As a part of 优蜜视频鈥檚 , 优蜜视频 commissioned the first ever national survey assessing the American public鈥檚 views on gifted education. Linked below you will find a summary of the national survey, completed in 2016, that sought to understand the public鈥檚 perception of gifted students in the United States. This poll was designed in collaboration with leaders in the field of gifted education, including the National Association for Gifted Children, and conducted by Beneson Strategy Group and The Winston Group.

The summary contains helpful information about the state of gifted education in the U.S. and details recommendations for how to communicate about gifted students and advocate for this cause. Our hope is that this document would be a tool for the gifted community, families, teachers, and professionals alike to use when advocating for these unique learners.

Thank you to Alan Arkotov of , Dr. Jim Delisle, Dr. Shelagh A. Gallagher, Ren茅 Islas of , Michael Petrilli and Chester Finn of , Ann Smith of Gifted Support Center, Dr. Amy Shelton of and Adam Umhoefer of for their assistance and support.

How can you use this information to advocate for gifted learners in your state? Share your ideas below!

To celebrate the beginning of a new year, we wanted to take a look back at some noteworthy moments from 2017!

优蜜视频 has expanded and bought a house!

Through the generosity of our donors, 优蜜视频 was able to purchase a beautiful craftsman home in Pasadena. The new space houses our programs, Academy classes, and monthly聽 Gifted Support Groups. This past December, we hosted a Tree Trimming and Open House where families had the opportunity to take a guided tour, observe Academy classes, meet our dynamic Academy instructors, make DIY holiday ornaments, check out student work and nosh on cookies and hot cocoa.

优蜜视频 released results from a .

We commissioned the first ever national survey assessing the American public鈥檚 views on gifted education which found overwhelming bipartisan public support for increased funding for programs and resources for gifted students. It also indicated that the public recognizes the gifted population is often underserved. As a follow up in September, 优蜜视频 gathered gifted education leaders from across the country in Pasadena to discuss the next steps in advocating for a policy solution championing gifted learners. The gathering included a presentation of the poll results, roundtable discussions, 聽and a conversation on how organizations can work together to advocate for our nation鈥檚 gifted students. We are working on to inform and create change.

Students, parents, and supporters gathered for 优蜜视频鈥檚 Summer Spotlight.

In July, over 100 students, parents, and supporters of 优蜜视频 gathered at The Barder House for event where families enjoyed interactive demonstrations of our programs conducted by 优蜜视频 students and Academy instructors, connected with other families with gifted children, and chowed down on a complimentary barbeque dinner and drinks!

Twenty-eight middle-schoolers from across the country were named 2017 Scholars.

From an applicant pool of 386 students, CDB鈥檚 largest-ever applicant pool, 55 Finalists were selected by three Scholarship Selection Committees comprised of a diverse group of school admissions directors, CDB alumni, university personnel and community and business leaders nationwide. Following extensive personal interviews, 28 of the Finalists were selected as recipients of the 2017 scholarship. Congratulations to our !

Twenty talented high school students worked with distinguished Mentors through .

Students were thoughtfully matched with mentors who shared similar passions in their career field of interest and had professional trajectories externs hoped to pursue in the future. These externs conducted college level research and work in fields such as biomathematics, computer science, architecture, pediatric medical research, ethnomusicology and more. Also, as a new component of EXPLORE, students met every Friday to attend educational excursions and workshops geared towards building their college and career readiness.

Yunasa brought together 113 campers for a summer of fun outdoor activities, workshops led by our beloved Fellows, and community-building events.

This year, Yunasa accepted the most campers it has in its 15 years of operation. We welcomed back 77 returning campers and 36 new campers for Yunasa and Yunasa West. The goal of the one week camp is to balance all sides of giftedness 鈥撀爄ntellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical. Hannah, a 4th year Yunasa camper, shares her experience about finding her tribe at Yunasa .

Teacher trainings brought Academy instructors together to share their experience, knowledge and creative ideas.

Academy conducted 3 pre-session teacher trainings to help prepare our instructors to work with our community of gifted learners. Trainings covered such topics as support for twice-exceptional students and guest speakers included Sharon Duncan from GRO Gifted and 优蜜视频鈥檚 very own, President Betsy Jones.

优蜜视频 honored three valued members of the 优蜜视频 community, Dr. Tony Travouillon, Jason Roberts and Sandy Roberts, at the .

In November, we hosted 90 guests at the University Club in Pasadena for our annual fundraiser. The evening brought together program alumni, Mentors, parents, board members, and supporters of 优蜜视频 聽and we also honored including Academy Instructor, Dr. Tony Travouillon, who received the Educator Award, and Sandy and Jason Roberts of Math Academy who received the Community Advocate Award. The event raised nearly $30,000 to support 优蜜视频鈥檚 programs for gifted youth! Thank you to all who attended and contributed to this event!

We鈥檝e grown our online presence through our redesigned .

The Gifted Resource Center (GRC) is a free public tool created and curated by 优蜜视频 which serves as an online database of resources for the gifted community. To date, the database has over 450 gifted resources and over 15,000 page views.

优蜜视频 hosted nine free meetings.

During the school year, we offer complimentary monthly talks featuring experts on various aspects of gifted youth and education. These talks are intended for parents and educators of gifted children to provide support and community, a venue for shared discovery, and a space to exchange resources and ideas. Previous topics include Mindfulness and the Whole Child, Gifted Resource Swap, Gifted and Teenage, Homeschooling 101 and Finding the Right School Fit.

Four joined our small but mighty team.

Anvi Kevany, Administrative Assistant
Abby Daniels, Director of Development & Communications
Nicole Endacott, Program Assistant
Hillary Jade, Program Manager

And, most importantly, 优蜜视频 programs supported more than 453 bright young minds!

Needless to say, 优蜜视频 had a lot to celebrate in 2017 and we could not have done any of this without the help of our amazing community!

优蜜视频 continues to receive remarkable support from families who have benefited from our programs, as well as community partners who believe in our mission and work. Thank you to everyone who generously contributed this year, and to our amazing volunteers who assisted in our programming, marketing, and fundraising efforts. Thanks to you, we are able to deliver highly customized programs to more bright and eager learners across the country.

We look forward to an impactful 2018!

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]]> /blog-iea-2017-highlights/feed/ 0 /blog-gifted/ /blog-gifted/#respond Tue, 04 Jul 2017 05:57:52 +0000 https://ieadev.wpengine.com/blog-gifted/ By Elizabeth D. Jones, President and Co-Founder of the Institute for Educational Advancement.

The film Gifted staring Chris Evans and Jenny Slate, released for video next聽week, introduces audiences to a cute and very precocious young girl, Mary (McKenna Grace), whose advanced intellectual ability and quick verbal banter poses a clear challenge to the adults in her life.

The film opens with Mary entering a new kindergarten mid-year. 聽The young girl鈥檚 teacher (Jenny Slate) is immediately struck by the depth and breadth of knowledge her new student possess.聽 It is also clear that Mary has no intention to 鈥渇it into鈥� the academic or social environment of a traditional kindergarten classroom.

Fortunately, the teacher recognizes the limits of what her current school can offer.聽 To support Mary, the teacher and principal seek out an alternative option to assist this advanced learner with a more appropriate and rigorous learning environment.

Sadly, in our educational system, this quick response to a clearly gifted child is not the norm鈥攏ot even close.

It is estimated that there are four to five million gifted students in the United States. Many 鈥攅specially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and traditionally underserved populations 鈥攁re not identified, much less served. Ignoring the intellectual and personal needs of these young people is not only detrimental to the individual 鈥� it is holding back our nation by stifling the growth of our most brilliant human capital.

We live in a nation that invests little to no money in educating gifted students. 聽The lack of services for these students is an issue that has been smoldering for decades. As Chester Finn, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education, said, “If we cannot bring ourselves to push smart kids as far as they can go, we will watch and eventually weep as other countries surpass us in producing tomorrow’s inventors, entrepreneurs, artists and scientists.”

Yet when appropriate pace and challenge are offered, the growth in a child鈥檚 personal self-worth and intellectual promise is exponential. 聽Research has shown that 82 percent of underachieving gifted students reversed that trend when their needs are met (Baum, Renzulli, & Hebert, 1995b). Evidence demonstrates that when these bright young minds are stimulated to learn, to explore, to discover, to grow 鈥� all students profit.聽 Every child benefits from appropriate challenge and advancement. We need to bring back the joy of the 鈥渁h-ha鈥� moments 鈥� the excitement of learning something new every day.

We know the public wants to help these students. 聽 The data demonstrated that 90 percent of those surveyed feel it is of the utmost importance to train teachers on how to identify and educate advanced learners.聽The survey also demonstrated bi-partisan majority support for increasing funding to schools in underserved communities, specifically to support programs for gifted students. Though there is much work to be done, with just a little energy, we can begin to remove the ceiling for our gifted students, improving their lives and the future of America.

References
Baum, S. M., Renzulli, J. S., & Hebert, T. P. (1995b). Reversing underachievement: Creative productivity as a systematic intervention.聽Gifted Child Quarterly, 39, 224-235.

The poll, conducted by Benenson Strategy Group and The Winston Group, found that 64% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, 61% of Republicans, and 62% of Trump voters say federal funding for gifted students needs to be increased.聽 Only 4% of all voters polled said funding needs to be cut, and 32% said funding should be kept as is. Similarly, 63% say state funding needs to be increased.聽 The poll is the first-ever comprehensive survey of voters on the subject of gifted learners.

鈥淲hen it comes to America鈥檚 future, it is clear that progressives, conservatives, and everyone in between want the same thing 鈥� support for our highest potential learners so that our country remains an economic power in the 21st century,鈥� said Elizabeth D. Jones,聽President & Co-Founder of 优蜜视频.聽 鈥淲e are seeing overwhelming support for funding and resources to ensure that our brightest students鈥� minds are nurtured and supported, which hasn鈥檛 always been the case in the past.聽 As a community, we are committed to advocating for what the public wants: helping our highest potential students succeed.鈥�

Despite the highly charged politics of the day, the poll finds bipartisan agreement on a variety of questions including improving the training of teachers on how to identify and serve gifted students, and increasing supports for gifted students from underserved communities that have historically been under-represented in such programs.聽 Key findings include:

-64% say federal funding for gifted students needs to be increased, while only 4% say it needs to be cut and 32% say kept as is.

– Similarly, 63% say state funding needs to be increased.

-64% of Democrats, 67% of Independents, 61% of Republicans, and 62% of Trump voters say federal funding for gifted students needs to be increased.

-Even in the face of a strong opposition attack, nearly 7-in-10 voters side with the idea that investing in gifted students is critical to America鈥檚 future.

– Just 31% agree with: Spending federal dollars on programs for gifted kids sounds great, but the country just can鈥檛 afford it. Every year it seems the federal deficit grows larger and America鈥檚 debt rises. With limitless funds it would be great to spend more on gifted kids 鈥� and all kids 鈥� but that鈥檚 just not the world we live in. For gifted programs to be funded, other programs would need to be cut, and that鈥檚 not a sacrifice we should make.

– While 69% agree with: America’s success in the 21st century relies on our commitment to the next generation. Countries like China, Singapore and India are investing in their gifted students, while the U.S. provides almost no federal funding for these programs in our schools. If America wants to remain competitive in the 21st century, we need to invest in the leaders and innovators of the future. Investing in gifted kids is investing in America鈥檚 continued prosperity.

-Voters overwhelmingly support specific policy proposals to help gifted children, with almost no partisan distinctions.聽 Policies include improved funding to help train teachers who identify and serve gifted children (90%); improved funding to help train teachers who are educating gifted children (89%); requiring that any teacher who serves gifted children receive special training (86%) and providing additional funding to schools in underserved communities specifically to support programs for gifted students (86%)

Of students who dropped out of high school, . 聽Among the leading causes for dropping out include feeling unchallenged, unmotivated or bored. Gifted students know up to 50% of the year鈥檚 curriculum before the school year begins, which could explain the dropout correlation. There are between 3 and 5 million gifted students in the United States, and 聽— as only 1% of the education budget is spent on serving gifted children. when they had opportunities for strength-based gifted programming.聽 Programming for gifted students is made at the state and local level.

鈥淲e must make sure all gifted children have access to the services and supports they need to thrive,鈥� said聽M. Ren茅 Islas, executive director of the National Association for Gifted Children.聽 鈥淭he 优蜜视频 poll makes clear that with increased understanding about the nature and needs of these children, Americans support programs and practices that will help all gifted and talented children flourish.鈥�

The Institute for Educational Advancement and the National Association for Gifted Children are working with leaders in the fields of business, education, and gifted youth to ensure that the federal government creates an infrastructure dedicated to the intellectual, creative and personal growth in the nation鈥檚 gifted and high potential youth so the U.S. can continue to be leaders in the global world.

METHODOLOGY

Benenson Strategy Group and The Winston Group conducted 1414 online interviews from December 19, 2016-January 6, 2017 with registered voters nationwide, including oversamples of: 150 Opinion Elites, 150 Parents, 150 Hispanics, and 150 African Americans. At the 95% confidence level, the margin of error for the entire sample is 卤 2.51%. It is 卤6.21% among Opinion Elites, 卤3.73% among Parents, 卤6.03% among African Americans, 卤 5.81% among Hispanics, and higher among subgroups. Due to rounding, some percentages may not add up to 100%. Note that the 鈥淧arents With Gifted Child鈥� group highlighted throughout the deck includes any member of the population identifying as having a gifted kid, regardless of that child鈥檚 age.

To learn more about 优蜜视频’s advocacy efforts, visit our .

This post was originally published by聽the .