The Home Team: Works by UConn Alumni [April - June 2005 Archive]
EXTRA! EXTRA!
New Monograph on Identification Invites a Broadening of "Giftedness"
Anyone familiar with the dynamic work of Dr. Joseph Renzulli knows that the Triad Enrichment Model and its accompanying Three Rings of Giftedness provide a wider approach to the identification of gifted students, looking beyond traditional, test-based measures to seek out students capable of high achievement. In their latest monograph, Drs. Renzulli and Reis provide exciting insight on the newest directions for the popular Triad Enrichment Model, expanding on the roles of school structures, service delivery methods, and other key aspects of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. A copy of the monograph can be obtained through the NRC/GT, and you can read the Executive Summary here:
Equity, Excellence, and Economy in a System for Identifying Students in Gifted Education Programs: A Guidebook
Confratute Goes Global!
The University of Connecticut is proud to announce its partnership with Switzerland's Hochschule fuer Paedagogik und Soziale Arbeit beider Basal, to provide quality gifted education to students in the US and Switzerland! The agreement will allow students from both universities to take courses offered by either university for credit towards their degrees. And what's this about Confratute, you ask? The answer? In a few years' time, we hope to co-host Confratute in Switzerland! (The trip abroad is still in the works, but News and Views will have all the details, so watch this space!)
The Fruits of Our Labors
We are proud to announce that two graduates of the ed-psych/gifted program have been selected to receive a special honor! Dr. Plato Karafelis and Dr. Donald P. LaSalle both received awards from the Neag School of Education Alumni Society on May 14, 2005.
Dr. Karafelis, who received the Outstanding School Administrator award, is the co-founder of the nationally recognized Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools program for integrating the arts in education, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut legislature and State Department of Education, and which has twice been covered by PBS documentaries.
Recipients of these awards must be alumni of the Neag School of Education who have demonstrate excellence in their category with contributions to their work and larger community environments, with a minimum of five years in their service category. Dr. Renzulli himself was on hand to introduce Dr. LaSalle (an honor for them both!) while Dr. Karafelis was introduced by Dr. Karen L. List, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in the West Hartford school district (and a fellow alumni of the Neag School of Education!).
We are very proud of these outstanding alumni!
A School by Any Other Name
In North Carolina, one school is taking Triad Enrichment in exciting new directions—and honoring its creator. The Mineral Springs Renzulli School for Enrichment, Arts, and Technology (the Renzulli School for short) is one of a kind—a Triad Enrichment Magnet School! Here, Dr. Richard Courtright, the district program coordinator, answers some questions about the Renzulli School for News and Views:
N&V: How did you and your district decide on naming The Renzulli School?
RC: This was actually a school decision, through our school district's site-based management process. Mineral Springs Elementary was interested in becoming one of two new magnet elementary schools in our district. WS/FCS has received grants to provide magnet schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels in order to enhance diversity at those schools. One elementary school is a visual and performing arts magnet, the other is an International Baccalaureate Early Years Programme magnet. MSES requested the opportunity to be named as one of two new magnets in the district in addition to the existing schools as the magnet program's offerings were expanded.
In selecting the magnet theme, the planning team members at Mineral Springs Elementary School (MSES) were aware that a number of their teachers had received training towards licensure in gifted education. A significant portion of that training program included the elements of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. The teachers at MSES who delivered services to children in the school's enrichment program for academically/intellectually gifted students incorporated the SEM model components in their instructional program. Their enthusiasm for the SEM model, coupled with the model's focus on talent development, made it a "natural" for implementation school wide at MSES.
N&V: What makes your school unique among those using the SEM?
RC: I honestly don't know enough about other schools to knowledgeably address this question. I would offer that some of the key components of the school that makes the offering unique relates, in part, to its status as a magnet program. As such, any child in the district may elect to attend the school, transportation will be provided door-to-door, and the student will be a part of the talent pool. The curriculum (required by North Carolina and documented in the state's Standard Course of Study) will be compacted for those who demonstrate that they have already acquired the knowledge and skills for that grade level, and Type I, Type II and Type III enrichment opportunities will be provided for all.
What probably is unique is the magnet option, which enables any student interested in undertaking the challenge to enroll at MSES, without regard to prior identification as gifted. The school's teachers believe that Renzulli's SEM model will be implemented as it is in many places, with the result of increased student confidence in their own abilities, increased levels of task commitment, and the use of creativity in learning. However, inasmuch as MSES is a magnet school, children will come from among the forty-one other schools in the district to a special setting that promotes creative productivity among all of its learners.
N&V: What's one thing that people may not know about The Renzulli School that you would like them to know?
RC: The Renzulli Academy of Arts and Technology will further the goals the school has been pursuing for several years as an "A+ School"—an educational program established in select North Carolina Schools by the Kenan Institute for the Arts. Using up-to-date, cutting edge technology in the classroom, students from across the entire district will be able to apply for enrollment in a school that will offer—as Dr. Renzulli suggests—"the opportunities, resources and encouragement" to become real-world producers (rather than merely consumers) of knowledge. Using technology and the arts as communication media, students will explore new areas of interest, work with experts in given field, and become producers of new knowledge rather than merely consumers of it.
Thanks to Dr. Courtright for answering our questions! We are eager to see the future of the Renzulli School!
Models of Success for Latin American Students
The latest NRC/GT research brief, "Latino Achievement: Identifying Models that Foster Success" by Patricia G&aacaute;ndara of the University of California, Davis, explores the causes of underachievement among Latin American students and the reasons why those who become successful are able to overcome the barriers facing their underachieving peers. The monograph addresses the importance of research with this population, including the fact that Latin American students are the group most likely to drop out of high school and/or fail to enter college, explores the reasons for their underachievement, and goes on to provide hope for the future by addressing the factors that have supported the successes of high-achievement Latin American youth from four theoretical perspectives: psychological, sociological, anthropological, and educational-systems. The report then derives practical applications from the implications of the models, with a special emphasis on the role of gifted programs in helping high-ability Latin American youth to achieve their potential.
