge related to their needs. Thus, it can be indicated that one of the significant problems in language learning is the ignorance of the differences between GSs and other students, which may lead to severe consequences.…”

“…According to Alfaiz, Alfaid and Aljughaiman (2022), the Saudi GSs can fruitfully benefit from several of Mawhiba's programs and services including: (1) enrichment programs, (2) abroad summer enrichment focusing on STEM, (3) limited self-contained classroom program in which GSs are taught regular curricula and then received extracurricular focused mainly on STEM, (4) pull out program that promotes thinking strategies and personal skills, (5) evening and Saturday program for GSs who does not receive services in their schools to nurture them, (6) there are 91 GE centers around Saudi Arabia (41 for males and 50 for females) focusing on creative problem solving and research skills programs, (7) limited intermediate and high gifted schools, (8) mentorship program to connect GSs (15-18 years) with distinguished supervisors (mostly faculty members) to develop students' abilities and skills based on their interests and to develop their scientific research skills and problem-solving strategies, to prepare the students to participate in the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity, (9) national and international Olympiads and competitions program through intensive training to honorably represent the country, and (10) acceleration twice during their journey in the general education system from grade 4th to 5th and/or from grade 7 th to 8 th , finally (11) professional development workshops for teachers.…”

Do Saudi Arabian Educational Policies Determine the Promotion of Creativity with Gifted Students?

“…Despite the need to promote creativity with gifted students and making that a priority in educational reforms in many countries, the evaluation of educational policies related to gifted education is still rare [15]. Although there has been some research conducted on Saudi Arabia in gifted education [16][17][18][19], there is a dearth of exploratory research focused on exploring promoting creativity among gifted students from a policy perspective. Despite Saudi Arabia pioneering some initiatives to nurture giftedness, these efforts need to be reviewed and developed to keep pace with the latest trends to enhance giftedness and creativity and to meet the increasing needs of gifted students, their interests and motives [20].…”

“…The study concluded that "future evaluations of the Saudi gifted education system should begin with a clearer understanding of the policy from a variety of sources that include policy documents" (p. 38). Alfaiz et al's [19] study aimed at examining the current reality of gifted education in Saudi Arabia by analysing documents along with questionnaires filled out by teachers and policymakers from the MoE in Saudi Arabia. The documents analysed, however, were annual reports issued by the Ministry of Education, paperwork outlining procedures, and data from websites, rather than the MoE's actual policy documents.…”