Brazilian and American Educational Policies to Assist Gifted Students

This paper has the objective to analyze educational policies in Brazil and in the United States to assist gifted students. It also defines the concept of giftedness and presents the role of Special Education in this context. It reports on pre-established concepts and rooted myths in society involving these students and their need for a specialized service to meet their special educational needs. It also reports on the types of services that are currently available for these students' education. This essay is based on document analysis and discussion of data obtained from specific literature about gifted students. The results indicate that American policies do not determine how actions should be implemented, but only indicate the need for meeting them. While in Brazil, policies not only determine which actions should be taken, but also indicate how they should be carried out. Specialized service, advocated by the legislation, favors the teaching of gifted students based on specific activities differentiated and targeted to their domain area. It enables the expansion of these students' knowledge providing conditions for a more effective development of their studies assisting their special educational needs.

KEYWORDS:
Special Education; Educational Policies; Gifted/Talented