ROGCT Newsletter Fall 2012

SIGnificance: Newsletter for the ROGCT SIG, AERA Fall 2012 1

D. Betsy McCoach, Chair

It gives me great pleasure to serve as the Chair of the Research on Gifted-ness, Creativity, and Talent SIG for the next two years. I would like to thank Marcia Gentry, who worked tirelessly as the SIG chair over the past two years. Under her leadership, the SIG has continued to thrive and expand its initiatives. I would like to take this opportunity to share some of the most exciting SIG news.

First, we are in the process of cre-ating a new SIG award—the graduate student travel award. We have sub-mitted the award to AERA, and once it is approved by the association, we will solicit applications. The AERA SIG Graduate student travel award will (Continued on page 3)

Letter From the Chair

AERA 2013, San Francisco, California

Please join us Saturday, April 27, to Wednesday, May 1, 2013, for the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Asso-ciation. The theme of the meeting will be “Education and Poverty: Theory, Re-search, Policy, and Prac-tice.”

The Research on Gift-edness, Creativity, and Tal-ent SIG received over 70 submissions, and was able to put together a program with five paper sessions, include 4-5 high quality papers each, and one sym-posium along with several roundtable and poster ses-sions.. The acceptance rate

for this year was approxi-mately 28%.

Scott Peters, this year’s program chair for the ROGCT SIG, would like to extend his appreciation to all of the reviewers in the SIG who helped select the presentations for the con-ference.

Communications

Committee

Hope (Bess) Wilson, Chair

[email protected]

Catherine Little

Nancy West

Sally Wan

Elke Milton

Brian Housand

Letter From the Chair 1

AERA Program News 1

Membership News 3

Gifted Connection: Mentorship News 4

Learning Environments with Web 2.0 Technologies 4

Advice from Dr. Knowledgeable 5

Call for Submissions to Gifted Children 6

Pyryt Award: Garn, Matthews, and Jolly 6

SIG Award Announcements: Path Breaker 7

2013 AERA SIG Election Ballot 8

Inside this issue:

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AERA ROGCT SIG

Fall 2012

Dr. Betsy McCoach, Chair


AERA Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG

Leadership Team D. Betsy McCoach

Chair University of Connecticut

[email protected]

Del Siegle Chair-Elect

University of Connecticut [email protected]

Marcia Gentry Past Chair

Purdue University [email protected]

Scott Peters Program chair

University of Wisconsin, Whitewater [email protected]

Carol Carman Assistant Program Chair

University of Houston, Clearlake [email protected]

Catherine Little Secretary

University of Connecticut [email protected]

Michael Matthews Treasurer

University of North Carolina, Charlotte [email protected]

Kim Chandler

Member-at-Large The College of William and Mary

[email protected]

Matt Makel Member-at-Large

Duke University, TIP [email protected]

Carolyn Callahan Member-at-Large

University of Virginia [email protected]

Jill Adelson

Member-at-Large University of Louisville

[email protected]

Kristina Ayers Paul Gifted Children Editor

Purdue University [email protected]

Hope E. (Bess) Wilson Communications Chair

University of North Florida [email protected]


Letter from the Chair, Continued

provide $750 toward the travel ex-penses of graduate students who are first authors on a highly rated re-search proposal accepted by the SIG for presentation at the AERA confer-ence. We will award up to two awards per year.

Second, it gives me great pleas-ure to announce that our business meeting speaker for the 2013 AERA conference will be Dean Keith Simon-ton. Dr. Simonton is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the Uni-versity of California, Davis. His bibli-ography lists more than 400 publica-tions, including a dozen books. Among the latter are Genius, Creativi-ty, and Leadership; Scientific Genius; Greatness; Genius and Creativity; Ori-gins of Genius; Great Psychologists and Their Times; Creativity in Science; Genius 101; and Great Flicks. Simon-ton has received the William James Book Award, the Sir Francis Galton Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Study of Creativity, the Rudolf Arnheim Award for Outstanding Achievement in Psychology and the Arts, the Theoretical Innovation Prize in Personality and Social Psychology, the George A. Miller Outstanding Ar-ticle Award, the E. Paul Torrance and President’s Awards from the National Association for Gifted Children, and the Robert S. Daniel Award for Four-Year College/University Teaching. He is Fellow of several professional or-ganizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Psycho-logical Science, and ten divisions of the American Psychological Associa-tion (APA). He has served as Presi-

dent of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Cre-ativity and the Arts (APA, Division 10), and the Society for General Psy-chology (APA, Division 1). His re-search covers diverse manifestations of genius, creativity, leadership, tal-ent, and aesthetics.

Third, I want to remind our mem-bers that our e-journal, Gifted Chil-dren, has undergone a metamorpho-sis. Gifted Children is now a peer-reviewed e-journal, published by Pur-due University Press. Gifted Children serves as a vehicle for distribution of research reports and resources, such as methodological information and book reviews, that will be of interest to researchers in gifted education. Articles are published free of charge to readers so that they are immedi-ately accessible to practitioners as well as academics, and international-ly as well as in North America. Kristi-na Ayers Paul, the new editor of the journal, is working with the publica-tions committee to define the mis-sion and scope of the journal. If you are interested in submitting an article to Gifted Children, visit http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/ or contact Kristina Paul ([email protected]).

Finally, I want to remind you that

AERA will be conducting the elections

for our SIG officers shortly. We have

a very strong ballot, which is a sign of

a healthy SIG, and every office is hot-

ly contested! I hope that you will all

take the time to vote in the SIG elec-

tion. In addition, if you are interest-

ed in volunteering for one of our

many SIG committees, email me

([email protected] ) and let

me know. Many hands make light

work, and we can accomplish a great

deal when we work together!

(Continued from page 1)

Join or Renew Membership

Membership to the Research on Giftedness, Creativity , and Talent SIG is only $10 per year ($5 for stu-dents) along with your American Educational Research Association (AERA)Membership.

AERA membership pro-vides individuals in the field of edu-cation research with access to the latest developments and the top researchers in the field. In addition, AERA provides members with the opportunity to make a difference in education. AERA takes those issues that are most important to our members and brings them to the forefront of the public policy de-bate.

The easiest way to join/renew is online at http://www.aera.net/

http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/


mailto:[email protected]


http://www.aera.net/


Gifted Connection: Save the Date! Jill Adelson, Member-At-Large: Chair, Mentorship Committee

This year will be the fourth annual AERA ROGCT Gifted Connection, a mentorship opportunity for graduate students not in a formal gifted educa-tion graduate program but interested in researching giftedness, creativity, and talent. This mentorship will be a somewhat informal, convenient way for gradu-ate students to network with experts in giftedness, creativity, and talent by meeting over coffee during the week of the Annual Meeting. Mentors and mentees will be matched according to similarities in research inter-ests. Because everyone’s schedule during the Annual Meeting is so

packed, the SIG will provide each mentor/mentee pair with contact in-formation in advance. Each pair may then schedule a one-hour time slot to meet and talk at a convenient time during the convention, and the SIG will reimburse up to $20 for coffee and snacks. That will give the mentor and mentee time together to talk about the field, including involve-ment, research, and career is-sues. We hope that, in many cases, this will facilitate an opportunity for mentorship and conversations be-yond the Annual Meeting between mentor and mentee; however, that is up to the individual mentor and mentee based on their conversation at the Annual Meeting.

Be on the lookout in January or Feb-ruary for a call for both graduate stu-dent mentees as well as scholars to serve as mentors.

Contact: Jill Adelson

[email protected]

Dr. Sally Wai-Yan Wan The Chinese University of Hong Kong

“I love this project very much because I could use new technologies in producing something interesting and online stuff allows me to have more freedom to create. Mostly we are allowed to have our space. Only online environment allows us to infuse our creativity into the project. I like answering challenging questions as asked by my class-mates. I feel very happy when I can answer all of them.” (Jimmy, 28th June 2011)

I would like to share my story as a teacher using Web 2.0 technologies to give help and support to a gifted child, Jimmy, who was recognized for his technology expertise in his school. I hope that this sharing can bring insights about learning opportunities and pedagogical designs for teaching the gifted.

Learning phases: Exploration – planning – mentoring and guidance – re-constructing

At the beginning of the unit “Antarctica

Expedition,” I asked Jimmy for his opinions regarding his areas of interest related to the topic. Jimmy helped create a new website for the unit. After he finished making the web-site, I let him have an opportunity to intro-duce the website to the class. I had several intentions: First, to recognize his efforts in making a website for the class; and second, to let his classmates realize his strength and so to “include” him in the class. To support him in organizing the project, I gave him a set of prompting questions related to his study area. For example, what Web2.0 technolo-gies would you like to use in creating the project? What areas will be included in the project? Why? In due course, Jimmy had the chance for regular meetings and informal chats, during which he could share his learn-ing progress and concerns. Prompts and probes were usually used for scaffolding ide-as, facilitating build-ons, and the problem-solving process. Finally, he completed the whole project using different types of

Web2.0 technologies that he discovered on his own.

Personal insights On the completion of the unit, I have the

following key points for reflection: Open our eyes and listen to our students

with hearts Mentoring as lubricants to knowledge cre-

ation Learning technologies hand in hand Flexibility inside the curriculum To sum up, using technologies can be a

powerful tool to enlighten and enhance our students’ learning experiences on the jour-ney of growth. Jimmy’s story does give us some reflections upon what is currently being done and what can be done for future devel-opment in education.

Contact: Dr. Sally Wai-Yan Wan Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.sallywywan.com

Learning Opportunities with Web 2.0 Technologies



Advice from Dr. Knowledgeable Dr. Knowledgeable is a kind-hearted advisor and mentor that we all wish that we might have had in graduate school and as an early career scholar. The doctor is available to take ques-tions and pleas for advice contact the newsletter editor, Hope Wilson at [email protected]. Although Dr. Knowledgeable is, perhaps, an inven-tion of wishful graduate students, he (or she) benefits from the advice of Elke Milton, Walden University, and Nancy West, Satellite Beach, FL. Dear Dr. Knowledgeable, I am a first-year doctoral student. When I began my program at Univer-sity of Everything Is Great, I was excit-ed and enthusiastic about my studies. But now that I am at the end of the semester, I am feeling discouraged and run down. I seem to spend all of my time on research and classwork, and I am not sure how to enter the professional world of academia. Should I give up my dreams of becom-ing a PhD? How can I survive my doc-toral journey? Sincerely, At Wits’ End Dear At Wits End, Embarking on the doctoral journey is an exhilarating prospect. Most of us set out to change the world, but sooner or later discover the naiveté in our thinking in that it is easier said than done. Becoming a social change agent requires hard work, and accom-plishing that end through a doctoral program is attainable, but indescriba-bly intense. You will learn early on that there is not much linearity as you progress through your program; in-

stead, the twists and turns can some-times leave you in guarded mode. As you move towards becoming a schol-ar-practitioner and change agent, here are 7 tips to guide you along the way:

(1) form a cohort with whom you can share ideas, receive and give sup-port and encouragement, and commiserate in the wee hours of the morning while completing that paper;

(2) use the wealth of knowledge and experience of your professors and mentor, as they can give you in-valuable advice, guidance, and connections;

(3) join professional groups that serve your discipline, and become active with key groups, as this, too, is an outlet for development and advancements;

(4) read, read, read, as this is how you become that expert in your research and innovator in your profession;

(5) do a fun, recreational activity at least once a month to avoid burn-out. Early on you will have to say “no” to family, friends, and your-self, but too much seclusion will begin to box you out and make you feel disconnected from your personal life;

(6) attend the AERA conference, as the vast wealth of information, innovative ideas, and networking opportunities you will gain are unparalleled; and

(7) submit proposals to present your research at conferences to start establishing a presence within

your industry early on rather than waiting until you have the alpha-bets, PhD/EdD, after your name. Starting with conferences in your area will keep expenses at a mini-mum.

Best wishes, think positive, and re-member – you can do it!

Sincerely,

Dr. Knowledgeable

Dear Dr. Knowledgeable,

I am a fourth year doctoral student at the University of High Expectations. My graduate advisors and professors are great, but they seem to think that I have at least 50 hours in each day. How can I balance all of the require-ments of my coursework, graduate assistanceship, research, and applying for jobs? Not to mention that my Golden Retriever, Bob, seems to have forgotten who I am! How can I priori-tize my tasks so that I am not running circles and I can be more productive?

Yours Truly,

Serious Busy

Dear Seriously Busy,

So where does the time go? We all have the same amount of time in a day. Yet it is assumed that graduate students with better time manage-ment skills are both happier and more productive. So what does it mean to practice time management?

Stephen R. Covey prioritizes tasks according to four quadrants in his

(Continued on page 7)



Pyryt Award Recipients: Garn, Matthews, and Jolly

The Awards Committee is proud to announce the 2012 winners of the Michael Pyryt Award: Alex C. Garn, Louisiana Sate University, Michael S. Matthews, University of North Caroli-na– Charlotte, and Jennifer L. Jolly, Louisiana State University, for their article “Parental influences on the academic motivation of gifted stu-dents: A self-determination theory perspective” published in the Fall 2012 edition of Gifted Child Quarterly.

The Michael Pyryt Award was cre-ated to recognize a scholar of gifted-ness, creativity or talent development and an influential collaborator who has not previously published scholar-ship associated with giftedness, crea-tivity or talent. The award is given to those who seek to promote scholar-ship in the area of giftedness, creativi-ty and talent to the larger education research community through collabo-rations and who concurrently benefit from the insights of important schol-ars who have not previously studied or written about gifted, talented or creative populations. It is awarded every other year by the ROGCT SIG.

The award was selected based upon eligibility (including co-authorship by a researcher who has not previously published in the field of gifted education) and the potential

impact of the work on the fields of giftedness, creativity, or talent devel-opment.

The work of Garn, Matthews, and Jolly focused on parenting of gifted children, using Self-Determination Theory as a framework.

Citation:

Garn, A. C., Matthews, M. S., & Jolly, J. L. (2010). Parental influences on the academic motivation of gifted students: A self-determination the-ory perspective. Gifted Child Quar-terly, 54, 263-272. doi: 10.1177/0016986210377657

Abstract:

The home environment that par-ents provide their gifted children can have a significant impact on academic motivation, yet limited research has focused on this topic. Self-determination theory, a comprehen-sive framework of motivation, was used in the current study to explore two research questions: (a) What atti-tudes do parents of gifted students have toward the academic motivation of their children? (b) What approach-es do parents of gifted students use at home to develop academic motiva-tion? Interviews with 30 parents of

Alex C. Garn, Louisiana State University

Michael S. Matthews, University of North Carolina– Charlotte

Jennifer L. Jolly, Louisiana State University

Kristina Ayers Paul, editor

Gifted Children, the open access e-journal of the AERA SIG-Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent, is now soliciting submissions. Gifted Children was founded in 2006 to pro-vide a timely venue for SIG members and other researchers working in gifted education and related areas to share original scholarly work in the form of brief reports of research in progress, completed research, and reviews of new publications of inter-est to researchers in the field. For information on manuscript submis-sion and to search the archive of pre-vious publications, please visit the e-journal at

http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/giftedchildren/.

Questions may be forwarded to the editor, Kristina Ayers Paul, at [email protected].

Call for Submissions

gifted children from across the Unit-ed States revealed three higher or-der themes including Parents as Ex-perts, Scaffolding, and Behavior Modification. From a self-determination theory perspective, results suggest that despite good intentions, the parents of this study were inconsistent in providing home environments that support their chil-dren’s development of internalized forms of academic motivation.





CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

PATH BREAKER AWARD

The AERA SIG: Research on Giftedness, Creativity and Talent is seeking nomi-nations for the Path Breaker Award. The Path Breaker Award is given in recognition of collaborative research by a scholar and graduate student who co-author an article related to giftedness, creativity or talent that is published in a journal not traditionally or regularly focused on these fields. The Path Breaker Award is designed to reward scholars in our field for publishing in journals that would not traditionally include articles with a focus on gifted, talented or creative populations.

Eligibility Criteria: • Publication (may be “In Press”) in a peer reviewed journal that does not often publish arti-

cles on topics directly targeting giftedness, creativity or talent development. If already published, cover date must be within last two years before the date of the award. For the current nomination the cover date must be within 2 years of April, 2013.

• Significant potential impact of the work on the fields of giftedness, creativity, or talent devel-opment.

Nomination Process and Time-lines:

• Award candidates may be nominated or may self-nominate.

• Nomination must include a pdf of the article and a one-page description of the potential impact of the work on the fields of giftedness, creativity, and/or talent development.

• Applications will be due February 1st.

Selection Criteria (in the following order of importance, beginning with most im-

portant) • Quality of the article (new data or new analysis of existing data, strong methodology,

etc.). • Prestige of journal in which the article has been accepted • The compelling arguments of the submitted rationale

Form of Recognition • Cash award of $250 each to winning scholar and graduate student. • Plaque for each • A SIG scheduled slot during a paper session or business meeting will be guaranteed to the

awardees’ award winning work if they commit to attending the following year’s conven-tion. Determination as to whether the slot will be in a paper session or the business meeting will be at the discretion of the SIG program chair(s).

Submission: Nominations including a pdf of the article and the one-page description of potential impact must be submitted electronically to:

Dr. Carolyn M. Callahan [email protected] Include Path Breaker Award in the subject line of the email.

Submissions due by

February 1, 2013

Contact

Dr. Carolyn M.

Callahan

for more information

[email protected]

Advice from Dr. Knowledgeable, Continued

book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Quadrants I and II are classified as IMPORTANT activities while quad-rants III and IV are NOT IMPORA-TANT activities. How much time do you spend in each quadrant? Keep a time log for 3 days by jotting down what you are doing in 15 minute intervals.

Then rate your activities as im-portant or urgent using a scale of 1-4 related to the quadrants above. Finally, estimate the percent of time you devoted to each of the quad-rants.

Doing the most important things first keeps a graduate student effec-tive and, over time, these behaviors help to shape who we are. Being aware of and striving for balance, by managing time, will help us to clarify both things we want (possessions) and things we want to do (research, travel). Yet, the real secret to all time management begins with a clear definition of who we’d like to be. It is qualities of character that our friends will remember most.

Reference

Covey, S. R. (1989). Seven habits of highly effective people. New York: Free Press.

Sincerely,

Dr. Knowledgeable





2012 Election Ballot

Assistant Program Chair

5 candidates for 1 position

Janine M. Firmender, Ph.D., is an assistant profes-sor in the Department of Teacher Education at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadel-phia, Pennsylva-nia, where she teach-es courses in Early Child-hood (grades pre-K to 4) and mathematics educa-tion. She earned her doc-torate in Educational Psy-chology with a concentra-tion in Gifted Education from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut and also fo-cused on studying mathe-matics education. Janine’s research interests are in the areas of gifted education and mathematics educa-tion, primarily related to pedagogy and curriculum. In addition, she is interest-ed in investigating the in-structional experiences that

influence teachers’ practic-es and expectations of stu-dents, how teachers’ expec-tations affect their instruc-tional decisions and the mathematics learning op-portunities they provide for their students, and what influences teachers’ aware-ness of the characteristics and learning needs of mathematically talented students. Janine has pre-sented papers at AERA for sessions in the ROGCT and Middle Grades SIGs and is an active member of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC). Recently, Janine has joined the NAGC Teaching for High Potential Advisory Board.

Beverly J. Irby holds the distinction as Texas State Uni-versity Sys-tem Re-gents' Pro-fessor. She is a professor in the Depart-ment of Educational Lead-ership and Counseling and Associate Dean for Gradu-ate Programs in the College of Education at Sam Hou-

ston State University. She has been a member of the ROGCT SIG for over a dec-ade and has served as a Reviewer of ROGCT pro-gram submissions. She has over 200 scholarly publica-tions and is an author on the latest TAGT State of Gifted Education in Texas. She has co-developed the Hispanic Bilingual Gifted Screening Instrument and has supported numerous doctoral studies on this top-ic. She is editor of Mentor-ing and Tutoring Journal and founding editor of Ad-vancing Women in Leader-ship Journal. Her research focuses on social responsi-bility, particularly related to gifted and bilingual educa-tion, educational admin-istration, early childhood, and women's leadership. Her work at the university level spans 22 years as pro-fessor, director of the SHSU Center for Research in Edu-cational Leadership, direc-tor of student teaching and field experiences, and chair of the Department of Edu-cational Leadership and Counseling. Prior to enter-ing the academy, she

served as a teacher of gift-ed education, special edu-cation director, elementary principal, assistant superin-tendent, and superinten-dent.

Sarah Oh is a research sci-entist at the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talent-ed, Univer-sity of Virginia, where she oversees multiple research projects on gifted educa-tion. She is a former ele-mentary classroom teacher and earned her doctorate in gifted education at the Uni-versity of Virginia. She has been a member of the SIG since 2006 and has served as a reviewer for the AERA and NAGC annual confer-ences in the areas of gifted-ness, creativity, and talent development. Her research interests include curriculum development, differenti-ating instruction, teacher development, program evaluation, and identifica-tion of gifted students from


The AERA Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG would like to invite you to participate in our upcoming election and to encourage you to vote and help select members to your board of directors this year. As you can see there is a large slate of can-didates for each position. Please take a moment to review the statements from the candidates below.

You will find an email from AERA concerning the elections soon.

The positions that are open are as follows: Assis-tant Program Chair (5 candidates for 1 position), Treasurer (4 candidates for 1 position), Member-At-Large (10 candidates for 2 positions), and Graduate Student Member (4 candidates for 1 position).


diverse backgrounds. She would like to serve as an assistant program chair for the ROGCT SIG. She envi-sions many opportunities for mentorship and collabo-ration through SIG’s initia-tive of building a communi-ty where scholars advance scientific contribution to the field of gifted education through high quality re-search that is theory-driven, evidence-based, and prac-tice-relevant. In that vein, she would welcome the opportunity to contribute to promoting communica-tion of advanced research both within and outside the field.

Connie Phelps is the Di-rector of Gifted Edu-cation, As-sociate Pro-fessor, and Director of the Great Plains Center for Gifted Studies at Emporia State University in Kansas. Prior to this position, she taught middle school gifted stu-dents in Wichita. She has served as President-Elect of the Kansas Association for Gifted, Talented and Crea-tive; Chair of the NAGC Pro-fessional Development net-work; worked with various committees of the NAGC

Research and Evaluation network, member of the NAGC Standards Com-mittee, and is a lead review-er for NCATE/NAGC. Addi-tional service includes an appointment as the Chapter Member Liaison for the Kansas region of Phi Delta Kappa International. Re-search interests include un-derachievement, gifted girls, creativity and lan-guage arts curriculum. In her current position, she mentors graduate students and has sponsored numer-ous presentations at state, regional, national and inter-national levels. She is an active member of the World Council for Gifted and Tal-ented Children and serves as co-editor of the Emporia State Research Studies jour-nal. During her recent sab-batical, she worked with the Laboratoire Adaptations Travail Individu (LATI) re-search team at the Universi-ty of Paris Descartes where she studied the Evaluation of Creative Potential (EPoC, 2009) exam and researched four initiatives related to gifted children in France.

Karen Rambo-Hernandez is an assistant professor at Colora-do State University in the School of

Education and the School of Teacher Education and Prin-cipal Preparation. She re-ceived her Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in Educational Psychology in Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment. In her re-search, she is interested in using assessments to in-form decisions so that all students— gifted students in particular—are provided ample opportunities to grow academically. In prac-tice, this line of research is both quantitative and ap-plied: the assessment of student growth, multilevel modeling of student data, growth mixture modeling of student growth, and alter-native methods for measur-ing school effectiveness. Specifically, her substantive research interests include academic acceleration, mathematics/STEM educa-tion— particularly in middle school— gifted education, and assessment. She has served in leadership roles in the Research and Evalua-tion Network of the Nation-al Association for Gifted Children since 2008. She has presented multiple times in the ROGCT SIG and hopes to be able to serve this SIG in this new capaci-ty!

Treasurer 4 candidates for 1 position

I, Seokhee Cho of St. John’s Uni-versity in New York, would like to nominate myself to the treasur-er position at the AERA SIG #91 ROGCT (Term 2013-2015). I have been serving the Asia-Pacific Federation of the World Council for Gifted and Talented as an executive committee mem-ber, President, and Editor-in-chief of The AP Journal of Gifted and Talented Educa-tion since 1992. I have also been serving the Korean Society for Gifted Education as an executive committee member and Vice President since 1990. My leadership has been recognized with the Excellent Service Award from the Asia-Pacific Feder-ation of the WCGTC in 2006, the Special Recogni-tion Award for Excellent Leadership from the Korean Society for Gifted Education in 1994 and 2004, and the Mokryun Medal in honor of Civil Service Merit from The Republic of Korea in 2004. In the US, I have secured a Javits grant in 2009, which was followed by a grant from Allied World Founda-



2012 Election Ballot, Continued



tion and two grants from the US DOE amounting 3.57 million dollars from 2012 through 2017. If elected, I would be honored and de-lighted to serve as treasurer of the AERA SIG ROGCT with my extensive experi-ences in working with aca-demic association mem-bers.

Dr. Alicia Cotabish is an Assistant Professor of Teach-ing and Learning at the Uni-versity of Central Arkansas. Previous-ly, Alicia was the Associate Director of the Jodie Ma-hony Center for Gifted Edu-cation at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and served as one of two Princi-pal Investigators of STEM Starters, a federally-funded Javits project. In addition, Dr. Cotabish coordinated the Arkansas Evaluation Initiative in Gifted Educa-tion, a federally-funded state-wide school program evaluation initiative. Alicia is currently the President-Elect of the Arkansas Asso-ciation of Gifted Education Administrators and the Leg-islative Co-Chair of Arkan-sans for Gifted and Talented Education. She has served as the Awards Chair for the

NAGC Research and Evalua-tion Network, and is a member of the NAGC Pro-fessional Standards Com-mittee. Currently, Alicia is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Teaching for High Potential, and the Editorial Review Board for Gifted Child Quarterly and Journal for the Education of the Gifted.

Mary Elizabeth Hender-son, Ed.D. My academic and professional back-ground from Fielding Grad-uate University led me to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and then to the Gift-ed Research SIG (ROGCT). Over a period of time, I have attended several AERA Annual Meetings, present-ed proposals, acted as a Discussant and Co-Chair, and published a book with Hamilton Books entitled, Gifted and Talented Fe-males Speak Out on Paren-tal Influences and Achieve-ment! In addition, I have assessed and evaluated sev-eral proposals for submis-sion to AERA. A degree in Business Education from the District of Columbia Teachers’ College, Washing-ton, D.C., along with excel-lent experience, gave me an opportunity to keep accu-rate records, create month-ly financial statements, and present proposed budgets for two organizations in our

local community. I contin-ue to volunteer my services to these organizations to make sure their accounts are up to date and accu-rate. If I become treasurer for the ROGCT SIG, I would make sure to keep the ac-counts accurate and ready for auditing when sched-uled. Moreover, I have ex-perience in computer pro-grams. Please consider me, Mary Elizabeth Henderson, as a serious candidate for the Office of Treasurer.

Sidney Moon. In recent years, I have watched the growth of the AERA SIG on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent with great joy. I be-lieve the SIG is vital to the future of the field, because its members promote high quality, interdisciplinary research in the largest edu-cational research organiza-tion in the world. As the past Association Editor for NAGC, I am aware of the importance of high quality research to our field. I am interested in serving as Treasurer to support the SIG and contribute to stra-tegic growth. I would bring 30 years of experience in gifted education to the po-sition, as well as over a dec-ade of experience as an As-

sociate Dean at Purdue Uni-versity. I have contributed more than 75 books, arti-cles, and chapters to the field. My current scholar-ship is focused on second-ary gifted education and intrapersonal characteris-tics that facilitate achieve-ment and well being. I have considerable experience with fiscal management. In addition to handling numer-ous grant budgets, part of my role at Purdue is serving as Head of Academic Ser-vices, where I am responsi-ble for an annual budget of about $1,000,000. I wel-come the opportunity to provide leadership for the SIG.

Member-at-Large

10 candidates for 2 positions

Dr. Alexinia Baldwin is Emeritus Professor of the Universi-ty of Con-necticut, Storrs, CT, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She is applying for Member-at-Large of AERA ROGCT SIG Board. She has served as the president of The As-sociation for Gifted (TAG), Board member of The Na-tional Association for Gifted




Children (NAGC), and USA delegate for the World Council for Gifted and Tal-ented (WCGT). Her publica-tions have focused on gifted underserved students; their identification and curricu-lum needs in the class-rooms and the Masks that hide their recognition. Her Baldwin Identification Ma-trix has been used in many school districts to assist in identifying these students. She has traveled extensively nationally and internation-ally, as a consultant and lecturer in this area of con-cern. Most recently, she received the 2004 Distin-guished Scholar award from NAGC; the 2009 NAGC Ann Isaacs Award; and was se-lected as the 2010 legacy series honoree. Her dedica-tion to the field and her experience and insights re-garding Education of the Gifted give her the neces-sary knowledge to support the activities of this SIG.

Shawn R. Cherry, a fourth year doc-toral candi-date at the University of Con-necticut, expects to graduate in May 2013 with a Ph.D. in Educational Psy-chology in Gifted and Tal-ented Education and School

Counseling. Shawn re-ceived a M.S. in Elementary Education from Nova South-eastern University and a B.A. in International Rela-tions from Brown Universi-ty. Shawn taught in elemen-tary classrooms for five years in the Palm Beach County, FL, school district. In addition to being a k-5 science resource teacher, Shawn was also a grade 3 and 5 gifted pullout enrich-ment teacher. Shawn has worked as a graduate re-search assistant with the National Research Center on Gifted and Talented, as-sisting in nationwide stud-ies, and currently works as a graduate assistant to the coordinator of the Counsel-ing Program at UConn. Shawn’s research interests include the social and emo-tional needs of the gifted, Dabrowski’s Theory of Posi-tive Deconstruction, LGBT issues, bullying issues, un-derachievement issues, multicultural and children at risk issues. In addition to the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent, Shawn is also a member of the Conflict Resolution and Violence Prevention, and Queer SIGs at AERA. He was instrumental in founding the GLBTQ SIG at the Na-tional Association for Gifted Children (NAGC).

Donna Ford. I have spent over 20 years in higher edu-

cation advocating for social justice and equity in gifted education for Black and other culturally different students. My work focuses on the largest issue of clos-ing the achievement gap, with concerns regarding how under-representation in gifted and AP classes con-tributes to the achievement gap. Collectively, my work (books, articles, presenta-tions, consultancies, etc.) addresses the dual issue of why we must and how we can recruit and retain under-represented students in gifted and AP. I focus on deficit thinking (beliefs and attitudes), discriminatory policies and procedures, tests and instruments as gatekeepers to the equita-ble representation of Black, Hispanic, and low-income students identified and served as gifted. In addition to this, my work focuses on multicultural gifted educa-tion, including culturally responsive assessments, research, curriculum and materials, instruction and learning styles, and learning environments. As our schools become even more diverse along cultural lines, it behooves our field to be responsive and equita-

ble. As a member of this SIG, I will work to make a difference -

- for students, educators, and families.

Dr. Bronwyn MacFarlane is Associate Professor of Gifted Education in the De-partment of Educa-tional Leadership at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She currently serves on the national Board of Directors of the Consortium for Research on Educational Accountability and Teacher Evalua-tion. She also serves as Chair-Elect of the NAGC Counseling and Guidance Network. She received the 2011 UALR Distinguished Teaching Fellow Medallion and the UALR New Faculty Teaching Commenda-tion. She received the 2008 NAGC Outstanding Doctoral Student Award; the 2008 College of William and Mary School of Education Dean’s Award for Excellence; the 2007 College of William and Mary Excellence in Gifted Education Doctoral Award; and the 2007 International P.E.O. Scholar Award. She holds a doctorate, two mas-ters, and bachelor degrees, with specialties in leader-ship, administration, coun-seling, curriculum and in-structional design, and teaching Gifted Education,






Social Studies, and French. Dr. MacFarlane co-edited “Leading Change in Gifted Education: The Fest-schrift of Dr. Joyce VanTas-sel-Baska” (2009 with Tam-ra Stambaugh). As a doc-toral student at the College of William and Mary, she was elected as the AERA SIG Graduate Student Rep-resentative. As Member At Large, she will continue to spread awareness among educators to support the development and growth of talented individuals.

Michael S. Matthews is associate professor of gifted education and AIG graduate program coordinator at the Universi-ty of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has been in-volved with the SIG since 2002 and during this time has served as SIG program chair, assistant program chair, awards committee member, member at large, and e-journal editor. He currently serves as SIG treasurer, but term limits in the AERA rules prevent seeking a third term in this role. Michael has witnessed and contributed to the growth of the SIG over the past decade, during which

time it grew from fewer than fifty to currently more than 200 members, and he would like to continue serv-ing the SIG in 2013-15 as Member at Large. Michael is active in gifted education as co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics, with colleague Matt McBee and associate editors Eliza-beth Shaunessy and Jill Ad-elson. In 2010, he was awarded the NAGC Early Scholar Award, and in 2012 with co-authors Alex Garn and Jennifer Jolly received the Michael Pyryt Collabo-ration Award from this SIG. Michael is the author or editor of four books and more than 20 peer re-viewed articles in the SIG areas of giftedness, creativi-ty, and talent development.

Nielsen Pereira (Ph.D., Purdue University) is an Assistant Professor of Gift-ed Education at Western Kentucky University. His research interests include underrepresented popula-tions in gifted education, program evaluation, and university-based program-ming for gifted stu-dents. He taught English as a second language in public schools and language insti-tutes in Brazil for 12 years.

He was coordinator of stu-dent programs in the Gifted Education Resource Insti-tute at Purdue University. He has presented in nation-al and international confer-ences, including AERA, NAGC, the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, and Teachers of English to Speakers of Oth-er Languages (TESOL) and has published in peer-reviewed journals in the United States and in Brazil. He has been a member of AERA since 2007 and has served as a reviewer for the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG. "I believe we should increase the participation of mem-bers of other AERA SIGs and divisions in the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG events and ses-sions. We also need to offer additional mentorship and development activities for future scholars who will likely become leaders in our field."

Scott J. Peters is an Assis-tant Pro-fessor of Educa-tional Founda-tions at the Uni-versity of Wisconsin – Whitewater where he teaches courses related to educational measurement, research methods, and gift-

ed and talented education. His research interests in-clude educational research methodology in addition to gifted and talented student identification, nontradition-al giftedness and secondary student programming out-comes. He has presented at the state, national, and in-ternational levels on topics dealing with gifted educa-tion and research method-ology and currently serves on committees and as an officer of the National Asso-ciation for Gifted Children and the American Educa-tion Research Association. His scholarly work has ap-peared in Teaching for High Potential, Gifted Child Quar-terly, the Journal of Ad-vanced Academics, Gifted and Talented International, the Journal of Career and Technical Education Re-search, Educational Leader-ship, and Pedagogies. For the last four years he has served as the Assistant Pro-gram Chair and Program Chair for the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Special Interest Group. He hopes to contin-ue his work with the SIG in the capacity of an at-large officer.





Anne Rinn is an Associate Professor of Educa-tional Psy-chology and Coor-dinator of the Grad-uate Program in Gifted and Talented Education at the University of North Texas. My research focuses on the social and emotional devel-opment of gifted adoles-cents and college students, as well as the impact of se-lective programs on gifted students’ self-concepts. I have numerous scholarly publications and presenta-tions in the fields of gifted education and educational psychology, as well as a grant from the National Sci-ence Foundation to study the experiences of high abil-ity women in the STEM fields. I have previously served on the NAGC Publi-cations Committee, the NAGC Awards Committee, as the Associate Editor for Collaborative Publications at NAGC, on the NAGC R&E Publications Committee, on the NAGC R&E Awards Committee, as the Book Review Editor for Roeper Review, and as an Editorial Board Member of Honors in Practice. In 2004, I won the NAGC Doctoral Student Award. I am seeking a Member at Large position

within the Research on Gift-edness, Creativity, and Tal-ent SIG in order to contrib-ute to the field of gifted education, to provide lead-ership regarding com-mittees and SIG directions, and to help facilitate the advancement of the field through mentorship, re-search, and collaboration.

Hartono Tjoe is a postdoc-toral research associate in the Department of Educa-tional Psychology at Rutgers University. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia Uni-versity. His primary re-search interests are in the field of mathematics educa-tion, with a specific empha-sis on gifted education and cognitive studies in educa-tion. His investigations fo-cus on instances of latent and observable traits and attributes of highly success-ful mathematical problem-solvers. His instructional interactions with gifted middle school and high school students have al-lowed him to embrace con-ceptions of giftedness that range from pre-existing identities of scientifically-classified derivatives to suc-ceeding labels for socially-constructed groups. The dynamic nature of open cultural and environmental relationships presents him with the unique flexibility not only to recognize innate

mathematical talent, but also to grow support for the ongoing process of acquir-ing and consolidating math-ematical proficiencies. He therefore considers it one of his most exigent educa-tional responsibilities to minimize the possible risk that children with promis-ing abilities might demon-strate low performance if they receive only inade-quate nurturing. Given the nomination for the position of Member-at-Large, he looks forward to contrib-uting to the AERA Special Interest Group: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent a specific perspective of research in the education of mathematically gifted students.

Hope (Bess) E. Wilson is an assis-tant pro-fessor of education at the University of North Florida, and graduated with a PhD in Gifted Education from the University of Con-necticut. She is the current newsletter editor for the AERA: ROGTC SIG, and has served the SIG as a reviewer for the annual meeting. She has also been active in the National Association for Gifted Children, serving on the development com-

mittee, as the Arts Network incoming chair, and in vari-ous leadership roles for the Research and Evaluation Network. Hope is a co-author of Letting Go Of Per-fect: Overcoming Perfec-tionism in Kids (2009, Pru-frock). She has been pub-lished in Journal for the Ed-ucation of the Gifted, Gifted Child Today, and the Journal of Advanced Academics. Her cartoons are a regular feature in Teaching for High Potential. She regularly pre-sents her research at the annual NAGC, AERA, and for state NAGC affiliate confer-ences. Her research has included gifted identifica-tion, acceleration, academic self-concept, and arts inte-gration for gifted students, as well as early childhood and rural education. As a member-at-large, Hope will work to promote member-ship through outreach efforts and continue to sup-port the publication and communication efforts of the SIG.

Graduate Student

2013-2014,

4 candidates for 1 position

Mona A. Haji Moham-mad Alimin. I am interest-ed to serve as the Graduate Student Representative be-cause I would like to be





more involved in dissemi-nating up-to-date research and be at the forefront of new knowledge and under-standings on giftedness, creativity and talent. As a third year Ph.D. student in the Gifted Education pro-gram at the University of Virginia, I investigated the present participation of Fu-ture Problem Solving Pro-gram International’s (FPSPI) alumni in FPSPI. Through this experience, I under-stood the programs’ impact on its participants as well as the challenges and tri-umphs faced by FPSPI coor-dinators in running a crea-tivity-focused program within a school setting. In addition to the research experience, I also trained as an Appraiser for Destina-tion Imagination competi-tions, and was a Head Resi-dential Counselor in the AP Challenge Summer Program for gifted minority students. My previous work experi-ence includes providing support to teachers and students with special needs. As the Graduate Stu-dent Representative I would welcome the oppor-tunity to learn, engage, and exchange ideas with fellow students and researchers who share similar research interests in this specialized area. My primary research interest is in giftedness,

specifically the area of testing and cultural differ-ences in the conception of giftedness.

I, Marguerite Brunner, respectfully submit my name as a candidate for the position of graduate student repre-sentative on the SIG Board for Research on Gift-edness, Creativity, and Tal-ent. In the University of Vir-ginia’s gifted education doc-toral program, I have seen that the work to be done in research and translating research into practice is vital for our field. I have had the opportunity to gain re-search experience through affiliation with the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, but I have also kept close connections to the field by teaching gifted education courses to in-service and pre-service teachers on campus and online. These experiences help me stay grounded in the need for research to address the range of questions from basic to applied research. I have made 15 presenta-tions, co-authored three book chapters and three articles. As representative, I would bring the perspective

of a fellow graduate stu-dent who has experience from the most naïve to one at the verge of beginning a career in higher education. I also have previous experi-ence representing graduate students on U.Va.’s Student Council, and would be hon-ored to have the opportuni-ty to both contribute to and learn from members of this SIG Board.

Vanessa Lancaster is a Doctoral student in the Edu-cational Studies Urban Education program at Eastern Michi-gan University. She holds a Master of Arts in Education-al Psychology from Eastern Michigan University. As an International Educational Consultant, Vanessa spe-cializes in developing pro-grams that best meet needs of gifted learners from di-verse cultures. She has helped develop gifted pro-grams and curriculum for non-profit organizations and schools, trained train-ers, and conducted profes-sional development for teachers in Rwanda, Ugan-da, England, and the United States. Vanessa’s research interests lie in gifted educa-tion, education in impover-ished communities, tech-nology and learning, moti-

vation, and self-efficacy of learners of all ages. She was contributing author to the National Association for Gifted Education’s Gifted Guide to U.K. Schools. Working as Program Associ-ate on a grant between EMU, the Education Devel-opment Center, and USAID, Vanessa is coordinating the logistics of a practicum study tour for twenty-six Pakistani teacher educa-tors. She has won a number of scholarly awards at East-ern Michigan University where her master's re-search thesis on Academically Gifted Ad-olescents Transferring to an Independent Gifted School: Effects on Academic Identity was supported by a univer-sity-funded grant. Her dedi-cation to quality scholarship and advancing research in the field of gifted education is unremitting.

Jason McIntosh "There is true genius in everyone. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid." This quote from Albert Einstein illustrates the importance of helping every child rec-ognize his or her individual




2012 Election Ballot, Continued talents. I have dedicated over ten years of my life to this mission. In that time I have taught gifted students in a pull-out program for five years, served as a gifted coordinator and collabora-tive peer teacher for four years, and, most recently, become a graduate research assistant with the Gifted Education Resource Institute at Purdue University while pursing a PhD in Gifted, Tal-ented, and Creative Studies. It is my desire to make a difference in the lives of stu-dents by engaging in re-search centered on gifted program evaluation, curricu-lum, and professional devel-opment. Serving as the graduate student repre-sentative to the AERA ROGCT SIG will give me the opportunity to contribute to the field of gifted education while learning from many of the foremost researchers in the field today. Thank you for your consideration.

Dear Dr. Knowledgeable,

I am an early career scholar. I earned my Ph.D. from Boring University, where I studied generic education major number three. However, recently a colleague showed me the website for Gifted Children, the on-line e-journal for the AERA ROGCT SIG, and I have become captivated with the possibilities for my own studies. However, others have discouraged me from pursuing this path. Can you provide me some reasons for studying gifted education?

Thanks,

Contemplating Change

Dear Contemplating Change,

I am so excited to hear about your thoughts on the peer-reviewed e-journal! I wish to encour-age you to pursue your newfound passion! Here are some compelling rea-sons to research gifted ed-

ucation.

1. Research is a model that practitioners use in the field to help them to conduct their own re-search. It is an example, a template and a reference for teachers. Your re-search opens doors for teachers to discover other sources of information and to stay current in the field.

2. Gifted research in-forms our practice as teachers and administra-tors. It provides cutting edge information that can be applied to help mold tomorrow’s leaders and to prepare these students with 21st century skills and concepts.

3. Research on gifted education is important as a nation. By starting with our most capable students first, teachers can then apply researched questions and lessons learned to oth-er students. This builds human capacity in all learners as teachers adapt research findings to differ-

ent kinds of learners.

4. Research is a com-pass for practitioners. In a world driven by politics: agendas, policies, dead-lines and procedures, it is the bedrock teachers and administrators can stand firmly upon in their educa-tional decisions.

5. Finally, research col-ors all of the interactions and relationship building of practitioners. These teach-ers and administrators can communicate research as the rationale for their deci-sions and inform stake-holders. Research unifies many people of multiple perspectives to the im-portant mission of a school. Good research crosses over political agen-das.

Sincerely,

Dr. Knowledgeable

Contributors: Elke Milton, Walden University

Nancy West, Principal, Spes-

sard Holland Elementary School, Satellite Beach, FL

Advice from Dr. Knowledgeable, Continued


Saturday, April 27– Wednesday, May 1, 2013

San Francisco, California

"Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis"

Hope E. Wilson, Newsletter Editor

[email protected]

If you are interested in contributing to our

newsletter, please contact Hope Wilson.

NEWSLET TER I NFORMAT I ON

Join us for the 2013 Research on Gifted-

ness, Creativity, and Talent SIG Business

Meeting in San Francisco.

Our featured speaker will be Dr. Dean

Keith Simonton, Distinguished Professor

of Psychology at the University of Califor-

nia, Davis, and renowned expert in the

fields of genius, creativity, leadership, and

aesthetics.

Speaker for Business Meeting

Newsletter for the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent

Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research

Association

We’re on the web

www.aeragifted.org

AERA Annual Conference

Dean Keith Simonton

http://www.aera.net/Portals/38/docs/Annual_Meeting/2013%20Annual%20Meeting/Conference%20Theme%202013.pdf

http://www.aeragifted.org

ROGCT Newsletter Fall 2012

Documents

Transcript of ROGCT Newsletter Fall 2012