Purpose:This study explores the contributions and effectiveness of the Jockey Club "Giftedness into Flourishing Talents" Project (Project GIFT) in supporting learner diversity in gifted education, including meeting the educational and psychological needs of highly capable and gifted students in Hong Kong.Design/Approach/Methods:This study investigates the effectiveness of Project GIFT in supporting the development of diversity in learning in 20 project schools. Through close cooperation with project schools, Project GIFT comprised six developmental areas: school development, curriculum development, teachers' professional development, parent empowerment, student development, and financial support. To further assess the usefulness of the school-based support provided by Project GIFT, this study examines the implementation of school-based gifted education in two project schools based on the aforementioned components.Findings:This study reveals Project GIFT's significant role in promoting school-based gifted education in Hong Kong schools. Indeed, it was the first cross-institutional and research-based educational program in gifted education that intervened at both Level 1 (whole class) and Level 2 (pullout) of the three-tiered policy stipulated by the Hong Kong Education Bureau. One of the few gifted education programs implemented in Asia, Project GIFT focused on six key components to specifically support high-ability and gifted students with diverse educational and affective needs. This study shows that Project GIFT significantly enhanced diversity in learning, its collaboration with two key schools resulting in the successful enhancement of school development, professional development, curriculum development, student development, parent empowerment, and financial support.Originality/Value:The article fills the research gap by examining the effectiveness of a school-based gifted education program focused on enriching and differentiating curricula for different regular

香港的教育及課程改革要求學校進行各層面的變化去配合社會需要，主流及特殊學校都積極在主流的基礎課程上進行學校本位課程發展的工作，校本課程發展無可避免為學校執行「個別化教育計劃」帶來了有系統的改變；學校亦要進行有步驟的教師培訓去提升教師的專業能力及賦權教師推動校本課程及對特殊教育需要的支援。本文描述兩間收取中度智障學生的特殊學校，如何按部就班地重整課程及發展學習階段性課程為本的基線評估去匡監察學生進度。其中並討論所涉及以行動取向研究歷程的各種改變元素，從而確立了一整個實施課程及「個別化教育計劃」的行政體系，使未來的檢視及發展工作有一個清晰的流程及行政管理系統去跟進，是值得持續推動及推廣的一個特殊學校發展系統，並提出對校本及中央課程發展政策的一些反思及啟示。 With the urge for school changes to meet the new societal demands by both the education and curriculum reform in Hong Kong, both mainstream and special schools are active in adopting the mainstream curriculum as the basis for their school-based development. School-based curriculum development will inevitably call for systemic changes on the implementation of the Individualised Education Program (IEP) of the students with special educational needs within these schools. Coupled with these changes will be the need for stepwise professional development to empower teachers with the professional competence to implement both the school-based curriculum and support measures for special needs. The paper provides an account of the process through which two special schools for moderately mentally handicapped children restructured their school curriculun and developed key stage wise and curriculum-based baseline assessment procedures for monitoring the progress of learning of their students. The various elements being involved with the school-based curriculum development process using action-oriented research as the guiding approach for its development were discussed. The project generated a clear flow process for implementing IEP and a comprehensive administrative system for further follow up and evaluation of the curriculum development process. Implications for further development work on school-based curriculum and the policy for central curriculum framework to support special needs were discussed.
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Background: Collaborative Action Research has been a popular form of research method conducted by the BEd (Hons) in-service and pre-service students studying the early childhood education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise of the collaborative action research by these novice teachers in this form of research methods, they could be benefited by an understanding on how they might develop a genuine school-based curriculum for an educational change in their schools. Aims: This paper aimed to provide guidelines on how to conduct a Collaborative Action Research for facilitating school-based Curriculum Development by theory and practise. A case study on how to carry out a collaborative action research is quoted for reference of those who would conduct this kind of research for the first time. The insertion of this case study is to highlight the meaning of 'collaborative' in an action research; it is not suffice to provide chances for teachers to voice out their opinions. What needs more to be done is to incorporate voices of teachers when formulating the plan in next action research cycle. With a thorough understanding of the theory and practise underpinned the Collaborative action research, it is anticipated that the novice teachers would gain in knowledge of what a "child-centred" curriculum and its pedagogic application would be like. In view of the variation in practices among today's teacher researchers, the theoretical and philosophical perspectives of Action Research will be reviewed to inform practitioners of the historical roots of their practise. What has been mentioned by Coulter (2002) as the essence of what constituting an authentic education "action' research would be revisited. Arguments: Allied with Coulter's argument in his What Counts as Action in Educational Action Research (2002), the author of this paper is keen to reiterate the differentiation of the three forms of Action research. In order