Na r r a t i v eOverview. The2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 5

academic year markedthe second yearof implementation forProject Athena inrandomized 3rd-5thgrade classroomsacross seven school

divisions: Fairfax County, VA., Gloucester County, VA.,Greene County, VA., Greenville, S.C., MontgomeryCounty, MD., Newport News, VA., and WestmorelandCounty, VA. Project Athena is a Javits fundeddemonstration grant targeting low-income high abilitystudents and in Year II included a total of 1435students. It demonstrates how the implementation ofresearch-based language arts curriculum can raisethe threshold of critical thinking and overall academicperformance in these students. Last fall, eachparticipating school division implemented anotherround of pre-assessment measures to determine ifstudents were making gains in measures of criticalthinking, reading comprehension, literary analysisand writing from Year 1. Following several pre-assessment measures, the districts in theexperimental classrooms implemented the College ofWilliam and Mary language arts units and thecomparison classrooms implemented the designatedschool division’s language arts curriculum. During theimplementation cycle, which lasted from October,2004 until February, 2005, Project Athena staff andgraduate students, along with several trained school

district personnel, conducted classroom observationstwice-once earlier in the implementation cycle andonce toward the end of the units. At the conclusion ofthe curriculum unit implementation, post-assessments were administered. One experimentalteacher commented, “I discovered that the students’benefited from the types of questioning, lessons, andliterature. I found that even after William & Maryimplementation was over, the students had becomefamiliar with the expectations and they began to giveme some really detailed, well thought out responses.”

In March, 2005, teachers, administrators, and projectstaff came to the campus of the College of William &Mary to celebrate students’ successes and positivedata results and plan for the next year. BetweenMarch and the end of the school year, Athena staffand graduate students analyzed pre and postassessment data from Year II implementation,planned for the Summer Institute professionaldevelopment sessions, and continued to work closelywith each school division.

Research Highlights. During Year Twoimplementation of Project Athena, experimentalstudents did significantly better than control studentson both the TCT and the ITBS reading, suggesting asignificant treatment effect of the curricularintervention.

Across two years, both experimental and control

In This Issue

From the Editors................................................2

In Memoriam Julian C. Stanley.........................2

Executive Director Remarks..............................3

Project Clarion: Promoting Scientific Conceptual Understanding in Promising Young Children..................................................5

Developing a Comprehensive Continuum of Services: Options and Resources.................6

Beyond Proficiency: A MassachusettsLeadership Policy Summit on Gifted andAcademically Advanced Students.....................7

Research Update On Project STAR Second Follow-up Study...................................7

Research Update On Project Synergy............10

Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and Mary

Project Athena: Still Going Strong!

Continued on page 4, Project Athena

S ystemsN e w s l e t t e r

Fall 2005 Volume 14 Number 1

On August 12, with the death ofDr. Julian Stanley, the field ofgifted education lost one of its

luminaries.

Dr. Stanley was born in East Point, GAin 1918 and graduated from WestGeorgia Junior College and GeorgiaSouthern University. He taught

science and math in Atlanta high schools, then served in the Army Air CorpsChemical Warfare Service during World War II. After the war, he returned toschool on the GI Bill, earning his Doctorate in Education from HarvardUniversity. He later received honorary doctorates from the University of NorthTexas and the State University of West Georgia.

Dr. Stanley began his career in academia as a quantitative psychologist andwas widely hailed for his work in educational research design. His book

Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs forResearch, coauthored with Donald Campbell, remains aclassic in the field. In 1969 the focus of his work took aturn. He met Joseph Bates, a highly gifted 13-year-oldwho had exhausted the opportunities offered by hisschool system, and became interested in high ability

students. Dr. Stanley began using standardized tests, including the CollegeBoard SAT, to measure advanced mathematical and verbal reasoning abilitiesin exceptionally gifted students. In 1979, the Center for Talented Youth wasestablished at Johns Hopkins University to further identify and serve giftedstudents. Other programs based on Dr. Stanley’s model were established atDuke University, Northwestern University, the University of Denver, and othersites, including Spain and Ireland. By 2005, these programs offered testing andrigorous course work to more than 200,000 highly talented students.

Dr. Stanley also served as an important mentor to Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska,executive director of the College of William and Mary’s Center for GiftedEducation, for nearly 30 years. She remembers, “He was a man on a missionto do as much as possible to make the world a better place for students withextraordinary capabilities. He intuited that the plight of the gifted in Americaneducation would never be eased unless systematic approaches to studentidentification and service, regardless of geography or social economic level,were found. He had a mind and a heart that refused to stop working until giftedstudents received an appropriate education for their nature and level ofabilities. “He will be missed by the world of gifted education for his clarity ofvision, his groundbreaking efforts in research and development on talent, andhis emphasis on personalizing the talent development process for so many. Weare all better people to have known him, and our society is richer for his life ofservice to others.”

In Memoriam Julian C. Stanley

2

We would like to welcome you to the fall issue of Systems. In this issue, we provide updates on some of the Center for Gifted Education’s manyongoing projects.

This issue’s first article discusses research results from Project Athena’s second year of implementation. Dr. Elissa Brown, Director of the Center for GiftedEducation, explores these results and discusses the teacher training provided by the Project Athena team this summer. Elsewhere in the issue, Dr. Brownalso shares her experiences at the Massachusetts Leadership Policy Summit on Gifted and Academically Advanced Students, held in April of this year, anddiscusses an evaluation study conducted by the Center for Gifted Education for the Ohio State Department of Education investigating Ohio Schools’continuum of services to gifted students.

In the second article, Dr. Valerie Hastings-Gregory, manager of Project Clarion, details progress on the units being developed for the project. Project Clarionwill be implemented in three school districts in Virginia and Maryland beginning in January, 2006. Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Executive Director of theCenter, and Dr. Annie Feng, the Center’s research and evaluation Director, share details of Project Synergy and Project STAR.

We hope that you continue to be enriched and enlightened by Systems. We strive to continue the high level of content provided by this publication.

From the Editors

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The following are excerpts from my remarks atthe special luncheon held for faculty andgraduating gifted education students, held

on May 13, 2005 on the campus of the College ofWilliam and Mary.

This spring, the Center published a special issue ofCurrent Issues in Gifted Education. Written by ourmaster’s and doctoral students, the journaldiscussed eminent creators in many fields. Whileeminence is inspiring, it represents the full scope ofa person’s career contribution. The goal of ourprogram here at the College of William and Mary isnot to create eminence but rather to provide thestructure for creating a productive professional lifein a role that involves our students as teachers,scholars, and advocates for gifted children in anarray of contexts from local school districts touniversities.

What are the variables that will help you becomecreatively productive over the course of yourcareer? The following ideas may prove helpful inthe quest.

Like the character Pi Patel in Yann Martel’s novelLife of Pi, who studied and actively practiced threedistinct religions - Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity- strive to be open to different and contrastingcultural stimuli and embrace diversity in all itsforms. Tolerate divergent views. Learn from peoplewho see the world differently. What are theirassumptions about the world that account for theirperspective? How is their view different fromyours? How can you accommodate theirperspective into a broader understanding of anissue or problem?

Think independently; do not limit yourself toviewing education through a single lens. Instead,be able to bring understanding from otherdisciplines to bear on educational problems. Forinstance, the economic theory of cost transactionscan help us to understand tradeoffs in schoolreform. We can use social capital theories toconstruct interventions for children of poverty and

psychological motivation theories to enhance thepotential for advanced learning. The aestheticqualities of the arts teach us to create balance andbring perspective and nuance to the acts ofteaching and learning. Key ideas that work in otherprofessional fields can also be brought to bear oneducation. We can learn from studies of leadershipand management in the business world and thecase model of learning from law.

In addition to looking at fields other than education,remember to bring together strands of thoughtfrom the branches within education to inform yourwork in gifted education. Adopt learning strategiesfrom special education. Draw on ideas aboutcontent-relevant pedagogy and assessment fromthe content area standards movement in generaleducation. Focus on wellness and exemplars ofexcellence in human functioning based on thepositive psychology movement in that discipline.Remember to stress becoming, not just being.Keep in mind Maslow’s self-improvement mantra,“Strive to be better tomorrow than today.”

Make sure to stay in touch with others in the field.Send them your work in progress. Find a group ofpeople who share your passion and commitment tothis field and stay in touch with them. Collaboratewith them on projects and keep the life of the mindalive through discussion. Do not look exclusively toyour peers, however; keep your mentors as well.The significant interactions with them that broughtyou to this point in your life can and shouldcontinue as you progress on the talentdevelopment journey.

Find ways to cope with social distractions andconstraints that take away your concentration andfocus on what you truly want to do.Csiksenmaihalyi’s study of constructive use ofleisure time found that socializing, hanging out atmalls, and TV watching were deadly foradolescents – this is true of adults as well. Taskcommitment and perseverance are essentialaspects of staying creatively productive throughoutlife, not just short term strategies useful for

finishing a master’s thesis or dissertation.

Maintain openness and a childlike vision ofpossibility in yourself, others, and our world.Consider James Banks’ view of socialreconstructionism as one of making a better worldthrough social action and change in education, notjust a passive acceptance of what is. Look for rolemodels who keep playfulness alive in their work,like David MacCauley, who used journals scribbledon a daily commute as the basis for publishedwork, or Jonas Salk, whose graphic doodles led tokey scientific breakthroughs.

Continue to deepen knowledge of your field andhow to study it. Attend conferences, read, andwrite papers for publication. Stay passionate aboutgood ideas, testing them out in real educationalcontexts. Continue to develop and refine yourideas. Remember the 10-year rule and give yourideas time to come to fruition.

Use critical and creative thinking skills deliberatelyand regularly. Make inferences and applyevaluative judgments with care. Discernassumptions based on multiple perspectives. Drawconsequences and implications from what hasoccurred, both positive and negative, short termand long term. Think divergently. Create analogiesto help understand difficult concepts, just asRobert Sternberg used investment strategy as ananalogy in his model for thinking about talent. Findthe apt metaphor. Consider the effectiveness ofmetaphors such as “the great chain of being” toillustrate connectivity in the world, “abandonment”as the metaphor behind No Child Left Behind, or“neglect” in the American Negro College Fundslogan “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste”.Practice techniques such as ideational fluency,combinational thinking, and selective comparisonwith existing organized ideas.

I conclude this talk with the poem “I RememberGalileo” by Gerald Stern.

Continued on page 4, Executive Director

F r o m t h e E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r

D r . J o y c e V a n T a s s e l - BB a s k a

students registered significantlearning gains on the TCTand the ITBS reading.Experimental students obtainedhigher mean scores thancontrol students on both TCTand ITBS reading at eachtesting point during two years’implementation.

Two years’ data showed thatthere was a gender effect onTCT, favoring female students’performance across the board.

There appeared to be nogender effect on the ITBSreading assessment betweenmale and female students over a two year implementation.

The two year longitudinal data also indicated that therewas an ethnicity effect on both the TCT and the ITBSreading assessment, with White Americans registeringhighest group performance, followed by AfricanAmerican and Hispanic student populations. This

pattern was true for both the experimental and control groups.

Experimental teachers scored statistically significant and educationally largeron the COS-R scale than control teachers.

Within experimental teachers, returning Athena teachers demonstratedcontinued increasing instructional improvement from the first to the secondobservation in Year Two implementation.

4

I remember Galileo describing the mindas a piece of paper blown around by the wind,

and I loved the sight of it sticking to a tree,or jumping into the backseat of a car,

and for years I watched paper leap through my cities;but yesterday I saw the mind was a squirrel caught crossing

Route 80 between the wheels of a giant truck,dancing back and forth like a thin leaf,

or a frightened string, for only two seconds livingon the white concrete before he got away,

his life shortened by all that terror, his headjerking, his yellow teeth ground down to dust.

It was the speed of the squirrel and his lowness to the ground,his great purpose and the alertness of his dancing,

that showed me the difference between him and paper.Paper will do in theory, when there is time

to sit back in a metal chair and study shadows;but for this life I need a squirrel,

his clawed feet spread, his whole soul quivering,

the loud noise shaking him from head to tail.O philosophical mind, O mind of paper, I need a squirrel

finishing his wild dash across the highway,rushing up his green ungoverned hillside.

The squirrel image of Stern’s poem is apropos of today’s life in the fast lane. Noone has the luxury of time to contemplate in ivory towers, whether they arecontextual or self-imposed. We need to enter the fray and use our intelligencewisely and our time well.

The program at the College of William and Mary has given you a toolkit tocontinue a lifelong journey of talent development in a chosen field. You have theintellectual scaffolding and skills you need to succeed as well as connections topeople and institutions to help you on your journey. Make meaning out of whatyou have been given here. Go forth and create a creative and productiveprofessional life in gifted education!

Executive Director(cont’d from page 3)

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Project Athena(cont’d from page 1)

Lee Hall Experimental Teachers receiving instructional training from Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska,Principal Investigator for Project Athena (l to r): Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Charmaine Hubbard,Dani Dulli, and Nooshin Haghprast.

Fort Belvoir staff at the Summer Institute Training forProject Athena. (Background - l to r) Administrators atFort Belvoir: Nancy Bradley and Jane Wilson; (standing)Dr. Annie Feng, Director of Research for the Center forGifted Education; (foreground) Teacher: CarolynTompkins.

Project Clarion, a five-year scale up Javitsproject, was initiated by the Center for GiftedEducation during the 2004-2005 academic

year. Project Clarion’s objectives are as follows: 1)to implement instrumentation sensitive to lowsocio-economic learners for purposes of enhancedidentification and assessment of learning, 2)implement, refine, and extend research-basedconcept curriculum units of study in grades Pre-K– 3 in three school districts, develop andimplement professional training models forteachers, administrators, and broader schoolcommunities, and 3) conduct research on shortterm and longitudinal student learning gains, aswell as investigate the mechanisms that promoteinstitutionalization of innovation through curriculumscaling up.

Project Clarion’s first year of implementation was abusy one! Accomplishments reflected three majorproject thrusts: communicating with districts aboutProject Clarion, determining experimental andcomparison classrooms in collaborating districts,and developing earth, life, and physical sciencecurriculum units for pre-kindergarten through thirdgrade students.

Principal investigators Dr. Bruce Bracken and Dr.Joyce VanTassel-Baska and project managerDr. Valerie Gregory conducted ambassadormeetings to each participating school district:Fairfax County, Virginia; Gloucester County,

Virginia and MontgomeryCounty, Maryland. Sixschools with a minimumof 56 experimentalclassrooms and 56control classrooms willparticipate, with anestimated total of 1,010students in experimentalclassrooms and 935students in controlclassrooms.

Another primary focusof 2004-2005 was thedevelopment of scienceunits for pre-kindergartenthrough third gradestudents. Earth, life, and physical science unitswere developed for each grade level—a total of 15units. Curriculum units are aligned to state andnational standards and are based on a curriculumframework that targets:

1. Basic concepts related to understanding theworld of science and mathematics,

2. Overarching concepts that unifyunderstanding basic concepts in science andmathematics (i.e., systems, change,patterns, cause and effect),

3. Knowledge of selected content topics inscience and mathematics.

4. Interrelated science process skills,5. Critical thinking skills,6. Creative thinking, and7. Curiosity and interest in the world of science.

Also, the units emphasize metacognition, studentchoice, observation of individual learners and thelearning process, exploration and inquiry-basedplay, interdisciplinary concepts and processes, arich, materials-based environment, and parentinvolvement extensions. The following chartoutlines the scope and sequence for curriculumunit topics by grade level.

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Project Clarion: Promoting Scientific Conceptual Understandingin Promising Young Children

Project Clarion Staff (standing from l to r): Dr. Valerie Gregory, Project Manager and ElizabethCrawford, Research assistant; (sitting from l to r): Research assistants, Megan Balduff, PeggyJaquot, Andrew Wnek, and Denise Drain.

Grade Level (Concept)

Earth Science Units

Life Science Units

Physical Science Units

Pre-K (Patterns)

Patterns in Our World Looking for Patterns in Nature Patterns in Light and Shadows

K (Change)

Feet on the Ground, Head in the Clouds: Changes in Earth

and Sky

Going Full Circle: Life Cycles Tinkering with Toys: Exploring Physical Science

Grade 1 (Cause & Effect) What a Disaster! Natural and Man-Made Environmental

Changes

Where the Wild Things Are : A Study of Animals

Commotion in Motion: Forces and Magnetism

Grade 2 (Varies)

Scientific Investigators Inc: The Weather Mystery (Meteorology)

(Concept: Systems)

Scientific Investigators Inc: The Mystery Cure (Botany)

(Concept: Systems)

Scientific Investigators Inc: What's The Matter?

(Physics) (Concept: Change)

Grade 3 (varies)

Scientific Investigators Inc: Save It! Everything Comes

from Something (Conservation)

(Concept: Cause & Effect)

Scientific Investigators Inc: Return of the Wolves (Habitats and

Adaptation) (Concept: Systems)

Scientific I nvestigators Inc: Investigating Simple

Machines (Concept: Systems)

Introduction and Overview From January 24, 2005 to June 30, 2005, the Ohio Department of Education(ODE) contracted with the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William& Mary to conduct a comprehensive research and evaluation study, incollaboration with the Ohio Department of Education and five Ohio partnerschool districts, on developing a comprehensive continuum of services for giftedstudents. The project was conducted under the co-directorship of Dr. JoyceVanTassel-Baska, Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education and ExecutiveDirector of the Center for Gifted Education, and Dr. Elissa Brown, Director of theCenter for Gifted Education. In addition to Joyce and Elissa, the research teamconsisted of Dr. Annie Feng, Tamra Stambaugh, and Bess Worley II.

Study Purpose and Evaluation QuestionsThe research and evaluation study responded to several project objectives: a)to conduct a review and analysis of national research and school district policiesand practices related to providing a comprehensive continuum of services forgifted students, b) to develop a “toolkit” for educators that includes a summaryof the analysis and research as well as model policies and practicalrecommendations for school districts, c) to evaluate the availability andcomprehensiveness of gifted services available in Ohio schools, d) to documentOhio best practices and recommendations for Ohio school districts regardingservice settings, and e) to provide recommendations for the Ohio Departmentof Education regarding policy development and resources needed to implementa comprehensive K-12 services in Ohio schools.

To investigate the above objectives and provide a foundation for the toolkit, thefollowing research questions guided the design and implementation of thisstudy.

1. To what extent are appropriate instruction and services available to K-12gifted students in Ohio?

2. To what extent do instruction and service settings employed by Ohioschools match research-based best practices?

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of popular service settingsemployed by Ohio schools?

4. What barriers prevent the provision of a comprehensive continuum ofservices for gifted students?

5. What policies, activities, and resources are needed for ODE and schooldistricts to improve the availability of comprehensive continua of servicesfor gifted students?

6. How can school districts use available resources most effectively to servegifted students?

Data SourcesTo investigate the above research questions, quantitative and qualitative data

were collected from multiple sources includingquestionnaire statewide coordinator survey, documentreviews, focus groups, interviews, and ODE self-reportEMIS data. Case studies were developed with identifiedpartnering districts. The five school districts selected forcase study analysis were Antwerp Local, CambridgeCity, Maumee City, Salem City, and Pickerington Local.

Products DevelopedThe following products were developed as a result of the study:

Research Review and Summary of Continuum of Services LiteratureThis product is a thorough review of the research and literature in theareas of continuum of services, curriculum and instruction, organizationalarrangements, and student performance and program evaluation. Acontinuum of services implies that there is a range in the levels and typesof need among gifted students at each grade level and that gifted studentsmay need a range of services at each grade level of their school career,not just during certain grades. Based on empirical data and literature-based references, the need for a continuum of services for gifted studentsis well-documented in the literature, although few states or local schooldistricts employ a full range of service options K-12. Five District Case StudiesThis product represents in-depth qualitative research case studies of fiveselected school systems in Ohio conducted to gain perceptions fromvarious stakeholder groups of their understanding of the provision of acontinuum of services for gifted learners within their school district context.The districts were selected by the Ohio Department of Education and arefrom different geographic regions from the state of Ohio. Each case studyconsists of the summaries of a series of interviews with key personnel,such as the Superintendent; focus group sessions with differentstakeholder groups, such as parents or teachers; a document analysis ofrelevant documents submitted by the district, and an overview of theservice model employed in the district. A member of the research teamconducted an on-site visit to each selected school district to gather andanalyze the qualitative data. Ohio Statewide Survey ResultsLocal school districts in the state of Ohio are required to complete anannual self-report on identification and services for gifted students. Thisproduct contains the quantitative survey results from a total of 600 Ohiolocal districts providing information on identification and services during2003-2004. Toolkit and Resources for Developing a Comprehensive Continuumof ServicesThe district toolkit provides a framework for school district personnel tosee an overview of placement and service models for gifted, the literatureand/or research support for each service, practice-based resources andmaterials, the level of cost efficiency and staff expertise needed to carryout the relevant service. At the end of the toolkit are sample continuum ofservices templates that districts can use when describing anddocumenting their array of services.

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Developing a Comprehensive Continuum of Services: Options and Resources

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Massachusetts is a state that, until recently,had no funding for gifted learners, no statemandates for identification or service, and

no policies to safeguard and promote giftededucation. That all changed on April 28-29, 2005.An unprecedented event occurred in giftededucation! Over 300 educational leaders, most ofwhom were school superintendents from 108school districts, collaboratives, and charter schoolsin Massachusetts, gathered to articulate theissues, identify problems, and suggest action plansthat will ultimately create policy and informdecision-makers for the gifted and academicallyadvanced students in Massachusetts. This was thefirst conference of its kind targeted for schoolsuperintendents of Massachusetts. When queriedabout the need for this type of summit, Dr. ThomasPayzant, Superintendent of Boston public schools,replied, “Too often our students with the highestpotential, who are capable of more rigorous andchallenging learning, do not receive the necessaryencouragement and support necessary to motivatethem to excel. Massachusetts must not leavebehind these high potential youth who come fromall racial, ethnic, and socio-economicbackgrounds. This type of Summit is imperative forMassachusetts.” The two day event broughtMassachusetts’s school district superintendents,representatives from higher education, keypersonnel from the state department of education,and members of the Massachusetts statelegislature together with national experts in giftededucation. The goals of the Summit included:

Gather and disseminate data on the currentstate of gifted and academically advancededucationProvide research-based options for policyCreate action plans that delineate step-by-step processes to build better educationaloptions Provide follow-up support on action plandetails so that plans can be successfullyimplemented.

The Center for Gifted Education partnered with theMassachusetts Department of Education in thedevelopment of the Summit by providing strategicplanning and technical assistance in laying out theframework for the two day Summit. During theSummit, Dr. Elissa Brown, Director of the Centerfor Gifted Education at the College of William &Mary, served as Summit moderator. On the firstday of the Summit, participants heard from

international experts in gifted education: Dr. SallyReis from the University of Connecticut, Dr. JoyceVan Tassel-Baska from The College of William &Mary, and Dr. Nick Colangelo from the University ofIowa. Participants were pre-assigned to one of fiveworking groups and on day two, after a morningkeynote address by Dr. Donna Ford of VanderbiltUniversity, participants spent the day in theirworking sessions reflecting on salient points fromthe previous day’s presentations, identifyingrelevant issues, and developing action plans forimplementation. Small group facilitators for thesegroups were Karen Rogers, Rick Olenchak, AnnRobinson, Catherine Little, and Joyce VanTassel-Baska. As a result of the April Summit, thefollowing activities have occurred inMassachusetts:

A Summit DVD featuring all keynotespeakers was developed and distributed toall Summit participants. In addition, 50additional districts have requested copies.Many school districts are using the DVD tohold in-house staff development foreducators.A draft policy paper and summary of SummitAction plans has been developed, and will besubmitted to the Governor of Massachusetts

and members of the state house by October,2005.The Chair of the Massachusetts sub-committee on education convened a specialhearing to learn about the outcomes of theSummit. The state allocated $500,000 for giftededucation in Massachusetts.Coursework in gifted education is beingoffered for the first time through UMASS-Amherst and UMASS-Boston.Virtual High School has opened 50 on-linehigh school courses to eligible gifted andtalented middle school students. The Massachusetts Department of Educationreceived a $326,682 Javits grant entitled“The Massachusetts Partnership,” which willbuild on existing state initiatives.

Based on the success of this model, the NationalAssociation for Gifted Children, in collaborationwith the College Board, will host a forum at theNAGC conference in November especially forKentucky superintendents as one of the pre-convention events.

Beyond Proficiency: A Massachusetts Leadership Policy Summiton Gifted and Academically Advanced Students

The Project STAR Follow-up II study has entered its second year. The purpose of this second follow-up study is twofold: to conduct a continuing trend analysis of profiles and performance of students whoqualified for the gifted program based on their scores on a performance task assessment and to

examine in-depth the learning and developmental characteristics of the special population of interest (i.e.,low income and minority students).

The research team has conducted on-site and off-site phone interviews with fifth and seventh gradestudents, parents, and teachers and developed 37 vignettes for cases with data from these threeperspectives. Summary findings were written for each of five research prototypes: low income AfricanAmerican students, low income other minority students, low income White students, high nonverbal and lowverbal students, and twice-exceptional students. Cross-prototype themes were also derived. The PrincipalInvestigator, Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, reviewed and edited all vignettes with feedback from eachresearcher regarding suggested changes. The vignettes will provide a data based perspective on specialpopulation prototypes for use in professional development contexts.

For the quantitative component of the study, we were able to examine the trend of identification profiles ofProject STAR-identified students in terms of gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status relative to that of

Research Update on Project STAR SecondFollow-up Study

Continued on page 10, Project STAR

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The Center ispleased toannounce the

publication of thethird edition ofC o m p r e h e n s i v eCurriculum for GiftedLearners by JoyceVanTassel-Baska andTamra Stambaugh. The book, a guide fordeveloping and selecting appropriate curriculumfor gifted learners with an emphasis on complyingwith national and state standards, has beensignificantly revised for this new edition. It featuresnew chapters on technology connections andassessment and evaluation of gifted learners aswell as new or significantly updated graphicorganizers, lesson plans, and model curricula. Co-author Tamra Stambaugh shared her reaction tothe book’s publication: “The second edition of thebook was one of the first books I read when Ientered the field of gifted education. I trust the thirdedition will impact educators and students the waythe previous edition influence my professionalpractice and consequently the teachers andstudents with whom I work.”

Center Executive Director NewsAfter two years as President-Elect of the NationalAssociation for Gifted Children, Dr. JoyceVanTassel-Baska ascended to the organization’spresidency this month. She has identified fourmajor initiatives to be addressed during herpresidency: new NCATE teacher educationstandards and the creation of a university networkof scholars in the field, a renewed emphasis onstate policy development and strengthening stateand local program efforts, a focus on promisingstudents of poverty, and an increased emphasis onmultiple perspectives on issues in the field.

Dr. VanTassel-Baska brings 40 years ofeducational experience to bear on her new role asNAGC president. She has worked as both a

teacher and administratorin local schools, a statedirector of gifted programs,regional director ofprofessional developmentfor 100 school districts,

and founding director of two university-basedcenters for gifted education. She says, “I amexcited and thrilled to lead such an importantorganization during this dynamic period of changein both the field and the organization.” We wish herwell as she begins her term of office.

This August, Dr. VanTassel-Baska received thePresident’s award from the World Council forGifted and Talented Children for exceptional workfor and service to that organization over the pastseven years as editor of Gifted and TalentedInternational.

In August, Dr. VanTassel-Baska also delivered theEsther Katz Rosen lecture at the AmericanPsychological Association conference inWashington, D.C. She discussed nurturing giftedstudents through the use of high quality curriculumand research-based instructional strategies,drawing on a decade of research from the Centerfor Gifted Education here at the College of Williamand Mary.

National Association for GiftedChildren (NAGC) AwardsThe Center is pleased to announce two awardsfrom the National Association for Gifted Children(NAGC) this year. Dr. Chwee Quek, a recentdoctoral graduate of the College of William andMary Education Planning Policy and Leadershipprogram, will be receiving the Doctoral Studentaward at the NAGC conference in November. Weare proud of her accomplishment and will miss herpresence at the Center.

In addition, A House Divided? The Civil War: ItsCauses and Effects, a new social studiescurriculum unit produced by the Center for use withfifth and sixth grade students, will be honored witha curriculum award.

******************************************Additional Staff and GraduateAssistantsA new academic year always brings changes. Hereat the Center, we are celebrating the addition oftwo staff members and one faculty member to ourcommunity.

Dr. Janice Robbinscomes to the Centerwith an extensivebackground in giftededucation. She hasspent much of hercareer in FairfaxCounty public schools,

working as a classroom teacher, gifted resourceteacher, county gifted coordinator, and principal oftwo schools, Haycock Elementary and LongfellowMiddle, with centers for highly gifted children. Shealso worked as curriculum chief for the Departmentof Defense schools and has served as advisoryboard member for both the Center and the VirginiaState Association for the Gifted. Dr Robbinsearned her Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation fromVirginia Tech and comes to the Center as theDirector of Special Projects.

Dr. Thea Williams-Hayes joins us asthe new Director ofP r e - C o l l e g i a t eLearner Programs.She earned her Ph.D.in Curriculum andInstruction from theUniversity of Southern

Mississippi and has taught both regular and giftedelementary students in Mississippi. She alsorevised the Handbook of English LanguageLearners for K-12 students as an educationalconsultant for the state of Mississippi. She comesto the Center after working as an AssistantProfessor at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.

Dr. Carol Tieso isour new AssistantProfessor of GiftedEducation. She holdsa B.S. in politicalscience and anM.S. in internationalrelations and taughtmiddle and high

school in California for 16 years before becominginterested in gifted education. She received herPh.D. from the University of Connecticut andS

C e n t e rAnnouncements and Updates

Continued on page 9, Announcements

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served as Assistant Professor of Education at theUniversity of Alabama before coming to theCollege of William and Mary.

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We also welcome the following new students to thegraduate programs.

Doctoral Students:Bronwyn MacFarlane earned both a B.S. inSecondary Education and a M.Ed. in Curriculumand Instruction with a minor in Literacy from theUniversity of Missouri-Columbia. She holds asecond masters degree in Counseling fromStephens College, a private Missouri women’scollege. She has seven years’ experience as ateacher of multiple preparations across grades 7-12 for Gifted, French, and Social Studies classes.Bronwyn works at the Center as a researchassistant.

Wilma Sharp earned her master’s degree in giftededucation from the College of William and Mary in2004 and is returning this year to begin work onher doctorate. She is a teacher at Clara Byrd BakerElementary School here in Williamsburg and wasselected as a Teaching Fellow by the Center forGifted Education in 2001.

Master’s Students:Megan Balduf, a former New Yorker, graduatedfrom the College of William and Mary in 2003. Shereturns to the College after 2 years of teachingintegrated language arts at Dozier Middle Schoolin Newport News. She is working as a graduateassistant with Project Clarion.

Easter Christophergraduated in 1995 fromChristopher NewportUniversity with a degreein English and elementaryeducation. After a 10-year hiatus to raise herfamily, she is lookingforward to working in thefield of gifted education.She is editing theSystems newsletter as agraduate assistant atthe Center.

Christy Close holds aB.A. in drama andEnglish literature fromR a n d o l p h - M a c o nCollege and an M.A. ineducational theater fromNew York University. She taught English literatureand served as faculty advisor of the dramadepartment at Stuyvesant High School in New YorkCity. She is studying school counseling with anemphasis on gifted students and working as agraduate assistant with several special projects.

Vickie Daley received her BS in elementaryeducation with a minor in music from the Universityof New Mexico at Albuquerque and spent onesemester teaching fourth and fifth grade. She isworking as a graduate assistant at the Center.

Mandy Fordham hails from Littleton, Colorado,where she was gifted and talented facilitator atRunyon Elementary School for three years. Shealso worked as a multi-exceptional facilitator in the

Littleton Public Schools. She completed herundergraduate degree at Miami University inSpecial Education, emphasis in Mild/ModerateDisabilities and Gifted/Talented Education.

Peggy Jacquot earned a BS in elementaryeducation from Baylor University in 1990. She hastaught a variety of subjects in multiple settings,ranging from enrichment workshops for the USSpace Foundation to technology classes for PreKthrough junior high school learners. She comes tothe College of William and Mary from San Diego,where she taught second grade at a privateChristian school.

Lydia Lassalle is originally from Pearl River,Louisiana. In May, 2005, she graduated fromSamford University in Birmingham, Alabama with a

Announcements(cont’d from page 8)

Systems is a newsletter published by:Center for Gifted Education

427 Scotland StreetWilliamsburg, VA 23185

Postal Address: Center for Gifted Education The College of William and Mary

P.O. Box 8795Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795

Phone: 757-221-2362; Fax: 757-221-2184Web Address: www.cfge.wm.edu

email address: cfge@wm.eduExecutive Director: Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska

Systems Editors: Dr. Elissa Brown and Easter ChristopherDesign/Layout/Technical Assistant: Sharron Gatling

Center for Gifted Education’s Graduate Assistants from l to r (standing): Mandy Fordham, VictoriaDaley, Easter Christopher, and Bronwyn MacFarlane; (kneeling from l to r): Lydia Lassalle, AndrewWnek, and Elizabeth Sanger.

Center for Gifted Education’s Graduate Assistants from l to r: Elizabeth Crawford, Peggy Jacquot, Megan Balduf, Andrew Wnek, andDenise Drain.

Continued on page 10, Announcements

This year, the Center for Gifted Education hasbeen collaborating with researchers andpractitioners from the National Institute of

Education and the Gifted Branch of the SingaporeMinistry of Education on a cross-cultural study ofsecondary gifted classroom teaching practices.Titled Project Synergy, this study spearheaded theCenter’s efforts to study gifted education at aninternational level.

There are two main purposes for this study:to examine similarities and differences in teachingpractices used with gifted learners in selectivesecondary schools in Singapore and the United

States and to delve intoperspectives of selectivesecondary teachers andadministrators on exemplaryteaching practices withineach culture and how that

has shaped their teaching practice.

Using the College of William and Mary-developedClassroom Observation Scale-Revised (COS-R,VanTassel-Baska, Avery, Struck, Feng, Bracken,Drummond, & Stambaugh, 2003), the researchteam collected observation data on 67 Singapore9th and 10th grade gifted class teachers and 42American Advanced Placement teachers across avariety of subjects. In order to focus on strategiesused with relatively homogeneous groups ofidentified gifted students, different grade levelswere included.

Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska conducted face-to-face interviews with seven nominated bestteachers in each of the seven subject areas andseven administrators in charge of curriculum andinstruction in Singapore this August. Gifted branchofficers were also surveyed on their perceptions of

the best teaching practices.

In the coming months, the research team will finishdata collection and analyses, presenting andsharing results at the coming National Associationfor Gifted Children (NAGC) Convention.

10S

traditionally identified gifted students across a spanof six years (2000-2005), thanks to the GIFTdataset provided by the South Carolina StateDepartment of Education. We also examinedacademic performance of South Carolina giftedstudents in relationship to the route of identificationlongitudinally (2001-2004) in the area of Englishlanguage arts and mathematics.

The analysis of the South Carolina GIFT datashowed that Project STAR performance taskscontinued to identify higher proportions of giftedstudents of low income background, AfricanAmericans, and female students than thetraditional aptitude and achievement method for sixconsecutive years. Students’ identified strengthareas were consistent with their performance levelin the corresponding areas of English languagearts and mathematics of PACT, the South Carolinastate assessment (2001-2004).

Traditionally identified gifted students outperformed

Project STAR-identified students in both areas forfour years, although the magnitude of differencewas small. Gifted female students in SouthCarolina outperformed their male counterparts inEnglish language arts and male gifted students didbetter than females in mathematics. With regard toethnicity, an achievement gap was still evident,with White students outperforming Black andHispanic students on both areas of the stateassessment (PACT) from 2001-2004. Asianstudents appeared to be an exception, withperformance equal to or better than Whitestudents, particularly in mathematics, over theyears.

A report documenting both quantitative andqualitative findings and making recommendationswill be produced for the South Carolina StateDepartment of Education this fall.

Project STAR(cont’d from page 7)

Research Update on Project Synergy

Announcements(cont’d from page 9)

Bachelor’s degree in education andcertifications in elementary, early childhood,special, and collaborative education. As agraduate assistant at the Center, she will becoordinating the Focusing on the Futureconference.

Elizabeth Sanger is a graduate of DickinsonCollege (B.A. Psychology) and the Collegeof William and Mary (M.A.Ed. ElementaryEducation). She is currently a student in theCollege of William and Mary M.A.Ed. GiftedEducation program and a graduate assistantat the Center.

ContentsPART ONE - THE PROCESS OF CURRICULUM MAKINGCurriculum for the Gifted: Past, Present, & FutureCurriculum Design Issues in Developing a Curriculum for the GiftedCurriculum Development ProcessesDeveloping Key curriculum Products

PART TWO - ADAPTING CURRICULUM TO GIFTED LEARNER NEEDS IN COREDOMAINSDifferentiating Curriculum: The ProcessReading and Language Arts Curriculum for the Gifted LearnerLanguage Study for Gifted LearnersMathematics Curriculum for the Gifted LearnerSocial Studies Curriculum and the Gifted LearnerScience Curriculum for the Gifted

PART THREE - ADAPTING CURRICULUM TO GIFTED LEARNER NEEDS IN NON-COREDOMAINSLeadership Curriculum for the GiftedArts curriculum for the GiftedAffective Curriculum and Instruction for Gifted LearnersDeveloping Interdisciplinary Curriculum through Humanities StudyAccommodating Special Populations of Gifted Students through TailoredCurriculum Experiences

PART FOUR - SCAFFOLDING INSTRUCTION TO SUPPORT DIFFERENTIATEDCURRICULUMTeaching Ciritical Thinking, Problem Solving, and ResearchTeaching CreativityUsing Technology to Supplement Gifted CurriculumInstructional Strategies in Programs for the GiftedInstructional Management Strategies for Effective CurriculumImplementation

PART FIVE - THE PROCESS OF CURRICULUM CHANGEAssessment of Gifted Student LearningEducational Leadership in Gifted Programs

Comprehensive Curriculum forGifted Learners provides atheoretical, research-basedframework and practical ideasfor writing, implementing, andadapting curriculum for giftedlearners in a standards-basedera.

Topics addressed include:various curriculum theories, theIntegrated Curriculum Model,

curriculum reform, a process for curriculum design anddevelopment, culminating in examples of key curriculum products.

New to This Edition:Adaptations and connections to national standards. At-risk populationsAccommodating special needs. Technology connectionsAssessment and evaluationUpdated graphic organizers, lesson plans, relevant examples,and model curricula. Guiding questions for discussion at the end of each chapter

11

FOCUSING ON THE FUTUREJanuary 21, 2006

NATIONAL CURRICULUM NETWORK CONFERENCEMarch 6-8, 2006

PROFESSIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE ON CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONJUNE 26-28, 2006

SATURDAY ENRICHMENT PROGRAMFEBRUARY 11, 2006 - MARCH 25, 2006

ADVANCED PLACEMENTJuly 31, 2006 - August 4, 2006

Upcoming Center For Gifted Education Events

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THIRD EDITION

Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Learners

Joyce VanTassel-BaskaTamra Stambaugh

Center for Gifted EducationThe College of William and MaryP.O. Box 8795Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795

NONPROFIT ORGU.S. Postage

PAIDWilliamsburg, VA

Permit No. 26S ystemsN e w s l e t t e r

Center for Gifted Educationannounces

The Eleventh AnnualNational Curriculum Network Conference

March 6-99, 2006

KKeeyynnoottee SSppeeaakkeerrss:: Dr. Linda Silverman

Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska

FFeeaattuurreedd SSppeeaakkeerr::Michael Thompson

Registration materials available by contacting the Center for Gifted Education at 757-221-2166 or from our web site,www.cfge.wm.edu/profdev.php.

Joyce, much of thisinformation ispending. I am waitingon Dawn to give meconfirmed informationabout NCNC.