WISD Gifted and Talented Resources

Here are some Gifted and Talented website resources for educators, parents and students. These websites can help answer questions, highlight specific opportunities and connect parents and teachers of gifted students.

Local WCAGE meeting

The Washtenaw County Alliance for Gifted Education (WCAGE) is an affiliate member of the Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education. WCAGE hosts seminars to support the unique needs of gifted, talented and creative students and during the summer sponsors the Michigan Mentorships on the U of M campus program for high school students.

The next Washtenaw County Alliance for Gifted Education (WCAGE) meeting is scheduled for this coming spring 2009. Parents, students and educators are welcome to attend. Meeting dates will be posted as they become available.

Questions: contact Elaine Fisher, WCAGE President (734) 663-1706 or Cheryl White at cherwhit@umich.edu

Local Gifted and Talented Schools

Emerson
http://www.emerson-school.org/
An independent K-8 school for gifted and academically talented students

Kettering Elementary, Willow Run Community Schools http://www.wrcs.k12.mi.us/

Willow Run Community Schools is proud to announce the opening of a new Gifted and Talented program beginning with the fall 2008 school year. This program will be for students in grades 2nd-6th and will be housed in Kettering Elementary, 1633 Knowles and is for in-district and out-of-district students.

Questions can be answered by viewing the Gifted and Talented brochure, calling Ms. Delores Jenkins, Gifted and Talented Site Coordinator at (734) 481-8288 or Ms. Penny Morgan, Academic Services Facilitator (734) 961-6320.

Summers Knoll School
http://www.summers-knoll.org/
Summers-Knoll School exists to enable bright, creative, and gifted children to realize their unique academic, social and emotional potential in a beautiful, loving setting.

Gifted and Talented articles

High-Achieving Students in the Era of No Child Left Behind June 18, 2008 by Ann Duffett, Steve Farkas, Tom Loveless http://www.edexcellence.net/ detail/news.cfm?news_id=732&id=92 http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/ 20080618_high_achievers.pdf

This publication on the Thomas Fordham Institute webpage reports the results of the first two (of five) studies of a multifaceted research investigation of the state of high-achieving students in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era. Part I examines achievement trends for high-achieving students since the early 1990s; Part II reports on teachers' own views of how schools are serving high-achieving pupils in the NCLB era. Key findings indicate stronger progress for low achievers than for high achievers.

Gifted Education Left Behind
The February 2007 issue of The School Administrator, which is published by the American Association of School Administrators, is focused on Gifted & Talented issues -- Are High-Ability Students Being Challenged - Or Left Behind?

Article titles include Applying Gifted Pedagogy School wide, No Child Left Bored, Weaving the Gifted into the Full Fabric, and Dangerous Intersection Ahead. Also, in this issue read separate interviews with Michael Gelb, Daniel Pink and Stephen Covey in the article by Donna McCaw. View these articles and more on their website: http://www.aasa.org/publications/ saissuedetail.cfm?ItemNumber=8202
Questions regarding these articles? Contact Amy Moss at amoss@aasa.org

Ten Things All Administrators Should Know About Gifted Children August 2008--from AASA and the National Association of Gifted Children http://aasa.files.cms-plus.com/ Word/Toolkits/ToolkitGifted%20Children.doc

'No Child' Law May Slight the Gifted The Washington Post, November 2007 http://aasa.files.cms-plus.com/ Word/SpecialLearnersArticle.doc

Summer Opportunities

Center For Talent Development 2007 Program Dates at Northwestern University
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/summer/

John Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth
http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/

MI Mentorships 2008 for High School Students
on the UM campus -- Summer 2009
MI Mentorships is a unique opportunity for high school students to interact with University of Michigan graduate students engaged in research. The program is arranged through the cooperation of the Washtenaw County Alliance for Gifted Education (WCAGE) and the University of Michigan.

• For Washtenaw and Livingston County 9-12th graders who enjoy learning at an accelerated rate
• Students will spend 8 hours with their mentors between June and August exploring Engineering, English, Science, Math, the Arts, etc.
• There will be a reception for the high school students and mentors to plan their sessions
• $150 fee
• Registration will begin in May of 2009

Summer Institute for the Gifted and Gifted Education Resources
http://www.giftedstudy.com/

SIG @ University of Michigan
http://www.giftedstudy.com/residential/michigan/index.asp

Young Scholars
http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org

Gifted and Talented Organizations

Michigan Alliance for Gifted Education
http://www.migiftedchild.org/
This is a great site for finding up to date local conference opportunities, information about a student summer scholarship program, student mini-grants program, and more.

NAGC-National Association for Gifted Children
NAGC addresses what's at stake if high-potential learners are not challenged and encouraged. They invest their resources to train teachers, encourage parents and educate administrators and policymakers on how to develop and support gifted children. http://www.nagc.org/

NAGC Pre-K to Grade 12 Gifted Program Standards
http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=546

NAGC Resource Directoryhttp://www.nagc.org/resourcedirectory.aspx

Davidson Institute's GT-CyberSource
http://www.gt-cybersource.org/?NavID=0_0

Center for Talent Development-Serving Gifted Students and their Families
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/
Midwest Talent Search, Summer Programs, Learning Links

National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html
http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/nrconlin.html#94202
Many online resources, research, newsletter, educational resource website links from the University of Connecticut

Michigan Information: Talent Development (previously Gifted & Talented)

Michigan Dept of Education Talent Development (Gifted & Talented) http://www.michigan.gov/mde/ 0,1607,7-140-6530_30334_40100---,00.html

*MDE - GT Announcement and Information LISTSERV
A new MDE-GT Announcement and Information LISTSERV is now available to distribute general Gifted and Talented Program announcements. The Gifted and Talented Program Unit will use the MDE-GT LISTSERV to expand communication to administrators, building principals, teachers, parents, and community members - virtually any interested party who would like to receive current Gifted and Talented Program information.

1. Send an email message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.MICHIGAN.GOV
2. In the subject field, type SUB MDE-GT. Please note the space between SUB and MDE-GT
3. In the message body, type SUBSCRIBE MDE-GT Your Name

Be sure to type Your Actual Name in the above line with your name. For example, SUBSCRIBE MDE-GT John Doe.

Send E-mail.

You should receive an email from the LISTSERV asking you to reply to the message to complete your subscription. The purpose of this email is to confirm your request to be added to the list. You will then receive a second email notifying you that you have been added to the MDE-GT LISTSERV that will also include information on how to use the LISTSERV service. You may unsubscribe from the list at any time by sending a "SIGNOFF MDE-GT" command to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.MICHIGAN.GOV. (You can also get these directions as a PDF on the MDE webpage: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/ Gifted_and_talented_129856_7.pdf )

Gifted Education goes Online with
E-learning Courses

The Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) at Stanford University
http://epgy.stanford.edu/
This is a continuing project dedicated to developing and offering multimedia computer-based distance-learning courses. Combining technical and instructional expertise, EPGY provides high-ability students of all ages with an individualized educational experience, optimized in both pace and content. Through EPGY, students have access to courses in a variety of subjects at levels ranging from kindergarten through advanced-undergraduate. Since its inception over 50,000 students from 35 countries have taken courses from EPGY.

Northwestern University Learning Links
http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/
Gifted LearningLinks 2008-09 enrichment classes are for grades 3-8, while the Honors and AP classes are for grades 6-12. Schools can use the Gifted LearningLinks curriculum to help academically-talented students receive the challenge they need.

• Gifted Education Goes Online: Distance Learning with Northwestern's Gifted LearningLinks, Fall 2004
  http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/online.html
  
  
• Research: Gifted Adolescents' Talent Development Through Distance Learning by Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Ph.D. & Seon-Young Lee, Ph.D., Fall 2003
  http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/learning/research2003.html
  
  
• Distance Learning Resources
  http://www.ctd.northwestern.edu/resources/ distancelearn/index.html
  
  

Blogs and Forums

Gifted Exchange Blog
http://giftedexchange.blogspot.com/

Gifted Issues Discussion Forum:
http://giftedissues.gt-cybersource.org/BB/
You are invited to share your experiences and to post information about advocacy, research and other gifted issues on this free public discussion forum.

Gifted Issues State Policy Discussion Forum
http://bboard.geniusdenied.com/BB/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm
You are invited to share your experiences and to post information on gifted education in your state. Use this free public discussion forum as an outlet to discuss the latest gifted issues affecting your state. Click the map on this webpage to locate gifted association contacts, statistics, legislation & policy information.

Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds
http://www.geniusdenied.com/
News, Blog, Newsletter

Reports and Books

The National Association for Gifted Children suggests the following reports and books:

“A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students. Funded by the Templeton National Report on Acceleration,” Belin Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, University of Iowa.
Authors: Nicholas Colangelo, Susan G. Assouline, Miraca U. M. Gross
Access to this report is available at nationdeceived.org
It is available at no cost to schools, the media, and parents requesting copies. A Nation Deceived hopes to change the conversation about educating bright children in America. This website has been established to encourage dialogue across the nation.

Best Practices in Gifted Education: An Evidence-Based Guide by A. Robinson, B.M. Shore and D.L. Enersen, Prufrock Press, Waco, Texas

Designing Services and Programs for High-Ability Learners: A Guidebook for Gifted Education edited by J.H. Purcell and R.D. Eckert, Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, Calif. The Handbook of Secondary Gifted Education by F.A. Dixon and S.M. Moon, Prufrock Press, Waco, Texas

The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know? edited by M. Neihart, S.M. Reis, N.M. Robinson and S.M. Moon, Prufrock Press, Waco, Texas