2010 Signature Sessions
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The Torrance Center: Creativity Past, Present, and Future
Bonnie Cramond, Elizabeth Connell, Mark Runco, Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Since its inception in 1986, the mission of the Torrance Center has been to continue and expand upon the work of its namesake, E. Paul Torrance. The Torrance Center has a full-time director and a coordinator of educational programs to investigate, implement, and evaluate techniques to enhance creative thinking and facilitate systems that support creative development. The presenters will discuss the history, current programs, and future vision of the Torrance Center in order to share information and welcome collaboration.
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Successful Strategies of Specialized STEM Schools: Application to Public Schools
Christopher Kolar, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy; Jerald A. Thomas, Aurora University, Aurora, ILThis interactive session will examine the transfer of teaching and learning experiences that have been developed and implemented in specialized secondary schools to a non-specialized setting. For the last 20 years, the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science, and Technology (S3) has focused on the development of talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; its member schools have developed innovative curricula, assessment, and programs for both students and faculty. This session will be led by members of the S3 community who will present examples of rich learning opportunities and will provide suggestions for how such innovations might be implemented in your setting – from the administrative level to the department level to the classroom level.
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The Peak in the Middle: Perspectives on Mathematically Promising Middle School Students
Susan Assouline, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA; Mark Saul, Bronxville Schools (retired), Bronxville, NY; Linda Sheffield, Northern Kentucky University, Highland Heights, KY A new publication by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics offers support to middle school teachers, principals, supervisors, and administrators who are engaged in work with students who are advanced in or who have the capacity to perform at advanced levels in mathematics. Chapters are written by researchers and classroom teachers and also from outside the usual academic or educational institutions. Presenters will give examples of the work described in the volume. They will also want to hear from the audience about new ideas already implemented in the field, as well as paths that are available, but not well explored.
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Bullet Proofing Your Gifted Program
Sally Krisel, Hall County Public Schools, Gainesville, GA; Virginia Burney, Ball State University, Muncie, IN; Belinda Shook, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR; Kathleen Steele, Crawfordsville Community Schools, Crawfordsville, IN In today's economy, schools must demonstrate that every dollar is related to improvement of student learning. There are components of programs and services for gifted learners that can be an integral part of a district's mission and plan for addressing the needs of all learners. These will be outlined as they relate to demonstrating program effectiveness. A panel of superintendents and other district administrators will offer examples and suggestions to align and integrate gifted programs with district (and state) goals. Find proven ways to make your programs for the gifted indispensible in today's accountability climate.
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The Revised NAGC P-12 Program Standards: The Foundation for Quality Gifted Education Services
Susan Johnson, Baylor University, Waco, TX
This session will describe the process and revisions to the current NAGC’s P-12 Program Standards, such as alignment with the NAGC/CEC-TAG Teacher Education Standards, reframing of the standards into student outcomes with evidence-based practices incorporating program and instructional characteristics, and related empirical, literature/theory, and practice-based research.
The revised Standards are divided into six criterion areas: Learner Characteristics, Assessment, Curriculum Planning and Instruction, Learning Environments, Programming, and Professional Development. Time will be allotted for discussing these revisions and implications for policymakers and practitioners.
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RtI for Gifted Children: A Goodness of Fit?
Mary Ruth Coleman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Susan Johnsen, Baylor University, Waco, TX
This presentation addresses how the major component of RtI might be used to support students who are gifted and talented. Components include: tiered supports and services; early intervention; screening, assessment, and progress monitoring; the use of evidence-based practices; and collaborative problem-solving approaches. The presenters also share the TAG/NAGC position paper on RtI, a self-reflection that schools might use in determining their readiness for implementing RtI and the challenges in using RtI with children who are gifted and talented.
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The Social and Emotional Development of Students with Gifts and Talents
Tracy L. Cross, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA; Rena F. Subotnik, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC; Laurence J. Coleman, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH; Sal Mendaglio, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; Nancy M. Robinson, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
In this special session intended for a wide audience, experts will provide concise, empirically based presentations about the social and emotional development of gifted students. The presenters each have decades of research and practical experience with gifted children. Topics will include lived experience, young gifted children, personality, social coping, emotions, abnormality, and others.
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The Frasier Scholars Program: Lessons Applied to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students
Joy Davis and Roxanne Speer, University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA; Tiombe-Bisa Kendrick, Miami-Dade County Public School District, Miami, FLThe NAGC Mary Frasier Scholars Program supports educators in identifying and working with culturally and linguistically diverse students who are typically under-represented in gifted programs. During this session, several Frasier scholars will talk about their experiences subsequent to their training and how they felt empowered to identify diverse students and provide them appropriate services. They will relate how they saw their students' abilities in a different light and created additional programs in their schools and districts. These included the establishment of a gifted resource center that provided support for parents and assistance to students to prepare for and enter district high school gifted programs.
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Malleable Minds: Translating Insights from the Behavioral and Social Sciences to Gifted Education
Pat Johnson, U. S. Department of Education; Rena Subotnik, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC; Ann Robinson, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, AR; Carolyn Callahan, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VARecent developments in the behavioral and social sciences provide insights into best practices for developing the talents of our young people from pre-school to high school. This session provides an overview of a U. S. Department of Education collaborative Javits project with NAGC, the American Psychological Association, and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. The goal of the project is to apply new research on human abilities and our beliefs about these abilities to real-world issues facing gifted and talented educators. What can we learn from understanding how the malleable mind develops and how children and adolescents view their own abilities?
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Signature Series Welcomes Award Winners Fresh off the Stage:
- The NAGC Administrator of the Year
- The NAGC Distinguished Scholar
- The NAGC Early Scholar
- The NAGC Distinguished Service Award Winner
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