Unlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting High Achievement of Low-Income, High-Ability Students
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Unlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting High Achievement of Low-Income, High-Ability Students Paula Olszewski-Kubilius and Jane Clarenbach p Table of Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 3 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 5 Top-Achieving Students in the United States Today: An Overview ............................................... 6 Barriers to Participation in Advanced Programs for ....................................................................... 9 Low-Income, High-Ability Students Successful Program Models and Practices with .......................................................................... 12 Low-Income, High-Ability Students Program Replication and Scale-Up Challenges ............................................................................ 15 More Than Ability is Required: Psychosocial Issues and ............................................................. 16 Skills Needed for Success Policies and Action Initiatives to Promote Talent Development .................................................... 19 of Low-Income, High-Ability Students Moving Towards a New Paradigm: Expanding Our Understanding ............................................ 21 of Gifted and Talented Best Educational Practices with Low-Income, High-Ability Students ............................................ 22 Research Agenda to Support Low-Income, High-Ability Students ............................................... 24 Appendix A: Successful Programs ............................................................................................... 27 Appendix B: Summit Participants .................................................................................................. 31 Endnotes ........................................................................................................................................ 32 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... 35 Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Ph.D., is President of the National Association for Gifted Children and Director of the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. Jane Clarenbach, J.D., is Director of Public Education at the National Association for Gifted Children. © 2012 National Association for Gifted Children | Washington, DC | www.nagc.org p Executive Summary nlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting produce performance results for low-income, high- High Achievement of Low-Income, High- ability learners, recommending educational best Ability Students takes a comprehensive practices, and identifying both research and public U look at achievement for low-income prom- policy gaps that, if filled, could achieve significant -re ising learners—past, present, and future. At its core, it sults for the future. The report calls on educators and challenges the nation to move beyond its near-singu- policy makers to: lar focus of achieving minimum performance for all • Expect more than proficiency from many more students, to identifying and developing the talent of students through policies, funding, and practices all students who are capable of high achievement, in- that consistently support high expectations and cluding our promising low-income and culturally and high achievement. linguistically diverse students who too often literally • Provide multiple strategies to support student languish in our schools. achievement at the highest levels, and expand The foundation for this report was built at the access to rigorous curriculum and supplemental National Summit on Low-Income, High-Ability services and programs. Learners, convened by the National Association • Expand preservice and in-service teacher training for Gifted Children in 2012. The Summit gathered on identifying and serving high-ability, low-income experts to share the latest research on the education and culturally and linguistically diverse students. and development of low-income, high-ability • Support emergent talent as early as possible, estab- students, identify barriers to achievement in school lishing a commitment to achievement at an early age. and success in adulthood, share information about • Engage communities to support in-school learning successful school-based and supplemental programs, and supplement curriculum with outside-of-school and recommend areas in need of further research. opportunities After presentations and discussion, participants made • Minimize a student’s zip code and socioeconomic recommendations for practice, policy, and research status as the determining factors for receiving a that are based on three general assumptions: rigorous, high quality education. • Poverty and minority status are not the same. • Identify successful program models and interven- Although there is overlap, poverty manifests differ- tions that work with low-income, high-ability ently based on geography, ethnicity, and race. students from different geographical, cultural, and • Poverty is pervasive and includes students from racial backgrounds. rural, White, urban, African American, Hispanic, • Remove policy barriers that impede participation Asian, and other cultural backgrounds. and access. • Typical characteristics of gifted students may mani- fest differently in low-income, high-ability learners. Barriers to Excellence The impetus for the National Summit andUnlocking Call for Action Emergent Talent is the lack of attention to the trou- Unlocking Emergent Talent sets the stage for major bling data about student achievement. While our na- strides in both understanding and action, by spot- tion continues to express commitment to closing the lighting strong evidence-based program models that achievement gap, the proportion of low-income stu- Unlocking Emergent Talent: Supporting High Achievement of Low-Income, High-Ability Students | 3 p Executive Summary dents performing at advanced levels on the National to working with low-income, high-ability students, Assessment of Educational Progress exams remains the report addresses the important role of psychoso- shamefully low. For example, cial skills needed for success. The report draws on a • Between 1998 and 2007, 1.7% or fewer of free and wide range of research to make its observations about reduced lunch program-eligible students scored at mindset, stereotype threat, motivation, and other non- the advanced level on the eighth-grade math exam cognitive factors, which in addition to intelligence and compared to between 6% and 10% of non-eligible ability, are essential to high achievement. students. • Since 1998, 1% or fewer of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th- Identifying A Research Agenda for grade free or reduced lunch students, compared to the Future between 5% and 6% of non-eligible students scored The research agenda focuses on three primary ar- at the advanced level on the civics exam. eas related to improving practice with low-income, promising learners: the nature and development of In addition, factors present in school today do psychosocial characteristics; barriers to participation little or nothing to improve or sustain top student in programs for gifted students; and characteristics of performance. Equally troubling is that once out instructional strategies and programming found to of secondary school, high-achieving, low-income be successful with this special population. The report students are less likely to attend selective colleges or emphasizes the need to prioritize those programs and even graduate from college at all. services that can by scaled up and expanded in eco- Unlocking Emergent Talent identifies numerous nomical ways in order to increase their availability factors that impede participation in advanced and impact. The authors observe that there is much programs by low-income, high-ability students. Too to be learned about students who are currently disen- often these children, who typically depend solely on franchised from the best the nation’s education sys- public schools to meet their educational needs, are tem has to offer and recommends a full slate of topics overlooked by educators and administrators who see and questions in need of further investigation. high performance on ability or achievement tests as the sole indication of high ability. The type and variety Changing the Future of obstacles are wide ranging, and include policies, The case made within the pages of Unlocking Emer- perceptions, and pedagogy and curriculum. gent Talent gives researchers, educators, practitioners, and policy makers reasons to be optimistic about the Identifying Best Practices future we can – and must – create for low-income, Drawing on lessons from successful school-based and high-ability learners, as well as a roadmap for success. supplemental program and service models featured As we strive to develop services and programs, the at the Summit, Unlocking Emergent Talent highlights goals for these learners remain the same as those for their common factors such as expanded learning time, other high-ability students: the development of a psy- augmented student support networks, and enriched chological identity that supports high achievement; curriculum, and makes best practice recommenda- increased access to challenging curricula, rigorous tions in identification practices, programs and services, educational programs, and selective institutions