Project SPARK

• In Event: Interventions to Identify and Serve High-Achieving Students With Economic Need

Abstract

The underrepresentation of students from certain racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds is a persistent problem in gifted programs in the United States (Erwin & Worrell, 2012; Hamilton et al., 2018; VanTassel-Baska & Stambaugh, 2007). Recommendations for promoting access to gifted services include emphasis on professional learning to promote teacher understanding of evidence of academic potential and preparatory learning experiences for students in the early grades that support increased achievement and development of talent (Harradine, Coleman, & Winn, 2014; McBee et al., 2016; Plucker & Peters, 2018; Siegle et al., 2016; Warwick & Matthews, 2009; Worrell, 2009).

Project SPARK was designed to scale up the Young Scholars Model (Horn, 2015) in a state with limited support for gifted programming. The model was developed with the intent of increasing identification of students from underserved groups and also of strengthening their likelihood of success in advanced academic programs. Thus, the model includes emphasis on preparatory experiences with advanced curriculum in the grades prior to identification, along with increased professional learning opportunities to promote teacher response to advanced potential. Project SPARK focuses on building capacity for academic success among high-potential students from diverse backgrounds through early teacher attention to high potential, access to advanced learning through summer programming, and professional learning.

Project SPARK uses a quasi-experimental design in which pairs of schools representing similar demographics within districts function as treatment and comparison groups. In 22 schools across 4 districts, teachers at grades K-2 participate in professional development to support recognition of high-potential behaviors, and students enter the project based on informed teacher referral. Acknowledging concerns about teacher referral as an element of identification systems, the project focuses here on talent spotting in the early grades and inclusive approaches to encouraging access to advanced learning.

Treatment school students have access to summer programming focused on challenging curriculum in mathematics. The curricular materials were developed around best practices in mathematics education, gifted education, and early childhood education, including key elements of ensuring a nurturing classroom environment for all (Gavin et al., 2013).

Key data sources include the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT-2; Naglieri, 2011); Measures of Academic Progress (MAP; Northwest Evaluation Association); and district data on which students are identified for local gifted programs at the grade level at which such identification occurs.

Findings have indicated treatment effects on mathematics achievement linked to summer program participation, including evidence demonstrating benefits of participation for multiple years on achievement scores and specific connections of achievement gains to the mathematics content of the summer curriculum. From district identification data, we have determined that treatment schools yielded a larger pool of students to the program than comparison schools (based on teacher referral linked to high-potential behaviors) and that the treatment group yielded a larger and a more diverse pool of students from the project later being identified as gifted. These findings support the engagement of students in challenging summer learning and guidance for teachers in looking for and promoting evidence of high potential in the early grades.

Authors

• Catherine A. Little, University of Connecticut

• Jill L. Adelson, Adelson Research & Consulting, LLC

• Kelly L. Kearney, University of Connecticut

• Rebecca O'Brien, Whitworth University