Steve Coxon, Ph.D. Assistant professor Maryville University

1. To find and to serve: Experiences identifying and serving talented students in a low-income school Steve Coxon, Ph.D. Assistant professor Maryville University Brooke Bilby, M.A. Adjunct professor Maryville University Gifted Coordinator Ladue School District

2. Goals of the Maryville Young Scholars Project The Maryville Young Scholars Program seeks to identify and serve high ability children from groups traditionally underserved in gifted programs, including African-American and low income children. The ultimate goal of the program is to scaffold as many Young Scholars as possible into gifted programs at the secondary level.

3. Overview of the Maryville Young Scholars Project • We are piloting the Maryville Young Scholars Program in one pK-8 public school located within a housing project in a large Midwestern city. • The school demographics are 98% African American and 98% LSES • We have received $45,000 in grants for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years and summers and are currently seeking $145,000 more to both continue in the current setting and expand the program to other schools.

4. Poverty in America • More than 22% of all US children live in poverty (National Association of Childcare Resource and Referral Agencies, 2011). • “All children from poverty, regardless of their race/ethnicity, are at risk of not fulfilling their potential” (Hodgkinson, 2006, p. 10). • Most early childhood risk factors are related to poverty, including infant mortality, poor nutrition, lack of adequate health care, low parent education levels, and lack of quality day care (Hodgkinson, 2006). • The average high poverty school receives $907 less per student than the average affluent school (Education Trust, 2005)

5. Who are the traditionally underrepresented groups in gifted programs? • African American, Hispanic, Native Americans, English language learners (ELL), and children from low socio-economic households (LSES) • The average high minority school in the US receives $614 less per student than the average low minority school (Education Trust, 2005) • The above groups are underrepresented in gifted programs by more than 40% (Ford, et al., 2008)

6. Importance of serving all gifted children • When underserved and unchallenged, gifted kids tend to experience increases in: • Depression (Rogers, 2007) • Behavior problems (Silverman, 1993) • Underachievement (McCoach & Siegle, 2007) • Perfectionism (Peterson, 2007) • Dropping out of high school (Kim, 2010) • Possibly a higher suicide completion rate (Cross, 2010)

7. Difficulties in identification • Ability test scores of students from poverty tend to be depressed between 10 and 40 percent. • Gatekeepers exist in many gifted programs (i.e., students must be referred before testing) and do not identify high ability Black children as often as similar ability White children (Ford, et al., 2008) • Black males appear to be especially under-referred. Black males make-up 8.7% of US school enrollment, but only 3.7% of gifted programs (US DoE, 2002).

8. Overview of the Fairfax Young Scholars model • A district-wide model • Identification of students through observations, performance assessments, portfolios, nonverbal ability tests, and standardized achievement tests • Serve students through summer and after school programs and in-class differentiation with cluster grouping • Educate teachers through workshops, conferences, and mentorships

9. Overview of the Maryville Scholars program • Early identification (pK-3) • Summer and after-school programming • Parent education • Teacher education

10. Identification • Instead of looking at the top 10% in terms of national data, we sought the top 10% at the school on any one of three indices: • The Nagleri Nonverbal Assessment Test 2 (NNAT2) from Pearson, given online to all pK-3 students • The HOPE Scale from Purdue (with 100% of pK-3 students) (http://www.wix.com/purduegeri/projecthope#!) • Work sample portfolios (to a limited extent)

11. Summer and after-school programming • We offered a two week program in the first summer • We plan to move to a four week program in future summers • The program was taught with three gifted certified teachers from a nearby gifted magnet school • Courses included LEGO WeDo robotics and an advanced language arts unit on fairy tales. • We plan to add opportunities for after school activities, including starting a JuniorFIRST LEGO League team.

12. Parent education • We held a spring workshop with Donna Ford speaking on parenting high ability children and a local expert on college access • Most parents attended • We plan to expand offerings this spring

13. Teacher Education-Differentiation • 10 teachers (Preschool-4th) • 10 sessions • Process Skills (critical thinking, problem solving, etc.) • 7 assignments • Hands-on activities

14. Lessons/Activities • Pre-Assessment • Bright vs. Gifted • Guest Speakers-Problem Base Learning, Creativity, Gifted Coordinator • Differentiation summary of classroom • Language Arts Lesson • Math Lesson • Critical Thinking/Problem Solving Lesson • IEP-Case Study • Scoring Guide • Share a lesson

15. Teacher Comments • “Opened my understanding” • “I wanted to retire until now. I’m really reaching my students.” • “Seeing assignments that benefit gifted.” • “How to prepare lessons using differentiation for higher level students.” • “Would like lessons that needed improvement.” • “Reflect on activities more in class.” • “Meet with gifted teachers.” • “Visit gifted teachers classrooms.”

16. Lessons learned • Stipends worked • Flexibility • Administrative turnover • Class start time • Testing late • Summer program • School-specific instruction • Draw on multiple resources • A fund that paid for some teachers’ tuition • A community center for the summer program

17. Questions?