A History of American Gifted Education provides the first comprehensive history of the field of gifted education, which is essential to recognizing its contribution to the overall American educational landscape.

Section 1 Chapter 1: The Foundational Underpinnings of a Field Chapter 2: Early Empirical Influence, High Ability, and Individual Difference Chapter 3: A New Psychology Chapter 4: Individual Difference and Its Measurement Chapter 5: The Proliferation of Psychological Study Chapter 6: Progressive Era of Education Section 2 Chapter 7: A Field of Their Own Chapter 8: Preliminary Studies of High Ability and Eminence Chapter 9: Staggered Attempts at Meeting the Educational Needs of Bright Children Chapter 10: Father of Gifted Education Chapter 11: Mother of Gifted Education Chapter 12: The Residue of Eugenics Chapter 13: Challenging the Status Quo Section 3 by Jennifer L. Jolly and Jennifer H. Robins Chapter 14: The Growth of Gifted Education Chapter 15: Legislative Initiatives Chapter 16: Technology and Science Driven Reform: Searching for Talent Chapter 17: Identification, Educational Practices, and Considerations Chapter 18: Recognizing the Need and Establishing Advocacy Organizations Chapter 19: Creativity as an Empirical Investigation Section 4 Chapter 20: Building and Sustaining Capacity Chapter 21: Continued Growth, Creativity Research, and Implementation Chapter 22: The Marland Report Chapter 23: Capacity Building Chapter 24: Acknowledged Neglect and Competing Priorities Chapter 25: Gifted Education's Failings: Underserved Populations Chapter 26: Competing Conceptions and Definitions of Giftedness