Parenting for High Potential Magazine - NAGC

National Association for Gifted Children
1707 L Street, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 785-4268
www.nagc.org
Parenting for High Potential Magazine
Editor Search
SUMMARY
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) seeks an Editor to develop and produce a quarterly,
four-color magazine for NAGC parent members, parent advocates, state affiliate parent members, and
subscribers, beginning with the March 2008 issue and continuing for a three-year contract.
BACKGROUND
The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) publishes Parenting for High Potential (PHP), a
magazine for parents and grandparents of gifted and talented children. PHP assists parents in
recognizing the gifts and talents in their children and aids them in developing their child’s full potential.
NAGC believes that all children should have an opportunity to reach their full potential and that to achieve
this goal, their parents and caregivers must be fully involved both at home and in school.
QUALIFICATIONS
The Editor must demonstrate knowledge of gifted learners and gifted education, with prior editing
experience also required. Background in publishing books or magazines designed to provide information
to parents is preferred. Candidate must also demonstrate knowledge of education issues and an
appreciation for the differing needs of high-ability children. The Editor must be prepared to devote
adequate time to solicit articles as well as work with authors, the PHP editorial board, and the graphic
artist to ensure a high-quality magazine.
CURRENT MAGAZINE SPECIFICATIONS AND CONTENT
Parenting for High Potential is currently printed as a 4-color 32 page magazine in an 8-½ x 11 format. It is
published four times per year (March, June, September, December), and circulated to all current NAGC
parent members, subscribers, teacher members, and others who elect to receive it in addition to NAGC’s
academic journal.
Parenting for High Potential content focuses on augmenting learning and potential at home and in school
through in-depth articles and sub-feature pieces, interviews, news items, product reviews, reader
participation (e.g., reader polls, letters to the editor), comic relief in the form of cartoons, and a section for
family activities. The September issue contains an annual holiday toy list of educational games, puzzles,
and toys.
Parenting for High Potential provides practical strategies and relevant support for parents to assist their
children to achieve in a complicated world. The magazine contains general and detailed articles on
parenting; information on resources for challenging a child’s development academically, creatively, and
artistically; reviews of books and other educational materials that may be used in the home by parents
and children; and outside resources on testing, counseling and guidance, and summer programs. PHP
assists parents in effectively communicating with the child’s teachers and school, and provides
information on networking opportunities with other parents of gifted and talented children through state
and local organizations. The magazine also includes a column by the NAGC President pertaining to
current issues in education. PHP has featured guest editorials, interviews, and articles by well-known
individuals with information to share on parenting and education.
Advertising, to be solicited by NAGC, should relate to the parent audience and be consistent with NAGC’s
mission.

POTENTIAL / INTENDED AUDIENCE
Parenting for High Potential should be most relevant to parents of children with high ability in grades pre-
K-8 with occasional additional information for grades 9-12 regarding counseling, testing, college
preparation, advanced placement, and other topics of interest. PHP conveys new information to parents
that is sufficient for them to assess whether the schools are providing a challenging and appropriate
education to their children.
Parents who wish to take an active role in developing the gifts and talents in their children look to NAGC
to provide a breadth of resources and content to assist them. There is an increasing need to provide
parents with information on the NAGC website for speedy retrieval, which may have an impact on the
focus and content for future issues of PHP. The Editor will need to develop strategies to connect PHP to
the content on the NAGC website and vice versa to be responsive to the parent audience. In addition,
PHP provides advocacy information, stories from the trenches, and ideas for being a more supportive and
effective parent advocate on behalf of both gifted children and gifted services. NAGC considers PHP’s
potential market to be all parents and those who provide information to parents, including pediatricians,
teachers, librarians, and guidance counselors. The articles should be family centered or child centered
so that parents “recognize” their child in the examples and stories and can relate to others’ experiences.
Although most articles are written to guide the parents and grandparents of highly able children, some
percentage of articles may be differentiated for siblings who may vary in their abilities.
EDITORIAL CONTROL
The Editor will be responsible for the daily editorial decisions, but will work in concert with the NAGC
Association Editor and the national office to ensure that the magazine reflects the priorities and direction
of NAGC. PHP has its own Editorial Advisory Board to ensure that NAGC policy and magazine content
are consistent. Further, the Editor works closely with the NAGC national office to identify strategies for
enhancing parent membership and increasing circulation. Review of PHP editorial material will be on a
predetermined schedule that allows four weeks for the PHP Advisory Board to review the contents of
each issue and to consult with the Editor on any concerns.
LICENSING
The title, the magazine, and all production rights and trademarks are the property of the National
Association for Gifted Children. The copyright page will contain a disclaimer noting that the views
contained in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of NAGC and its Board of Directors.
DEVELOPMENT, PRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
Anticipated production and distribution of the magazine each year is approximately 20,000 total copies,
including mailing to 3500 members per issue. NAGC maintains the mailing list to be used for each issue
of the magazine.
The NAGC national office will contract separately with a publisher and graphic artist to produce the
magazine. The national office will consult with the Editor on the selection of a graphic artist and/or
publisher.
The issues of the magazine covered by the contract are the March 2008 issue (to be mailed on or before
March 1, 2008) through and including the December 2010 (to be mailed on or before December 1, 2010.
DUTIES OF THE EDITOR
General
Coordinate all aspects of the magazine’s publication, including developing the content; identify and
coordinate related content to post on the NAGC website that supports the editorial in each issue; solicit
articles and material for special sections and columns; and advise on graphic design and layout. It is
expected that the Editor will utilize NAGC’s internal resources to encourage, cultivate, and support new
authors. Such resources include division, committee, and task force leaders and members, and, where

possible, state affiliate leaders. There are additional opportunities for issue identification and article
development at the NAGC annual convention.
Specific
• Develop and distribute editorial and production calendars for four issues of the magazine in
consultation with the PHP Advisory Board, Associate Editor for Journals, and the NAGC national
office
• Solicit articles, special features, and columns
• Coordinate article development and editing with the authors and writers
• Include ads of NAGC materials in layout plans
• Edit all materials
• Coordinate article review process with PHP Advisory Board and national office
• Copy edit reviewed materials
• Prepare final materials for graphic artist
• Consult with graphic artist on the magazine design and layout
• Consult with graphic artist and printer on the printing and mailing schedule
• Develop supporting parent content for the NAGC website to correspond with each printed issue
• Serve on the NAGC publications committee
• Conduct an annual Advisory Board meeting at the NAGC convention, in coordination with the
Advisory Board chair, and conference calls throughout the year as needed
RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THE EDITOR
• $7,000 per issue for editorial office expenses (i.e., editor stipend, administrative assistance, funds
to develop special articles or regular columns such as Resource Round-Up and Kids’
Kaleidoscope)
• Consultation on potential articles and writers from the national office and publications committee
• Complimentary NAGC annual convention registration and hotel sleeping room during the
convention
• Guidance from publications committee and the Associate Editor for Journals on strategic and
editorial directions
APPLICATION
Interested applicants should submit the following, postmarked no later than June 1, 2007:
• Letter of interest and general qualifications including experience working with parent audiences
• Résumé or vita
• Samples of previous, similar work
• A summary of the applicant’s vision for magazine, including suggestions for future articles and for
promoting the magazine
• Three professional references, including contact information
• Proposed annual budget to manage the PHP editorial function (2-page limit). The budget should
distinguish between any institutional or other in-kind support and required NAGC funding.
REVIEW PROCESS
Applications will be reviewed by a panel that includes the NAGC president, president-elect, association
editor, associate editor for Journals, and other as appropriate. Telephone interviews will be conducted by
the panel with selected finalists. A final decision is expected by the end of June, 2007. The position
becomes effective Fall 2007. The first issue for which the new editor is responsible is March, 2008.
SUBMIT COMPLETED APPLICATION, POSTMARKED BY JUNE 1, 2007, TO:
PHP Editor Position
NAGC
1707 L Street, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036