Mary Ruth Coleman

Recognizing Academic Potential in Students of Color: Findings of U-STARS~PLUS

Students of color are often underrepresented in academic programs for gifted and talented students. This study explored the impact of The Teacher’s Observation of Potential in Students (TOPS) tool on teachers’ ability to systematically observe and document the academic strengths of 5- to 9-year-old students across nine domains. Teachers indicated that without the TOPS, they would have overlooked the academic potential of 22% (1,741) of their children of color and 53% of African American boys, in particular. After using the TOPS, a majority of the teachers (74%) felt they could more readily recognize high-potential students from culturally or linguistically different and economically disadvantaged families. Barriers that might have kept teachers from seeing students’ strengths were also examined. Results indicate two statistically significant relationships between teacher race and perceptions of student behavior. This study has implications for supporting teachers’ more effective identification of strengths in all children.

Children of Promise: Dr. James Gallagher's Thoughts on Underrepresentation within Gifted Education.

You can see them, you can hear them, and sometimes you can “feel” them—these young gifted children. The ways they differ from their chronological peers are observable to those who know how to look. Yet, one or two years later they become invisible. What is it that happens between the time they enter kindergarten and leave first grade? What is it that turns enthusiasm to apathy, and apathy to hostility by the fifth and sixth grades?

Meeting the Needs of Students With 2e It Takes a Team

The provision of flexible, multidimensional, customized supports and services for a twice-exceptional (2e) child requires a system of education that is capable of dynamic and personalized interventions that respond to a 2e student’s learning strengths and challenges. We believe that this kind of educational response entails more than an excellent individual teacher . . . it takes a team.

Recognizing young children with high potential: U‐STARS∼PLUS

Hands‐on science is the ideal platform for observing young childrens ability to solve problems, think deeply, and use their creative ingenuity to explore the world around them. Science is naturally interesting and offers authentic reasons to read for information and use math skills to collect, compile, and analyze data. This chapter will share one approach to nurturing and recognizing young children with high‐potential: U‐STARS∼PLUS (Using Science, Talents, and Abilities to Recognize Students∼Promoting Learning for Underrepresented Students). Each of the five components (high‐end learning environments; teachers observations of potential; engaging science activities; partnerships with parents; and capacity building for system change) will be explained. Concrete examples will be given for each area showing how it works and why it is important. Special attention will be paid to the needs of educationally vulnerable gifted children who remain underserved: racially, ethnically, and linguistically different; economically disadvantaged, and children who are twice exceptional (2e).

Going beyond the Dodo bird – a response to Gustavsson, Kittelsaa & Tøssebro

Abstract Anders Gustavsson, Anna Kittelsaa and Jan Tøssebro describe an important dilemma: most published research shows positive outcomes for the intervention being studied, thus making it difficult to determine which of the interventions would be best suited for any given situation. The author’s discuss this within the context of the Dodo Bird effect, that “all are winners and all should get prizes” and call for a new research paradigm; challenging us to go beyond a surface look at interventions to identify the common factors across interventions that may act as the deeper anchors of success. This response, to the paper, explores why publications tend to focus on positive outcomes, briefly addresses a broader conceptualization of an evidence base, and discusses the possible use of a “root causes” approach to identify common factors that lead to success across interventions.

Commentary--Sorting It Out: Thoughts on "Does Sorting Students Improve Scores? An Analysis of Class Composition" by Courtney A. Collins and Li Gan.

One of the most challenging decisions made by school system administrators each year is how to assign students to teachers. This decision, usually guided by the administrator’s beliefs and values, has major implications for the teacher and the student. Collins and Gan undertook a complex study to examine the impact of grouping practices on student achievement within 135 schools in the Dallas independent school district. Their study addressed three issues: (a) how schools sort students into classes, (b) the effect of these sorting practices on student performance, and (c) differences in effects for different groups of students. They looked at the “tracking effect” on high- and low-achieving students, students who had been identified for special (SPED) and gifted (GT) education, and for students with limited English proficiency (LEP). This commentary explores the implications of this study for students with gifts and talents.

The Importance of Reading in Earnest: Non-Fiction for Young Children.

Until recently, reading instruction for early grades has focused on fiction. However, the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards both emphasize the reading of nonfiction texts to gain specific skill sets for analyzing information. Research has shown that gifted students and children with culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds may find nonfiction texts more engaging to their interests than fiction. Nonfiction can activate prior learning and encourage students to learn to categorize and synthesize information, especially when combined with scientific inquiry. In this article, the authors explore the new standards-based emphasis on reading nonfiction, the skills built by students’ reading nonfiction with a focus on gifted students from culturally/linguistically different and economically disadvantaged families, and we share one approach to including nonfiction in elementary classrooms through the U-STARS~PLUS Science & Nonfiction Connections, a program for recognizing and supporting underrepresented gifted populations.