The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented?

The work of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) is guided by emerging research about the broadened conception of human potential and the need to develop "high-end learning" opportunities for all of America's students. Programs and services designed to challenge the highest levels of learning and creativity; to promote high expectations, rigorous standards, and greater engagement with subject matter should be an integral part of every school's overall program. We believe that the nation's largest reservoir of untapped talent can be found among those young people who, by reason of economic circumstances and all of the problems that surround poverty in America, have not been given equal opportunity and encouragement to develop their potentials to the fullest. Accordingly, our orientation and related research has been to apply the strategies of high-end learning to total school improvement and to focus our research on developing gifts and talents in young people based on a broad array of both traditional and emerging indicators of potential for high performance.

NRC/GT Consortium

The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented is funded by the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. We are a nationwide cooperative of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and other persons and groups that have a stake in developing the performance and potentials of young people from preschool through postsecondary levels. Our consortium consists of:

3 Core Research-I Universities (University of Connecticut, University of Virginia, and Yale University)
Over 360 Collaborative School Districts representing every state and two territories (Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands)
Content Area Consultant Bank that consists of over 165 researchers throughout the United States and Canada
20 Senior Scholars at Collaborating Universities
52 State and Territorial Departments of Education

NRC/GT Collaboration

Preexisting arrangements with over 360 multiethnic and demographically diverse school districts throughout the nation allows us easy access for research studies in over 8,000 schools and classrooms (5.4 million students) across the nation.

The formation of a critical mass also comes into play in our consortium through cooperation with the state and territorial education agencies and the Content Area Consultant Bank. Access to researchers who have already made a commitment to assist the Center greatly expands the repertoire of expertise at our disposal.

Membership in the NRC/GT consortium has created an atmosphere of ownership and involvement in a national effort, and this attitude has resulted in proactive steps to disseminate information both within members' own districts and agencies, and to other persons and agencies who can benefit from the work of the Center.

NRC/GT Research Agenda

The Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Program gives highest priority to identifying and serving high potential students who may not be identified through traditional assessment criteria, including individuals of limited English proficiency, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from economically disadvantaged groups. Since 1990, theory-based models of identification, alternative assessment, programming, evaluation, professional development, curriculum, and intelligence have been the hallmarks of our quantitative and qualitative research portfolio. Our new research agenda addresses questions such as the following:

What are the personality and behavioral characteristics of gifted underachievers?
To what extent can teachers modify reading practices for above average reading students in regular classroom settings?
What variables predict high achievement on international assessment of mathematics and science?
What is the degree of consistency between teachers' philosophies about giftedness and classroom practices?
What is the impact of differentiation of curriculum and instruction on students?
What are the effects of state testing on schools and teachers relative to curriculum and instruction?
To what extent will creative and practical abilities be of increasing importance to giftedness, with increasing age and across domains (reading/writing performance, mathematics/scientific performance, music performance, and gifted students with learning disabilities)?

NRC/GT Mission

The mission of The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented is to plan and conduct a program of high quality research that is theory-driven, problem-based, practice-relevant, and consumer-oriented. Our mission includes a broad based dissemination function that targets practitioners, parents, and policy makers as well as other researchers. Our mission also includes the formation of a community of scholars that works cooperatively to advance the scientific contributions to our field.

There are three major components of the mission of the NRC/GT. First and foremost, our research emphasizes factors related to identifying, nurturing, and developing a broad range of talent potentials in students from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Second, our research examines the larger contexts of school and community in which studies are conducted, and examines how contextual factors influence research and why certain outcomes were or were not achieved. Third, our mission includes the creation of a nationwide cooperative of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and other persons and groups that have a stake in maximizing high level performance in all of our young people. In this regard, the Center serves as a vehicle for providing the kinds of intellectual and practical leadership necessary for simultaneously advancing theory, research, and practice; and for raising the consciousness of researchers and practitioners about the need for higher quality research in our field. It also serves as an integrated forum for pooling resources and for gathering and exchanging information among all persons interested in the development of gifted behaviors and high-end learning opportunities.

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