Pittsburgh wasn’t just the host of the annual conference of the National Association of Gifted Children. The city is a working laboratory of shifting trends and wisdom when it comes gifted education – terminology that itself was up for debate at the three-day gathering of educators at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

Gifted is “a loaded word,” acknowledged Catherine Little, the organization’s president and a professor of giftedness, creativity and talent development at the University of Connecticut.

Some in the field would like to call it advanced learning.

“It’s something we’re conscious of,” Ms. Little said, and it’s something that comes up a lot in the context of balancing the needs of all students — those who need an extra challenge, extra support, or both.

The Pittsburgh e

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