Northwestern University Center for Talent Development

Last updated
Center for Talent Development
Information
School typecourses and programs for advanced students
Founded1982
FounderJoyce VanTassel-Baska
Authority Northwestern University
DirectorPaula Olszewski-Kubilius
Gradesage 3 to grade 12
Classes offered Mathematics, Computer Science, Humanities, and Science
Accreditation North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI)
Website www.ctd.northwestern.edu

Center for Talent Development (CTD), established in 1982, is a direct service and research center in the field of gifted education and talent development based at Northwestern University.

Contents

CTD offers in-person and online educational programs [1] for students age 3 through grade 12, and resources for their families, and educators, including:

CTD also works with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to support their scholarship programs, which are designed to advance the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. [5]

History

CTD began as a research and talent assessment program and soon after grew to include educational programs in several different forms. Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, CTD's founder and former director, started the Midwest Talent Search Project at Northwestern University in 1982. LetterLinks, a distance education program (later known as Gifted LearningLinks), began the same year and transitioned from mail correspondence to online courses in 2002. Summer and weekend enrichment programs were launched in 1983. Northwestern University officially established the Center for Talent Development in 1984. In 1999, the Civic Education Project joined CTD, introducing service-learning, civic engagement, and leadership to the curriculum. [6] The center has since added programs and services for families, educators, and schools. [7]

CTD's current director, Dr. Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, has served in her role since 1987. She served as president of the National Association for Gifted Children from 2011 to 2013, from whom she received the Early Scholar Award in 1987, the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2009, and the Gifted Child Quarterly Paper of the Year Award in 2011. [8] She received the Mensa Award for Excellence in Research in 2013. Olszewski-Kubilius has been interviewed by Education Week [9] and The Boston Globe [10] for her research in the field of gifted education and talent development. Her work has been published by the Association for Psychological Science, Prufrock Press, Scientific American, Roeper Review, Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, Asian Pacific Education Review, Parenting for High Potential, and Gifted Child Quarterly . [11]

Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search (commonly referred to as "NUMATS") is the above-grade-level assessment program within Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development. Originally called the Midwest Academic Talent Search (MATS), NUMATS was started in 1982 by Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska. [12] This research-validated program aims to provide families and educators with insights into participants' academic strengths, measure growth, and help connect students with supplemental enrichment, accelerated programs, and appropriate school-based curricula and courses. [13]

Above-grade-level assessments (using tests intended for older students) and interpretive information, such as that provided by NUMATS and similar talent search programs, give a more accurate measurement of aptitude than grade-level assessments for higher-achieving students, particularly for those students who are scoring at the highest end of their grade-level standardized assessments. NUMATS above-grade-level assessment is based on the work of Dr. Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Stanley was an advocate of accelerated education for academically advanced or gifted children. He founded the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins and initiated a related research project, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), which is an ongoing, longitudinal study of the talent development of individuals identified as gifted. Further research continues to support the model and explore its applications for identification, placement, and academic acceleration. [14] Published in 2004, a report titled A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students found above-level testing to be useful in identifying candidates for acceleration and eliminating the ceiling effect many high-ability students experience on grade-level tests.

Through NUMATS, students in grades 3 through 6 take the PSAT8/9 (a test designed for students in grades 8 and 9). Students in grades 6 through 9 may take the SAT and/or ACT (tests designed for students in grades 11 and 12). [15]

Uses and Applications

Above-grade-level test results provide insights into academic abilities, can serve as a benchmark for growth, and help in predicting readiness for acceleration. They are also used to select courses and instruction matched to students' assessed abilities in their domains of talent (placement in services and appropriate instruction).

Above-grade-level assessments are also used by at the state level to identify gifted students (see Colorado [16] and Ohio [17] ), and by researchers and in school-based programs to evaluate the efficacy of academic interventions aimed at gifted and advanced students. In 2017, a study of data collected from past talent search participants examined how demographics, educational experiences, and personal interest impacted the likelihood of pursuing a college degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. The study found that experience in a talent search and supplemental gifted programs helped students intensify their interests in STEM. [18] In 2019–2020, a program called Project OCCAMS (Online Curriculum Consortium for Accelerating Middle School) utilized above-grade-level testing to implement accelerated curriculum for bright underserved students in Columbus City Schools. [19] Developed in collaboration with Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development, the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William & Mary, and Columbus City Schools, Project OCCAMS has been funded by the Jacob K. Javits Federal Grant Program [20] and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. [21]

Eligibility

Eligibility for NUMATS is determined by meeting grade-level assessment criteria in either verbal/reading or math on a nationally normed or state achievement test; past participation in above-grade-level testing; participation in a school gifted program or advanced academic services; or and/or recommendation by a parent or teacher. Students with scores at the 90th percentile or above in at least one category or subcategory on a state achievement test may also qualify for NUMATS. [22]

Developmental approach

Academic researchers and programs endorse different definitions of intellectual giftedness and approaches to gifted education. CTD's educational philosophy is based on the talent development model, [23] a framework looking beyond IQ and emphasizing personal growth, the development of non-cognitive traits such as psychosocial skills, and the impact of the educational environment on student performance. [24]

Research

In addition to programs, the Center for Talent Development contributes research to the fields of talent development and gifted education. Notable publications include:

Affiliated organizations

Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Talented Youth</span> Gifted education program

The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is a gifted education program for school-age children founded in 1979 by psychologist Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University. It was established as a research study into how academically advanced children learn and became the first program to identify academically talented students through above-grade-level testing and provide them with challenging learning opportunities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy</span> Public residential magnet school in Aurora, Illinois, United States

The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, or IMSA, is a three-year residential public secondary education institution in Aurora, Illinois, United States, with an enrollment of approximately 650 students.

Intellectual giftedness is an intellectual ability significantly higher than average. It is a characteristic of children, variously defined, that motivates differences in school programming. It is thought to persist as a trait into adult life, with various consequences studied in longitudinal studies of giftedness over the last century. These consequences sometimes includes stigmatizing and social exclusion. There is no generally agreed definition of giftedness for either children or adults, but most school placement decisions and most longitudinal studies over the course of individual lives have followed people with IQs in the top 2.5 percent of the population—that is, IQs above 130. Definitions of giftedness also vary across cultures.

Gifted education is a sort of education used for children who have been identified as gifted or talented.

Educational assessment or educational evaluation is the systematic process of documenting and using empirical data on the knowledge, skill, attitudes, aptitude and beliefs to refine programs and improve student learning. Assessment data can be obtained from directly examining student work to assess the achievement of learning outcomes or can be based on data from which one can make inferences about learning. Assessment is often used interchangeably with test, but not limited to tests. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community, a course, an academic program, the institution, or the educational system as a whole. The word "assessment" came into use in an educational context after the Second World War.

The Duke University Talent Identification Program was a gifted education program based at Duke University. Founded in 1980 as one of the first pre-collegiate studies programs offered by an American university, the program aimed to identify gifted students in grades four through twelve and provide advanced educational opportunities, as well as social and emotional support. The Duke TIP program permanently ended in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When children are young, schools begin to analyze the youngsters’ abilities and sort them into clusters based on their predicted success. The system labels the cream of the crop as gifted. Clark (2002) defines giftedness as “only a label that society gives to those who have actualized their ability to an unusually high degree or give evidence that such achievement is imminent”. The American government defines giftedness as “students, children or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities”. Gifted students learn in a different manner and at an accelerated rate compared to their peers in the classroom and therefore require gifted programs to develop and apply their talents.

Seoul Science High School for Gifted Students is an academy for gifted students interested in science. The school was established in 1989, and is located at Jongno-gu, Seoul. It was established as one of the 'Science High Schools' in Republic of Korea. In 2009, it has become an 'Academy for Gifted Students' selected by the Ministry of Education of Korea. Now, it is one of the eight such academies in Republic of Korea.

Julian Cecil Stanley was an American psychologist. He was an advocate of accelerated education for academically gifted children. He founded the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), as well as a related research project, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), whose work has, since 1980, been supplemented by the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent (SET), which provides academic assistance to gifted children. Stanley was also widely known for his classic book, coauthored with Donald Campbell, on the design of educational and psychological research - Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research.

A selective school is a school that admits students on the basis of some sort of selection criteria, usually academic. The term may have different connotations in different systems and is the opposite of a comprehensive school, which accepts all students, regardless of aptitude.

Begun in 1981, ATYP – Academically Talented Youth Programs – is a K-12/higher education collaborative model that works cooperatively with over 60 public and private school districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracking (education)</span> Separation of students by ability

Tracking is separating students by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. It may be referred to as streaming or phasing in some schools.

A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students is The Templeton National Report on Acceleration, a report which was published in 2004 and edited by Nicholas Colangelo, Susan G. Assouline, and Miraca Gross. This report argues for the academic acceleration of qualified gifted and talented students, based on the results of studies on outcomes of accelerating and not accelerating high-achieving students. Despite the evidence that acceleration is a beneficial practice when implemented correctly, many teachers and parents are reluctant to accelerate students. The report presents the research on acceleration in an effort to increase the number of students who have access to acceleration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academic acceleration</span> Moving students through education faster than typical

Academic acceleration is moving students through an educational program at a rate faster or at an age younger than is typical. Students who would benefit from acceleration do not necessarily need to be identified as gifted in a particular subject. Acceleration places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum. It has been described as a "fundamental need" for gifted students as it provides students with level-appropriate material. The practice occurs worldwide. The bulk of educational research on academic acceleration has been within the United States.

Grade skipping is a form of academic acceleration, often used for academically talented students, that enables the student to skip entirely the curriculum of one or more years of school. Grade skipping allows students to learn at an appropriate level for their cognitive abilities, and is normally seen in schools that group students primarily according to their chronological age, rather than by their individual developmental levels. Grade skipping is usually done when a student is sufficiently advanced in all school subjects, so that they can move forward in all subjects or graduate, rather than in only one or two areas. There are alternatives to grade skipping.

Cluster grouping is an educational process in which four to six gifted and talented (GT) or high-achieving students or both are assigned to an otherwise heterogeneous classroom within their grade to be instructed by a teacher who has had specialized training in differentiating for gifted learners. Clustering can be contrasted with other ability-grouping strategies in which high achievers fill their own dedicated class, entirely separate from other students.

Gifted pull-outs are an educational approach in which gifted students are removed from a heterogeneous (mixed-ability) classroom to spend a portion of their time with academic peers. Pull-outs tend to meet one to two hours per week. The students meet with a teacher to engage in enrichment or extension activities that may or may not be related to the curriculum being taught in the regular classroom. Pull-out teachers in some states are not required to have any formal background in gifted education.

The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development is a center of the University of Iowa College of Education, and housed in the Blank Honors Center on the campus of the University of Iowa. The center provides services for all aspects of gifted education. Educators can earn their gifted education endorsement. Students can participate in various programs that will be academically challenging. In addition, the Belin-Blank Center involves a clinic for assessment and counseling services and an institute for academic acceleration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy M. Scott-Carrol</span>

Joy M. Scott-Carrol, is a corporate executive officer, professor and mentor at the International Gifted Education Teacher-Development Network and formerly visiting scholar and professor in the School of Education at the University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng, South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PERMATApintar National Gifted Center</span> School in Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

The PERMATApintar Gifted Center, UKM, more commonly known as the Malaysian National Gifted Centre, UKM is a gifted center that provides education services for gifted and talented Malaysian students aged 12 – 17 in Malaysia. It was established by University Kebangsaan Malaysia to support the Malaysian Gifted and Talented Program mooted by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in 2009. ; wife of the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Najib Razak. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia under the leadership of then Vice Canselor, Tan Sri Dato Wira Dr. Sharifah Hapsah binti Syed Hasan Shahabudin was appointed as the implementer of the program. Professor Datuk Dr. Noriah Mohd Ishak was then appointed as the first Director of the Malaysian National Gifted Center Pusat PERMATApintar Negara, UKM. Her role was to develop assessment tools to search for the gifted and talented, develop the academic pathways for gifted and talented Malaysian children, develop a comprehensive and challenging curriculum for the gifted and talented Malaysian students and implement the program effectively with the support of UKM, for the benefit of gifted and talented Malaysian students. It is the only programme in Malaysia that identifies academically gifted and talented students. PERMATApintar currently offers three programmes: the Summer Camp programme (PPCS), the PERMATApintar College programme, and the ASASIpintar programme.

References

  1. ↑ “Programs | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  2. ↑ “Parent Seminars | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  3. ↑ “CTD Backpack | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  4. ↑ “Gifted Education Services and Resources for Educators and Schools | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  5. ↑ “Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship & Grant Programs | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  6. ↑ “Talent Newsletter - Celebrating 30 Years of CTD | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  7. ↑ “Gifted Education Services and Resources for Educators and Schools. | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  8. ↑ “Paula Olszewski-Kubilius | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  9. ↑ Samuels, Christina (2020-10-5). “Can a Lottery Diversify America's Top High School?” Education Week . Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  10. ↑ Crawford, Amy. (2020-3-24). “The Poor Neglected Gifted Child”. The Boston Globe . Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  11. ↑ “Paula Olszewski-Kubilius Vita | Northwestern University School for Education and Social Policy”. sesp.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-9.
  12. ↑ “CTD History | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  13. ↑ “NUMATS | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  14. ↑ “Talent Search | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  15. ↑ “NUMATS | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  16. ↑ “Matrix of Commonly Used Assessments for Gifted Identification, 2020 | Office of Gifted Education”. cde.state.co.us. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  17. ↑ “Gifted Screening and Identification | Ohio Department of Education”. education.ohio.gov Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  18. ↑ Steenbergen-Hu, S., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2017). “Factors that contributed to gifted students’ success on STEM pathways: The role of race, personal interests, and aspects of high school experience”. Journal for the Education of the Gifted , 1-36. doi: 10.1177/0162353217701022
  19. ↑ “Project OCCAMS | Northwestern Scholars”. scholars.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  20. ↑ “Newly Funded Jacob Javits Grant | William & Mary School of Education”. education.wm.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  21. ↑ “Project OCCAMS Renewal Online Curriculum Consortium for Accelerating Middle School | Northwestern Scholars”. scholars.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  22. ↑ “NUMATS | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
  23. ↑ “CTD Pathways | Northwestern Center for Talent Development”. ctd.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  24. ↑ Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Worrell, F. C. (2011). “Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest , 12(1). 3-54. doi: 10.1177/1529100611418056 Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  25. ↑ Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016). “What one hundred years of research says about ability-grouping and acceleration: Findings of two second-order meta-analysis”. Review of Educational Research , 86(4), 849-899. doi: 10.3102/0034654316675417 Retrieved 2020-11-1.
  26. ↑ Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Subotnik, R., & Worrell, F. C. (2015). “Conceptualizations about giftedness and the development of talent: Implications for counselors”. Journal of Counseling and Development , 93, 143-152. doi: 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2015.00190.x Retrieved 2020-11-1.
  27. ↑ Lee, S. Y, Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Thomson, D. (2012). “Academically gifted students’ perceived interpersonal competence and peer relationships”. Gifted Child Quarterly , 56(2), 90-104. doi: 10.1177/0016986212442568 Retrieved 2020-11-1.
  28. ↑ Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Worrell, F. C. (2011). “Rethinking giftedness and gifted education: A proposed direction forward based on psychological science”. Psychological Science in the Public Interest , 12(1). 3-54. doi: 10.1177/1529100611418056 Retrieved 2020-11-11.
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