"There are up to 85,000 gifted students in the Victorian schools. At present these kids are neglected by a system that largely assumes that all students learn at the same rate and in the same way. The evidence presented to this Inquiry paints a highly unsatisfactory picture of students whose significant potential to excel is often not even identified let alone nurtured. These students are frequently frustrated and disengaged. And rightfully so: they are being let down by the education system. These neglected students represent our state's future visionaries and innovators. We owe it to our society as well as to ourselves to give these students the most challenging and stimulating education possible. This report provides a vision through which these problems can be addressed. It proposes a coordinated approach to gifted education which recognises and develops the gifts of every student. Key recommendations include a state-wide gifted education policy, the use of technology to provide extended learning opportunities for gifted students, increased education, training and support for teachers, and greatly enhanced support for gifted students and their families."--Chair's foreword, p. xxi.