<p>Last evening at the board meeting of our state’s statewide association for families of gifted children, we reviewed our organizational goal of outreach to underserved populations, including minority ethnic groups. I’m wondering what you parents would suggest as an effective means to help gifted children underserved populations (low-income, minority ethnicity, and the like) become aware of what resources are available to them through the public school system or through outside-of-school programs. What successful programs have you heard of? Whom could I contact for insight in how to adapt programs for gifted children to better fit a broader group of participants?</p>
<p>Sororities and fraternities are good national resources. Mine (Alpha Kappa Alpha) has mentoring programs, so do the Omegas and the Deltas. Alphas probably, do as well.Locally, churches are pretty helpful, often leaving “Baccalaureates” programs at graduation that might be run by interested individuals.</p>
<p>The problem we’ve had in our district is not lack of services but underidentification. The cynic would say you don’t have to worry about meeting their needs if gifted URMs are never identified.</p>
<p>I don’t know a lot about this statewide program, but its goal is to encourage kids to pursue college and it seems mostly aimed at URMs. I don’t know that gifted kids is necessarily its focus. [UT</a> - University Outreach Centers](<a href=“http://uoc.utexas.edu/]UT”>http://uoc.utexas.edu/)</p>
<p>I know mostly about initiaves on a district or campus level. One thing we’ve stressed at the schools my children attend – may not be applicable where you live – is making sure fliers and such are in both English and Spanish. Also, offering Spanish translation at events is crucial. In some areas, maybe it’s Vietnamese. You get the idea.</p>
<p>I really get offended by these programs. The people who iniate them are probably trying for the best or whatever, but it tacitly suggests that minorities “need” help, which I find really demeaning.</p>
<p>I don’t see it that way at all, Dbate. At least not the kinds of programs I’m thinking of. I was a first-generation college student and was totally on my own to figure out the whole college process, which is why I ended up at a cc and then a fourth-tier state uni. I would have LOVED some kind of mentor to help me negotiate the whole process.</p>
<p>Oh well, I guess it really depends. I use the internet alot, so I find out stuff that way. For example I have learned so much from this website on how to craft my application.</p>
<p>Dbate: The very families who could use an extra hand probably don’t use the internet. Maybe their gifted child does at school but that’s probably it.</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to the Breakthrough Collaborative](<a href=“http://www.breakthroughcollaborative.org%5DWelcome”>http://www.breakthroughcollaborative.org)
is a national nonprofit, operating in many US cities…they go into the schools and start recruiting kids at grade 5 (maybe 6?) for a year round mentorship/after school & summer academic program.<br>
Its a great program, although not neccesarily just for gifted kids…
the programs are generally near a university, and the mentors/teachers are college kids (Boston, Miami, New Haven, New Orleans, New York, etc).</p>
<p>If you haven’t already considered CTY I would recommend reviewing information on Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth (<a href=“http://cty.jhu.edu/)%5B/url%5D”>http://cty.jhu.edu/)</a>. I know their Talent Search program is regional but their summer camps are nationwide and even international. I know they actively pursue funding for a scholarship program targeted to underserved populations. They seem to have been successful in increasing the number of students that attend camp on a scholarship. They also have a number of other resources available to help gifted students and I would be surprised if they haven’t looked into outreach alternatives.</p>
<p>My children belonged to the National Achievers Society. It identifies students as early as elementary school and follows through the 12th grade. Might be a place to start.</p>
<p>Here in Minnesota, we have just begun having an annual state ceremony to recognize students who score high in Midwest Academic Talent Search testing. That’s a beginning to finding more students who may not have heard about all available local programs.</p>
<p>Some schools do not allow students to participate in programs such as AP, unless the student is already getting a B+ in all grade level subjects. However, knowing that many learners have uneven strengths, I would advise the opposite. Success in an area of talent, can propel students to greater acheivement in other areas.</p>
<p>My younger daughter attended an inner city high school, that has high expectations of students. One of the things that I appreciated were the coaches, who were very cognizant of how the kids were doing in school & school work came first. For instance the football coach, requires all varsity players to take the SATs. Other coaches often speak about their teams GPA with well deserved pride.
[url=<a href=“http://www.seattleschools.org/area/news/x30806vb.xml]Seattle”>http://www.seattleschools.org/area/news/x30806vb.xml]Seattle</a> Public Schools<em>|</em>GARFIELD VOLLEYBALL TEAM WINS NATIONAL HONOR<a href=“which%20I%20believe%20they%20won%207%20times%20in%20a%20row”>/url</a></p>
<p>As sports teams are a way to reach out to a cross section of students, that may be something to consider.</p>
<p>I’m in a little bit different position as I work with the gifted advisory committee in my community but something our school system has recently done is changed the types of testing done at the elementary school level to better identify gifted students coming from non-English speakering families. I believe they are using the TONI to identify gifted students and then are working with the school/family liaisions to disseminate information. Many times these students are struggling to learn English but may be very gifted mathematically, for instance.</p>
<p>I agree with this. The worst case is when a bright child gets bored in elementary school, and the teachers start thinking of the child as a problem student rather than as a student who needs more challenge.</p>