This article is devoted to the one of the aspects of the students’ academic giftedness development in foreign theory and practice, which related to the history of pedagogy. The purpose of the article is to analyze the historical and pedagogical aspect of the development of academic giftedness of students in foreign theory and practice. The following used research methods were decisive as analysis and generalization of scientific and methodical sources, synthesis of the obtained data. Results. Academically gifted children have been found to have many needs that cannot be met by the standard education system. Therefore, in most educational institutions in Europe and the USA, programs for working with academically gifted children were designed and, in connection with this, the professional training programs for teachers were seriously changed and supplemented. An important role in the development of professional training of teachers who work with gifted and talented children is played by international organizations that research giftedness. Accumulated domestic and foreign experience on this problem shows the relevance of further development of theoretical foundations and practical ways of developing the academically gifted children education system. Conclusions. The peculiarities of the development of the education system for academically gifted children in the USA have been identifies by the author of the article as following: the deepening of profile and level differentiation of education; wide use of internal differentiation methods; the variability of forms of individualization of education; increase in the number of special educational institutions, departments and streams; the use of pedagogical mentoring programs. The specific peculiarities of the education content and methods of teaching gifted children, which consist in the application of accelerated learning and courses of «expansion» and «enrichment» of the program; increasing the role of effective teaching methods, modern technical means in the development of children’s intellectual abilities. The author of the article concludes that for the successful intellectual development of children, as long-term practice shows, it is not enough to have a well-organized, systematic, intense general educational work in an educational institution, a necessary condition for this is the use of scientific concepts and methods for the problem of identifying and developing giftedness

academic giftedness, differentiation of learning, individualization of learning, intellectual abilities