topics

Links for Portland Parents of Talented and Gifted Children

Ability Grouping

NRCG/T Digests with Recommendations: (see below for full-text online editions):

"The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learner," Dr. Karen B. Rogers: http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/rogers.html

"An Analysis of the Research on Ability Grouping: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives" Dr. James A. Kulik http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/kulik.html

"Promoting Student Achievement and Exemplary Classroom Practices Through Cluster Grouping: A Research-Based Alternative to Heterogeneous Elementary Classrooms" Dr. Marcia Lynne Gentry http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/gentry.html

Full-Text articles relevant to grouping from the NRC/GT

(For the entire list of monographs, go to http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/nrconlin.html#9204)

"An Analysis of the Research on Ability Grouping Historical and Contemporary Perspectives" James A. Kulik, Ph.D. The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan

February 1992 Number 9204

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rbdm9204/rbdm9204.pdf

"Cooperative Learning and the Academically Talented Student" Ann Robinson, Ph.D.

University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rbdm9106/rbdm9106.pdf

"The Relationship of Grouping Practices to the Education of the Gifted and Talented Learner" Karen B. Rogers, Ph.D. University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 1991, Number 9102

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rbdm9102/rbdm9102.pdf

"The Effects of Grouping and Curricular Practices on Intermediate Students' Math Achievement" Carol L. Tieso, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama February 2002 Number RM02154

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm02154/rm02154.pdf

"An Observational Study of Instructional and Curricular Practices Used With Gifted and Talented Students in Regular Classrooms" Karen L. Westberg, Francis X. Archambault, Jr., Sally M. Dobyns, Thomas J. Salvin, The University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, July 1993

Research Monograph 93104 (shows that differentiated instruction rarely happens in mixed classrooms)

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm93104/rm93104.pdf

"Evaluation of the Effects of Programming Arrangements on Student Learning Outcomes"

Marcia A. B. Delcourt, Brenda H. Loyd, Dewey G. Cornell, Marc D. Goldberg, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, October 1994, Research Monograph 94108

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm94108/rm94108.pdf

"The Effects of Group Composition on Gifted and Non-Gifted Elementary Students in Cooperative Learning Groups" David A. Kenny, Francis X. Archambault, Jr., Bryan W. Hallmark (found that mixed cooperative groups actually harmed lower achieving students and resulted in more negative social relations; no change was found in learning by high-achieving students)

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm95116/rm95116.pdf

"Qualitative Extension of the Learning Outcomes Study" Marcia A. B. Delcourt, Karen Evans

The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, November 1994, Research Monograph 94110

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm94110/rm94110.pdf

Marcia Gentry's landmark study on cluster grouping is now online:

"Promoting Student Achievement and Exemplary Classroom Practices Through Cluster Grouping A Research-Based Alternative to Heterogeneous Elementary Classrooms"

"Qualitative and quantitative research data indicate a relationship between professional development in gifted education, cluster grouping, and increased achievement scores. Teachers using cluster grouping held high, yet realistic, expectations of students."

Abstract and Conclusions:

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/gentry.html

Full study:

http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt/reports/rm99138/rm99138.pdf

see also "state/federal" and "grouping"

"The greatest economic risk to the nation isn't borrowing or debt, but deficient elementary schools that will hurt future productivity." Alan Greenspan testifying before the Senate Banking committee, February 16, 2005 (reported in the Charlotte Observer)

"Advocacy Toolkit" from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=36

ACHIEVE report "Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?"
http://www.achieve.org/node/548

"College instructors are the harshest critics of public high schools. Only 18% of college professors feel that most of their students come to college extremely or very well prepared, with just 3% saying extremely well. ... Even at colleges with competitive admission policies that only let in high performing students, only 30% of instructors say that most of their students come to college well prepared....College instructors estimate that 42% of high school graduates are not adequately prepared by their high school education for the expectations of college classes and are struggling or having to take remedial courses to catch up.... (50%) is not adequately prepared for college-level writing.......A surprisingly low 30% of those in college preparatory programs think that they were significantly challenged in high school"

NEW! "Our Achievement-Gap Mania" Frederick M. Hess National Affairs 9 ~ FALL 2011 http://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/our-achievement-gap-mania

"The effects of achievement-gap mania have been particularly severe in the area of advanced instruction and gifted education. In February 2009, the California Legislature adopted a plan that allows public schools to divert state money for gifted children to ‘‘any educational purpose." A 2010 study by the California Legislative Analyst's Office found that 68% of the 231 school districts surveyed had shifted resources away from education for gifted students. California's Evergreen School District, for example, responded by eliminating all its programs for approximately 800 gifted children. After noting the extensive cuts being made to gifted and talented programs, the San Francisco Chronicle observed 'Critics see courses tailored for exceptional students as elitist and not much of an issue when compared with the vast number of students who are lagging grades behind their peers or dropping out of school.' "

NEW! "Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete? by Paul E. Peterson, Carlos Xabel Lastra-Anadón, Eric A. Hanushek and Ludger Woessmann Education Next, Fall 2011 / Vol. 11, No. 4. This is a companion to "Teaching Math to the Talented" which appeared earlier (see below) The U.S. could gain an estimated $1 trillion each year if American students achieved the same level as Canadian and Korean students.

http://educationnext.org/are-u-s-students-ready-to-compete/

Education and Economic Growth by Hanushek and others, argues that quality of education is a better measure than duration and that both widespread minimum attainment and a highly-educated group are needed for high economic growth.

http://educationnext.org/education-and-economic-growth/

NEW! Education Reform: the problem with helping everyone reach 'average" by Ann Robinson for the Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 2011

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0311/Education-reform-the-problem-with-helping-everyone-reach-average?cmpid

NEW! Gifted Education Works! A round-up of research on a variety of Gifted Education programming from the National Association for Gifted Children

http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=566

Know Your Legal Rights in Gifted Education. ERIC Digest E541., Karnes, Frances A.; Marquardt, Ronald

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/e541.html

"Mind the (Other) Gap--The Growing Excellence Gap in k-12 Education", by Jonathan A. Plucker, Nathan Burroughs, and Ruiting Song, Center for Evaluation & Education Policy, February 4, 2010

https://www.iub.edu/~ceep/Gap/excellence/ExcellenceGapBrief.pdf

"...Although there has been a general improvement in academic performance, are achievement gaps also shrinking at the highest levels of student achievement? The purpose of this report is to review national and state assessment data for the existence of "excellence gaps," differences between subgroups of students performing at the highest levels of achievement. That excellence gaps have received so little attention over the past decade is a major oversight. The existence of such gaps raises doubts about the success of federal and state governments in providing greater and more equitable educational opportunities, particularly as the proportion of minority and low-income students continues to rise. The goal of guaranteeing that all children will have the opportunity to reach their academic potential is called into question if educational policies only assist some students while others are left behind. Furthermore, the comparatively small percentage of students scoring at the highest level on achievement tests suggests that children with advanced academic potential are being under-served, with potentially serious consequences for the long-term economic competitiveness of the U.S..."

PSA Primer: Written for people interested in promoting the Year of Languages by encouraging media to run Public Service Announcements, this is a handbook on publicity for nonprofits and advocates: http://www.actfl.org/files/public/PSACampaignPrimer.pdf

Parents for Public Schools, Advocacy links http://www.parents4publicschools.com/Resources_advocacy.htm

National Science Board of the National Science Foundation, "Science and Engineering Indicators, 2004." http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/showpub.cfm?TopID=2&SubID=9

See in particular Chapter 3, "Science and Engineering Labor force" "The share of foreign-born scientists and engineers in the U.S. S&E workforce rose to a record in 2000, reflecting high levels of entry by both permanent and temporary visa holders during the 1990s. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census show that, in S&E occupations, approximately 17 percent of bachelor's degree holders, 29 percent of master's degree holders, and 38 percent of doctorate holders are foreign born." http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04/c3/c3h.htm

"The Other Crisis in American Education" by Daniel Singal comments that the level of preparation of college-bound students declined sufficiently to cause overall SAT scores to drop 60 points despite a slow but steady improvement in the scores of students in the lowest quartile. http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0025.html

Speeches by Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel (pdf. file)

"Educational Complacency will make U.S. Feel the Pain" an article in USA Today 2.23.05

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-02-23-barrett_x.htm

"Neither the business nor the education community has done enough to convey the important message that U.S. education is an extremely serious problem, really a ticking time bomb. If not resolved, this inadequate education could eventually lead to enormous repercussions for our citizens, our economy and our nation as a whole. Our educational system needs drastic repair, yet our national leaders are sitting around debating a few details – whether we should have tests, whether we should have assessments, etc. – and really ignoring the task of forging an overall solution to our problems."

"The kids at the top of the heap are smarter than ever, but they're a decreasing slice of the pie. You can argue whether we rank 17th, 18th or 20th out of 20 countries in math and science comprehension among our 12th-grade kids. The longer they stay in the system, the worse they get. Who could [and should] tolerate such a system? [It's almost as if we said,] "Let's take a generation of our young people and legislate them into a system where the longer they stay in [school], the worse off they are to compete in the world's economy." This is bloody crazy."

"Twelve cost effective educational options for serving gifted students" from the Davidson Institute. The next time someone in your district says, "we'd like to serve gifted children but our budget is too tight," give them this and suggest they offer the inexpensive options on this list.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10363.aspx

NEW! "Wasting Talent Everyone's local school needs to do better", by Paul E. Peterson, Education Next

Winter 2011 / Vol. 11, No. 1

http://educationnext.org/wasting-talent/

"Americans tend to think their local elementary and middle schools are much better than those of the nation as a whole. The problems with schools, people seem to believe, are found somewhere else: Schools are dreadful in the inner city, perhaps, or in other parts of the country, maybe. My local schools are just fine.On some measures, they may be right. Yet schools across the country fall short when it comes to challenging the best and brightest."

What a [Gifted] Child Doesn't Learn by Tracy Inman

http://www.portage.k12.in.us/1607201022142821597/lib/1607201022142821597/pdfs/April/Whatachilddoesntlearn.pdf

Why our Nation Needs to Educate our Gifted and Talented Youth: a collection of facts from the Davidson Institute
http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10398.aspx

NEW! Teaching Math to the Talented Which countries—and states—are producing high-achieving students? By Eric Hanushek, Paul E. Peterson and Ludger Woessmann in Education Next,

Winter 2011 / Vol. 11, No. 1

http://educationnext.org/teaching-math-to-the-talented/

"Maintaining our productivity as a nation depends importantly on developing a highly qualified cadre of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals. To realize that objective requires a system of schooling that produces students with advanced math and science skills. .....

Unfortunately, we found that the percentage of students in the U.S. Class of 2009 who were highly accomplished in math is well below that of most countries with which the United States generally compares itself......

The economic and technological demand for a talented, well-educated, highly skilled population has never been greater. Not only must everyday workers have a set of technical skills surpassing those needed in the past, but a cadre of highly talented professionals trained to the highest level of accomplishment is needed to foster innovation and growth. ...

Unfortunately, the United States trails other industrialized countries in bringing a large proportion of its students up to the highest levels of accomplishment. .... Only a small proportion of the children of our college-educated population is equipped to compete with students in a majority of OECD countries.

Major policy initiatives within the United States have in recent years focused on the educational needs of low-performing students. Such efforts deserve commendation, but they can leave the impression that there is no similar need to enhance the education of those students the STEM coalition has called "the best and brightest." Yet, with rapidly advancing technologies in an increasingly integrated world economy, no one doubts the extraordinary importance of highly accomplished professionals.

Admittedly, the United States could simply ignore the needs of its own young people and continue to import highly skilled scientists and engineers who were prepared by better-performing schools abroad. But even such a heartless, irresponsible strategy relies on both the nature of immigration policies and the absence of better opportunities abroad, two things on which we might not want the future to depend. It seems much more prudent to encourage the most capable of our own people to reach high levels of academic accomplishment.

Articles on Miscellaneous Topics

NEW! "Are We Lifting All Boats or Only Some? Equity versus excellence and the talented tenth" By Richard A. Epstein, Daniel Pianko, Jon Schnur and Joshua Wyner: an Education Next interview (Summer, 2011) 11 no. 3

http://educationnext.org/are-we-lifting-all-boats-or-only-some/#

"The Blame Game" ever wondered why the conference you thought would be about providing services to your child ends up being about what's wrong with your child? This article explains why. Written for Special Education parents but equally persuasive for TAG parents .

http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/ALESSI1.html

NEW!"Challenging the Gifted: Nuclear chemistry and Sartre draw the best and brightest to Reno"
By June Kronholz Education Next (Spring 2011) Vol. 11, No. 2

Profile of the Davidsons, the Davidson Academy in Reno and the students who attend it http://educationnext.org/challenging-the-gifted/

NEW! Competition Makes a Comeback: Academic bees and bowls attract top students By June Kronholz, for Education Next (Summer 2010) Vol. 10, No. 3

http://educationnext.org/competition-makes-a-comeback/

"The Dos and Don'ts of instruction: What it Means to teach Gifted Learners Well" by Carol Ann Tomlinson http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=659

"From "the saddest sound" to the D Major chord: The gift of accelerated progression." Miraca U.M. Gross, http://www.eddept.wa.edu.au/gifttal/EAGER/MiracaGross.html

"Gifted Children, the myth." An Australian article by Helen Dowland ("Reception" is Kindergarten). Everyone should read this one.  While you are at it, read the other articles on her website www.helendowland.com

http://www.helendowland.com/Gifted%20children%20the%20Myth.htm

"The Gifted-Ed Guru" an entertaining and informative blog by Christopher Taibbi hosted by Psychology Today

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/gifted-ed-guru

Gifted Education Press Quarterly free! To receive your complimentary copy of this and previous issues of the GEPQ send an e-mail to Maurice Fisher: giftededpress@comcast.net

"Highly Gifted Children in Full Inclusion Classrooms" by Kathi Kearney. Highly Gifted Children, 1996.   "Gifted students, especially the highly gifted, are probably the one group in our schools for whom the inclusionary principle of "Age-appropriate placement in local public schools" (Conn, 1992, p. 28) is not developmentally appropriate." http://www.hollingworth.org/fullincl.html

For a very clear and entertaining explanation of why student gain data is important and should be used to correct the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) evaluation required by the No Child Left Behind Act see the Northwest Education Associates report, "Individual Growth and School Success." Both the executive summary and the full report are available at the link below, but the full report requires registration. http://www.nwea.org/research/getreport.asp?ReportID=28

The Koret Report: "Our Schools and our Future--Are We Still at Risk?" a reassessment of A Nation at Risk by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Reviews information concerning American student achievement and finds the answer is "yes."

http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/books/osof.html

"Competing with Myths concerning the Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Students'' by Tracy Cross http://www.sengifted.org/articles_social/Cross_CompetingWithMythsAboutTheSocialAndEmotionalDevelopment.shtml

"To Be or Not To be.... Gifted? Identification and Education of the Young Gifted Child," by Susan Grammer, From Gifted Education Press Quarterly http://home.netcom.com/~grammers/ToBeOrNotToBe081501/

Unwrapping the Gifted A thoughtful, entertaining and provocative blog by Gifted Education Specialist Tamara Fisher. Check out the archives if you've missed some entries.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/2008/08/

"Urban educational challenges Is reform the answer?" Susan Fuhrman, Ph.D::

    "My topic for this address is Urban Education Reform. Clearly, there are challenges in urban schools, but what's important and what I want to focus on is that there is no shortage of reforms intended to address them. The question I want to address is - why is reform so prevalent and so disappointing?" http://www.urbanedjournal.org/articles/article0004.html

College advice/advanced classes/admissions/scholarships/minority college advice

Advanced Placement: Administered by the College Board but now on its own website: http://www.collegeboard.com/ap/

AP Ledger: find out which approved AP classes are offered in a given High School

https://apcourseaudit.epiconline.org/ledger/

ACT testing, student pages ACT also administers the Explore test, widely used by talent searches. The former ACT site has been divided up and is now noisy and difficult to navigate

http://www.actstudent.org/index.html

Blackexcel http://www.blackexcel.org/ Created to encourage young black and minority students to attend college and to provide information about the historically black colleges and universities. Provides all sorts of college advice and help including scholarship links, advice on attending medical and law school, articles on being an african american in college, financial aid, and a newsletter. Highly recommended for black/minority students; useful for any student.

ASPIRE: a project of Americorps to provide mentoring and college application assistance to Oregon students Check out the "web links" for a wide range of information

http://www.aspireoregon.org/about.html

(Early) College Planning from the Hoagies: as usual, packed with good resources

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/college.htm

Early College Planning for Parents One of a pair of handbooks from the Davidson Institute:

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_14782.aspx

Early College Planning for Students one of a pair of handbooks from the Davidson Institute:

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Resources_id_14903.aspx

EduRegistry: provides a state-by-state directory of universities, colleges, and vocational/technical schools with some advice on things to consider when selecting a college. http://www.eduregistry.org/

NEW! High Schoolers in College: Dual enrollment programs offer something for everyone
By June Kronholz, Education Next (Summer 2011) Vol. 11, No. 3

http://educationnext.org/high-schoolers-in-college/

International Baccalaureate Organization best known for its program for advanced classes for High School also has middle school and elementary school programs. All three can be found at http://www.ibo.org/

Oregon College Assistance Commission (OSAC) website for financial aid: http://www.getcollegefunds.org/

WiredScholar. A portal for help with all aspects of college preparation. Provided by Sallie Mae, the leading college loan corporation. Especially helpful on financial advice http://www.wiredscholar.com/ Test information is provided by Kaplan and is limited in scope

SATs, AP tests and more: http://www.collegeboard.org Provides articles and research as well as just testing information

StudentJobs This site is intended to help students in college, graduate, and postgraduate programs and "career professionals" to locate grants, internships, apprenticeships and fellowships. It includes a wide range of opportunities for teachers, students and scholars including Javits and Fulbright grants, public policy, health and medicine, curriculum development, agriculture, science and overseas experiences. http://www.studentjobs.gov/

U.S. News college pages http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

Distance learning resources:

See the Distance Learning Links on the Hoagies site at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/distance_learning.htm

and the Free Online High School Courses on the Hoagies site at:

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm

Academic Earth a selection of college lectures on audio/video, not for credit

http://academicearth.org/

Carnegie Mellon Online complete introductory college level classes offered by Carnegie Mellon University. Recommended. http://www.cmu.edu/oli/

Center for Distance Education from the Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins. Includes the EPGY program jointly offered by CTY and Stanford University. http://www.jhu.edu/~gifted/cde/

See also http://www-epgy.stanford.edu/epgy/ for Stanford's version

e-IMACS online classes from the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science. http://www.eimacs.com/LM/LMPlain.asp?F=eimacs&S=5

EPGY High School online. A new program from Stanford http://epgy.stanford.edu/ohs/OHSPressRelease.pdf

"High School and Beyond"--a list of free online courses fulfilling Maine High School Course requirements. Compiled by Kathi Kearney, this site offers a comprehensive list of online classes including many from the CyberSchool in Eugene. http://www.homeschool-maine.org/high_school_&_beyond.htm#Free%20Online%20Courses

Learn online! http://www.migrant.org is a website developed by the State of Kentucky to assist migrant families who move frequently from school to school by enabling them to take courses online. It is completely free, but to obtain credit for the work you must have a school district representative to supervise and assess the work. The "lessons" are assemblages of websites created by other organizations--migrant.org just puts them together sequentially and offers some organizing help. When I toured I found the math sections seemed to be comprehensive, if uninspiring, but the social studies and humanities/arts sections were inadequate and better used as a supplement to more conventional instruction.

Distance Education links from the Oregon Department of Education. http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=332

Kahn Academy dozens of 10 minute talks on math and science topics from beginning to advanced levels

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Learning Counts: provides College Credits for experience and by exam provided by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)

http://www.learningcounts.org/students/Pages/Default.aspx

North Dakota Division of Independent Study. High School Distance Education for a fee which includes tuition, textbooks and study guides. Some placement tests are offered. http://www.ndisonline.org/

Open Course Ware Central registry of open college course ware

http://www.ocwconsortium.org/

Resources for Students by I. Lee. http://geocities.com/researchguide/

Includes a section of "webquests" or digital lesson plans http://geocities.com/researchguide/webquests.html
and links to all sorts of resources useful in writing research papers including citation guides

See also the essay on "How to Survive the Internet Unscathed,"
http://geocities.com/researchguide/14surviv.html
which should be required reading for anyone with a new Internet account (and the rest of us)

Village Home Education Resource Center in Beaverton. Classes for home-schooled students, requires tuition, http://www.villagehome.org/

Virtual School for the Gifted, located in Australia http://www.vsg.edu.au/

WCET’s EduTools the Western cooperative for Educational Technology offers independent reviews, side-by-side comparisons, and consulting services on course management systems and online course evaluations

http://ocep.edutools.info/index.jsp?pj=1

Homeschooling in Oregon

A to Zs of Homeschooling: National: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

A to Zs of Homeschooling: Oregon. Includes listing of many Oregon homeschooling resources and associations http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/regional/Oregon.htm

Homeschooling Gifted Students:
http://giftedhomeschoolers.org

Homeschooling Questions and Answers from the Oregon Department of Education

http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/specialty/home/faqguidelines.pdf

Homeschooling in Oregon by the Eugene-Springfield Homeschool Association

http://www.eshaoregon.com/or.html

Oregon Homeschooling Education Network (OHEN)

http://www.ohen.org/

Reports and proceedings

The Achievement Trap: from The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. A study of the extent to which high achieving low-income students are losing ground year by year.

press release: .

http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org/jkcf_web/content.aspx?page=3636348&mode=stage

full report:

http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org/jkcf_web/Documents/Achievement%20Trap.pdf

The Australian Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education Committee held a series of hearings across the country on the education of Talented and Gifted Children. in 1999. Both the submissions and the actual testimony are available online.

The submissions consist of about 280 documents. Some of them are simply questionnaires that were returned to the committee, but some of them are very substantial documents including very recent research (one person submitted findings from her just completed PhD. thesis). In particular, there is a moving submission by Shaun Hately about growing up gifted (number 95) an extremely substantial document from Miraca Gross and the GERRIC that is almost a manual of gifted education, (number 215) and a very extensive and carefully researched submission by Tracy Chaloner on the needs of

exceptionally gifted children (number 230).

The submissions are available at http//www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eet_ctte/gifted/sublist.htm

Credits and Attainment: Returns to Postsecondary Education Ten Years After High School by Brian Zucker and Royal Dawson, National Center for Education Statistics (April, 2001) "High school academic preparation was associated with earnings for students at several different levels of attainment...." p.14

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001168

NEW! A Deeper Look at the Black-White Achievement Gap in Multnomah County

"With a grant from Chalkboard, the Black Parent Initiative commissioned ECONorthwest to develop a statistical portrait of Black students and their teachers spanning six school districts in Multnomah County. The research reveals that the gap is not primarily about the pace at which students learn, but where they start out."

http://www.chalkboardproject.org/images/PDF/BPI%20Report%20Rev.pdf

Dual Credit in Oregon, 2010 Follow Up, Tom North and Jonathan Jacobs, Oregon University System, Office of Institutional Research June 23, 2010

"This study began by asking two questions: (1) Do high school students who take dual credit courses succeed when they go on to college?, and (2) Does dual credit instruction do as well as college‐situated instruction in preparing students for subsequent college coursework? The answer to the first question is a clear-cut yes. Compared to their high school classmates who do not

take dual credit coursework, a greater proportion of dual credit students go on to college in the first place. And when they get there, dual credit students earn a higher first-year GPA, they accumulate more credit by the start of the second year of college, and they continue to the second year at a higher rate. Oregon’s dual credit program is meant to give its strongest high school students a leg up on college, and those students plainly take advantage of the opportunity.

The answer to the second question also is yes, but it is not so clear-cut. ...

http://www.ode.state.or.us/superintendent/priorities/2010-sept-15-dual-credit-study-6.pdf

Education at a Glance 2010: OECD Indicators. From the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation, a large report on educational attainment in OECD countries (including the US)

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/39/45926093.pdf

NEW! "Education, Demand and Unemployment in Metropolitan America, "Jonathan Rothwell and Alan Berube, Brookings Institution (September 2011)

http//www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/0909_skills_unemployment_rothwell/0909_skills_unemployment_rothwell.pdf

Discusses the correlation between unemployment rates, local industrial needs and educational attainment in major U.S. cities.

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/0909_skills_unemployment_rothwell/0909_skills_unemployment_rothwell.pdf

Facing the Future: Financing Productive Schools (December 2008) by Paul T. Hill, Marguerite Roza, James Harvey. Final Report from the Center on Reinventing Public Education on the School Finance Redesign Project

http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/download/csr_files/pub_sfrp_finalrep_nov08.pd

Foundations for Success: Final Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (March 2008)
Final Report of the National http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/index.html .

Excerpts from section 4 on instructional practices:
IV-173
"... when gifted students are accelerated by putting them together for special classes, this creates a very different academic and social environment that appears to be highly valued by and motivating for gifted students (Benbow, Lubinski, & Suchy, 1996). In this descriptive study, students report feeling affirmed and challenged in ways that the regular classroom does not provide. Also, the nature of the discourse changes, becoming much more high-level and intellectually challenging (Fuchs, Fuchs, Hamlett, & Karns, 1998). So, accelerated classes are more than just content taught at a fast pace. This makes it hard, if not impossible, to separate out the effects attributable only to the acceleration in these types of programs"
...................
IV 208: Despite the flaws in any one study, the set of studies suggests there is value to differentiating the mathematics curriculum for students who are gifted in mathematics and possess sufficient motivation, especially when acceleration is a component (i.e., pace and level of instruction are adjusted). A small number of studies suggest that individualized instruction, where the pace of learning is increased and often managed via computer instruction, produces gains in learning.....
Gifted students who are accelerated by other means not only gained time and reached educational milestones earlier (e.g., college entrance), but appear to achieve at levels at least comparable to those of their equally able age-mates ... even though they were younger .... One study suggests that gifted students also appear to become more strongly engaged in science, technology, engineering, or mathematical areas of study.
Some support also was found for supplemental enrichment programs. Of the two programs analyzed, one explicitly utilized acceleration as a program component and the other did not. This supports the view in the field of gifted education that acceleration and enrichment combined should be the intervention of choice. We believe it is important for school policies to support appropriately challenging work in mathematics for gifted and talented students."

High Achieving Students in the Era of NCLB, June 18, 2008 by Ann Duffett, Steve Farkas, and Tom Loveless, published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

The first two (of five) studies Part I: An Analysis of NAEP Data, by Tom Loveless, discusses achievement trends for high-achieving students; Part II: Results from a National Teacher Survey, by Steve Farkas and Ann Duffett , discusses teachers' views of how schools are serving high-achieving pupils in the NCLB era.

http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=732&id=92

Interpreting 12th-Graders’ NAEP-Scaled Mathematics Performance Using High School Predictors and Postsecondary Outcomes From the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) From the National Center for Education Statistics. Wins a prize for the longest and densest title, and perhaps for most predictable conclusion. Finds that students who performed well on a math test as High School Seniors are more likely to attend and graduate from College. http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007328

"Left Behind By Design: Proficiency Counts and Test-Based Accountability" By Derek Neal and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach University of Chicago and NBER July 2007. How uniform state standards under NCLB hurt students at both ends of the spectrum.

http://home.uchicago.edu/~n9na/web_ver_final.pdf

A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students by
Nicholas Colangelo, Susan G. Assouline, Miraca U. M. Gross. The Templeton National Report on Acceleration from the Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development, University of Iowa available free online or by mail from http://www.nationdeceived.org/

National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent. Classic report issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 1993 http://www.ed.gov/pubs/DevTalent/toc.html

Northwest Evaluation Association reports::

The Impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Student Achievement and Growth. This report found that after the implementation of NCLB, student achievement test scores rose slightly, but student growth decreased, and shows that high-achieving students made lower gains.

Press Release

http://www.nwea.org/assets/news/NCLBStudy2005Release.pdf

Executive Summary

http://www.nwea.org/assets/research/national/NCLBImpact_2005_Brief.pdf

Full report (requires free registration)

http://www.nwea.org/research/nclbstudy.asp
Individual Growth and School Success. This report explains the benefits of Gains-based assessment systems ("Value-Added Assessment") when compared with status-based methods and provides results for 22 states. http://www.nwea.org/research/national.asp

"Reaching the Top: A Report of the National Task Force on Minority High Achievement" (1999). This report is now only available for purchase. The electronic version was taken offline.

NEW! "RIgor at Risk" A report from the ACT testing association argues that just taking the recommended "core curriculum" is insufficient to prepare High School students for college because of a lack of rigor in many "core" classes.

http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/rigor.html

NEW! Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5 by members of the 2005 "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Committee" for the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine, National Academies Press (2010)

A chilling analysis of America's competitive position in STEM.

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12999.html

The TIMSS, administered in 1995, was repeated for eighth-grade students in 1999 (TIMSS-R). This time, the figures for the U.S. were better--U.S. eighth-graders slightly exceeded the international average of 38nations in mathematics and science. They outperformed students in 17 countries, were level with students in 6 countries, and did worse than students in 14 countries. In science, they outperformed students in 18 countries, were level with students in 5 countries and did worse than students in 14 countries. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001027.pdf

Highlights from TIMSS (1999) States that U.S. students in 8th. and 12 grade lag behind those of many other countries and that the slower pace of the U.S. mathematics curriculum may be one factor. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs99/1999081.pdf

Short Web-Based Version of Answers in the Tool Box: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor's Degree Attainment by Clifford Adelman Senior Research Analyst, U.S. Department of Education. finds that the intensity and quality of the secondary curriculum is the single most significant factor in students' attainment of bachelor's degrees. http://www.ed.gov/pubs/Toolbox/toolbox.html

The Toolbox Revisited. Answers in the Tool Box has now been updated by Dr. Adelman. It still concludes that the intensity and quality of the High School curriculum available to students predicts college success. http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/toolboxrevisit/toolbox.pdf

(see also "research resources" below and pages for "Government information" and the Tennessee Value-Added Asssessment System (growth-based assessment)

Research resources and tools

CALDER publications: from the Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. Numerous papers on such topics as teacher retention and teacher training.

http://www.caldercenter.org/publications.cfm

Center for the Study of Evaluation and National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRREST). This website offers several hundred technical reports on assessment standards and methodology as well as more readable articles for parents, policymakers and teachers. The technical reports are a bit daunting but often worth the effort. See in particular: "Issues in the Design of Accountability Systems, CSE Technical Report 650 Robert L. Linn (April, 2005) and "Corrective Action in Low-Performing Schools: Lessons for NCLB Implementation from State and District Strategies in First-Generation Accountability Systems", Heinrich Mintrop and Tina Trujillo CSE Technical Report 641 (2004). Now available as a full-test article through ERIC

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/9e/1f.pdf

A comprehensive bibliography of articles on gifted education and gifted students, classified by subject, and including a summary of each article, from the Center for Talented Youth/Johns Hopkins http://www.jhu.edu/gifted/research/biblio.html

Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington provides research-based reports on teacher standards, school finances and school choice among other topics http://www.crpe.org/

Cramming: The Effects of School Accountability on College-Bound Students by Colleen Donovan, David Figlio, Mark Rush published by CALDER (see above) (September 2006)

"To date there has been no published research investigating the effects of these [accountability] plans on the other end of the academic distribution – high-performing students who would almost surely have attained proficiency in the absence of school accountability plans. Even though these students are not the immediate focus of accountability plans, the effect these plans have on these students is vital to the nation because it is these students who will become the next generation of scientists and leaders......

http://www.caldercenter.org/PDF/1001068_Cramming.pdf

Education Week reporter Debra Viadero provides regular summaries of recent studies and conference reports. Her page offers a very easy short-cut for finding education studies as they come out--and her articles are accurate and even-handed. Many require subscription to Education Week.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/contributors/debra.viadero.html

H-Education is a listserv on the history of education intended for academic researchers. It is part of the H-Net consortium of academic listservs http://www.h-net.org/~educ/

The Kingsbury Center at the Northwest Evaluation Association publishes research reports on student assessment and achievement. The home page includes a sign-up to receive updates on new research. http://kingsburycenter.org/

National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented NRCG/T in Storrs, Connecticut. Funded by the US Department of Education, provides TAG-related research studies by nationally respected scholars. Site offers publication list and abstracts. For links to full text articles, see "Ability Grouping" below-- http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/nrcgt.html

"A Reader's Guide to Scientifically Based Research" by Robert Slavin. Some things to look for in deciding whether a particular study cuts the mustard.. From Educational Leadership. http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200302/slavin.html

"Statistics Help" Intended for journalists, here's a quick, easy-to-read refresher course on some fundamentals of statistics, to prepare you for reading all these research reports. Find out what a "standard deviation" is and why knowing the margin of error might be important. http://www.robertniles.com/stats/

"Statistics at Square One" a more challenging text on statistics from the British Medical Journal http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/collections/statsbk/index.shtml

UNESCO Institute for Statistics: A large collection of international education statistics and reports on education, science, technology, culture and communication

http://www.uis.unesco.org/ev_en.php?ID=2867_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

Understanding NAEP: Inside the Nation's Education Report Card by Margery Yeager for Education Sector (2007) http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=560606

"Unfinished Business: More Measured Approaches in Standards-Based Reform" by Paul E. Barton of the Policy Information Center, Educational Testing Service (2004). Another very informative summary of the issues raised by the use of achievement test scores to evaluate school performance. Longer, more detailed and a bit denser than the NWEA report above. Recommends a mixed approach to evaluation including ensuring that testing reflects actual curriculum goals, repeated testing during the school year, and the use of both gains-based and status-based reporting. Recommended.

http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/unfinbusiness.pdf

NEW! "Why Most Published Research Findings are False" by John P. A. Ioannidis an essay for the Public Library of Science. Written about medicine, but equally applicable to other studies. Buyer beware!

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124&ct=1

See also: "Reports and proceedings" above and the pages for "Government information" and the Tennessee Value-Added Asssessment System (growth-based assessment)

Parenting

Tips for Parents: A whole set of articles on parenting and parent advocacy from the Davidson Institute. use the link below and scroll down to "Parenting"

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/browse_articles_233.aspx

Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted (SENG) http://www.sengifted.org/

Caring for your Introvert by Jonathan Rauch This popular article appeared in the Atlantic Magazine http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200303/rauch

Special needs:

Access by Students with Disabilities to Accelerated Programs, a letter from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights

http//www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-20071226.html

AEGUS: the Association for the Education of Gifted Underachieving Students http://www.aegus1.org/

Auditory Processing Disorder, often known as CAPD. UK site. http://www.geocities.com/dolfrog/APD_in_UK

American Association of the Deaf-Blind http://www.aadb.org/

Asperger Syndrome: OASIS - Online Asperger Syndrome Information and Support http//www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/

"Gifted children with AD/HD" by Dierdre Lovecky. This is the most sophisticated article I have seen on this subject. http://ericec.org/fact/lovecky.html

"Before referring a gifted child for ADD/ADHD evaluation" by Sharon Lind. A very informative checklist. http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/record.aspx?sid=11510&scat=902&stype=110

The Hoagies website offers an extensive set of links on ADD/ADHD at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/adhd.htm

See also "symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder" on a site sponsored by the National Center on Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] and the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/symptom.htm

Council for Exceptional Children, recommended for parents of "double identified" children, and others seeking advocacy advice-- http://www.cec.sped.org//AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

"Depressive disorder in highly gifted adolescents" a recent article based on interviews by S Jackson and J. Peterson: http://www.gt-cybersource.org/Record.aspx?NavID=2_0&rid=13872

Dual Exceptionalities Concise ERIC Digest guide to recognizing signs of giftedness in students who also have disabilities. Recommended. Copied on the LD Online site http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/ericE574.html

Dysgraphia or trouble with handwriting seems to be a particular problem for gifted boys. See http://www.ncld.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=468 and

http://www.dyscalculia.org/Edu563.html

Dyscalculia and Dyslexia resources from the Dyscalculia website http://www.dyscalculia.org/

"Guide to the Individualized Education Plan", from the U.S. Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html

"Section 504, the ADA and IDEA" From the Wrightslaw website. A concise account of the distinction between Individualized Education Plans (created under the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT or IDEA) and a Section 504 Plan (created under the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA). http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.summ.rights.htm

An even more concise version, in the form of an ERIC digest, http://ericec.org/digests/e606.html

Learning Disabilities Association of America -- http://www.ldonline.org/

and their gifted page: http://www.ldonline.org/indepth/gifted

See especially their "advocacy memos" including "advocacy memo no. 1, denial of eligibility because of gifted intellectual ability/lack of failure" -- http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/gt_ld/lda_advocacymemo.html

Learning Disabilities Self-Advocacy manual: something different: a manual written just for students. Well-written, clear and helpful for both kids and adults. Recommended. http://www.ldinfo.com/self_advocacy_manual.htm#top

"Meeting the needs of twice-exceptional children" by Merideth Warshaw. A good place to begin. A general article with links to other important sites. The author maintains the "uniquely gifted" website (see below) http://www.ditd.org/Cybersource/Record.aspx?lib=1&sort=SourceName&scat=902&stype=110&sid=11330&sterm=%22Tips+For+Parents%22

"The Mislabeled Child" An Article by Fernette and Brock Eide argues for better diagnosis and non-pharmacological therapy for many children. Recommended. http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/12/eide.htm

Neurolearning Blog: links to lots of new and interesting articles. Maintained by Fernette and Brock Eide in Edmonds Washington http://www.neurolearning.com/index.htm

Nonverbal Learning Disorder: NLD on the Web: http://www.nldontheweb.org/

Oregon Parent Training and Information Center provides support and training for parents of students with disabilities http://www.orpti.org/index.htm

Sensory Processing Library: links to articles from the Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation. Includes link to a "checklist" to screen for symptoms

http://www.spdfoundation.net/library.html

2-E, The Twice Exceptional Newsletter. Copies are offered by subscription; back issues for a fee, but there's also solid information on the website. Recommended. http://2enewsletter.com/index.html

"Uniquely gifted" a website for gifted/special needs children http://www.uniquelygifted.org/ edited by Meredeth Warshaw, a co-founder and listowner of GT-Special (see listservs above) Recommended

Wrightslaw http://www.wrightslaw.com/

Aptitude Testing and IQ

"An Aptitude Perspective on Talent Identification" by David Lohman. Encourages the thoughtful use of identification practices to match student aptitudes with the nature of the gifted programs they are being chosen to join. http://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/dlohman/pdf/An_Aptitude_Perspective_on_Talent.pdf

The Hoagies site (see above) offers an extensive collection of resources at http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/testing.htm

Human intelligence: Historical influences, current controversies, teaching resources. This site is aimed at people teaching college or graduate level classes on human intelligence. http://www.indiana.edu/~intell

Intelligence: Knowns and Unknowns: Report of a Task Force established by the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association

Released August 7, 1995 http://www.lrainc.com/swtaboo/taboos/apa_01.html

"IQ Subtest Analysis: Clinical Acumen or Clinical Illusion?" Marley W.Watkins, Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, Fall/Winter 2003 http://www.srmhp.org/0202/iq.html

Abstract:
Subtest analysis is pervasive in psychological training and practice. That is, the speculation that the variability or profile of an individual’s scaled scores across the subtests of an intelligence test have meaning beyond that provided by global IQ measures. A review of subtest analysis research revealed that neither subtest scatter nor subtest profiles demonstrate acceptable accuracy in discriminating among diagnostic groups. The evidence that exists regarding relations between subtest profiles and socially important academic and psychosocial outcomes is, at best, weak: subtest profile information contributes 2% to 8% variance beyond general ability to the prediction of achievement and 2% to 3% to the prediction of learning behaviors and test-session behaviors. Hypothesized relationships between subtest profiles and other psychosocial behaviors persistently fail to achieve statistical or clinical significance. Methodological problems in research and practice that cause subtest analysis results to be more illusory than real and to represent more of a shared professional myth than clinically astute detective work are explicated.

Lessons from the History of Intelligence Testing" by David Lohman. An interesting and sophisticated rumination on the intersection of intelligence testing with other trends and factors. http://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/dlohman/pdf/history_of_intelligence_testing.pdf

NAGC Position Statement on the use of the WISC-IV for identifying gifted students

Suggests that it is often appropriate to substitute General Ability Index (GAI) for overal. "IQ" score.

http://www.nagc.org/index.aspx?id=2455

"The role of Nonverbal Ability Tests in Identifying Academically Gifted Students" by David Lohman. Argues that undue reliance on non-verbal tests such as the Naglieri (NNAT) and the Raven's Matrices may actually exclude gifted minority/ESL students.

http://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/dlohman/pdf/Role_of_Nonverbal_Ability.pdf

"Tips for Parents: Intellectual Assessment of Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted Children" John D. Wasserman, Davidson Institute for Talent Development/Young Scholar Seminar 2006. Advice on getting the most out of the various idiosyncrasies of different IQ tests.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10405.aspx

Understanding and Predicting Regression Effects in the Identification of Academically Gifted Children David Lohman. Another of Lohman's provocative and interesting papers. How do we establish identification methods that maximize the probability that students who test as "gifted" today will also test as "gifted" next year?

http://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/dlohman/pdf/Understanding_and_predicting_regression.pdf

"Understanding Tests and Measurements for the Parent and Advocate" by Peter D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright. Written for parents of learning disabled children, but a very thorough explanation of different sorts of testing and how to interpret test scores. Long and somewhat dense, but worth the time. http://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/tests_measurements.html

for reports on state achievement testing and NCLB, see "reports and proceedings" above.

Unusually, Highly, Exceptionally, or Profoundly Gifted

The Davidson Institute for Talent Development A good collection of information and links about meeting the needs of extremely gifted TAG children and a large library of relevant articles, graded by staff for their quality/relevance. See especially their pamphlet for educators which can be downloaded in .pdf format or ordered on the site. The Institute also offers some limited scholarship assistance.

http://www.davidsongifted.org/

articles are now at http://www.davidsongifted.org/db

Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children http://www.hollingworth.org/

Resources for Students who are Highly or Profoundly Gifted....from ERIC http://ericec.org/fact/gt-profound.html

see also "Tips for Parents" above under "Aptitude Testing"