"To Which We Aspire"
Unique Pedagogies for the Gifted and Excellent.
The 4th National Conference on
Gifted Students & Excellence in the Educational System
The Division for Gifted and Outstanding Students
Sunday - Monday, 10-11 April 2011, University of Haifa
To Which We Aspire
Fourth National Convention on Education for
Excellence in Israel
"One half of it is solid rock, the other half moving sands" – Amos Oz –
"The Fierce Blue Light"
The Fourth National Convention on Education for Excellence in Israel 2011 , "To Which We
Aspire" – is occurring this year concurrently with (the Ministry of Education's designated) Year of
the Hebrew Language, and will focus on unique pedagogy for gifted and outstanding students.
"Our Hebrew…one half of it is solid rock, the other half moving sands"… thus wrote
Amos Oz in his article "In Love with the Hebrew Language”. This is the environment to "Which We
Aspire". The solid rock is the wide basis of knowledge in the various areas of knowledge that we
seek to instill in our gifted and outstanding students. The moving sand is the ever-present dynamic
search to expand new domains and horizons. In such an environment, we are not only constantly
seeking to hold on to what is clear and familiar, but to continue moving in an unending journey,
seeking to uncover new links, innovative connections and groundbreaking discoveries.
This conference continues our tradition of holding national conferences on the
advancement of education for excellence.
This year we are honored to host distinguished top professionals in this field:
Prof. Van Tassel-Baska, Prof. Joseph Renzulli and Prof. Sally Reis from the USA, who will be
sharing with us their extensive research, academic and practical experience.
In the various sessions, we will be exposed to innovations, successes and challenges in integrating
and operating special study strategies for gifted and outstanding students within different
educational frameworks, as well as new studies, materials and ideas developed in Israel and
around the world in the various universities and colleges, all of this with a view to promoting a
school culture and enabling a learning environment aimed at fostering gifted and outstanding
students.
We would like to thank you for your interest and we look forward to your participation in the
intellectual, cultural and social experience of the Fourth National Conference on Education for
Excellence in Israel 2011.
Shlomit Rachmel
Director of the Division for Gifted and Outstanding Students
About the Division for Gifted and Outstanding
Students
Department Vision
The Division for Gifted and Outstanding Students aims at instilling and leading a culture where
excellence is a central value.
In our vision, the values of personal and human excellence, transcendency and leadership stand sideby-side a commitment and sensitivity to society.
We are committed to creating emotionally supportive, flexible and dynamic study environments, in
which challenging interaction and the creation of new knowledge are enabled.
The Environment to which we aspire, is unique as it is a community of learners in which students and
teachers, equal in their curiosity and in their commitment, take each other again and again into new,
unknown areas, thereby developing for both students and teachers, new possibilities of strengthening
the totality of the aspects of awareness, giving expression to their unique talents and creating an
appropriate pattern of study and education, alongside constant innovation.
The Image of our Graduates
The expectations of the program graduates is that as graduates, they will excel in philosophy, science,
technology, art, literature, law, business, entrepreneurship etc.
Apart from the aspect of achievement, there are additional expectations of the graduate: determination
and perseverance, creativity and originality, curiosity, intellectual or artistic integrity, the ability and a
desire to constantly learn and develop, the ability to think and function in conditions of uncertainty,
multi-directional and inter-disciplinary and wide-ranging thinking, analytical ability, efficient consumption
of knowledge, and awareness of value implications.
The graduate of the special programs needs to be a person with a social commitment and with high
ethical and humanistic standards. (Steering Committee Report, Nevo, 2004).
The vision and image of the graduate drive the activities of the Division.
The Division's purpose and objectives
To instill and lead a culture which places excellence as a central value.
Providing a response to the special needs of the community of gifted and outstanding students,
and to bring about a maximization and full expression of their talents and abilities within the
framework of the public education system.
Development of the cognitive aspect of the students – developing varied thinking skills at a high
level, and the skills needed in the consumption of knowledge and its creation. In addition,
instilling and developing modes of thinking for the purpose of handling complex problems and
situations of uncertainty.
Developing the emotional, value and social aspect amongst the students – development of tools
for expressing feelings, assertiveness and self-esteem. Development of social involvement and
leadership skills. Development of inter-personal communication, the ability to work in team and
to recognize the value of the group. Development of personal and social responsibility and
sensitivity to moral issues.
Management of pedagogic knowledge including up-to date materials and professional literature.
Initiation of practical research.
Areas of activity of the Division
The Division's activities include the following:
Identification gifted and outstanding students
Operating a system for identifying gifted and outstanding students and referring them to
appropriate educational.
Operating special educational frameworks – programs for fostering gifted
students
Local and national gifted and outstanding students’ centers
Gifted and outstanding students’ classes integrated within regular schools
Virtual school for gifted and outstanding students in middle-schools in Hebrew and Arabic
Program for the profoundly-gifted (genius) guided by academic mentors
Symposiums for students from gifted and outstanding students classes
National scientific conferences for gifted youth.
Operation of special education programs to foster outstanding students
The "Amirim" program – for fostering outstanding students in primary and middle schools
and development of school-wide excellence
Programs for the gifted and afternoon programs for outstanding students
Academic excellence programs – integration of high school students in academic studies at
universities
Programs for fostering outstanding students in mathematics and the sciences in schools
Advancement of professional teams working with gifted and outstanding
students
Operation of academic programs for teacher professionalization
Professional development programs for educational and teaching staffs
Special training program in the gifted education for students in teachers colleges
Development and publication of professional material
Organization of national and district conferences
Supervision and feedback
Design and summative evaluation of the educational programs operating under the auspices of
the Division.
Organizational and budgetary control
Treatment of special populations
Coordination of identification of students with learning disabilities, immigrant students and
bi-lingual students
Development of special programs at gifted centers for fostering children for Ethiopian origin
Research and development
Setting Core curriculum guidelines for programs for gifted and outstanding students
Development of special programs for outstanding students in social sciences in conjunction
with the Subject superintendents.
Establishment of database for research studies into the contribution made by the programs
Development of programs and pilot study for kindergarten aged children of high ability
Development of pedagogic standards for programs for outstanding and gifted students
Advancement of outstanding teaching students in teachers colleges
“Future Scientists” program initiated by the president of Israel in collaboration with the Office
of the President, the Rashi Foundation, the Ort Network, and institutions of higher education
(Technion, Weizmann Institute and the universities) and entities in industry and hi-tech
Development and establishment of virtual databases, in collaboration with the ETC.
Foreign relations
Knowledge collaboration with entities involved in the education of the gifted in academic
institutions and education systems around the world
Courses on the subject of fostering gifted and outstanding students for those coming from
abroad to study methods here in Israel.
Accompaniment and hosting of delegations from around the world coming to Israel to study
the subject of fostering gifted and outstanding students: delegations from South Korea,
Turkey, Hungary and China
Frameworks and programs for fostering gifted
students
Centers for gifted students
The centers for gifted students are designed for primary and middle-school students. The studies
take place once a week in the morning, and during the rest of the week, the student continues
studying at their regular schools. The gifted students’ centers afford a meeting place among gifted
students who share similar cognitive abilities and areas of interest. The number of students in the
centers for gifted students, the teachers teaching in them and the geographical location affect the
character of the center. Thus each center has characteristics that are unique to it.
The study program taught at the gifted centers is characterized by varied teaching methods,
including different domains of knowledge, such as: the arts, humanities and exact sciences,
materials and studied and teaching methods that are different from the curriculum of regular
schools. The number of students in each class is small, in order to provide each student with a
response to emotional, cognitive and social needs.
The Division assists in designing the study programs and provides guidance and supervision in
both organizational and pedagogic activity. The Division also assists in scholarships for needy
students.
Special classes
Regional classes for gifted students in regular schools operate at all age levels. The special classes
have a relatively small number of students, enabling an appropriate response to the emotional,
social and intellectual needs of the gifted student. These classes enable an enriching meeting
between students of similar abilities.
Virtual school
The Division operates a virtual school, via ETC and the Young Scientists Unit and Tel Aviv
University, for gifted middle-school students from all sectors. This program has a range of courses
and students may select one course per semester. The study framework includes twelve lessons
that are run on the net as well as one face-to-face meeting. Each lesson includes informative
materials and tasks as well as simulation and visual aids links on the net. The students complete
the tasks at their own pace (within the given framework), and send them to the teacher for
feedback. At the face-to-face meetings, the students meet their course colleagues and the teacher
and take part in a special activity that cannot be carried out in distance learning e.g. Laboratory
experiments, visits to research institutes etc.
The virtual schools enable the student to experience a type of study that requires the development
of independent study skills. This school creates a study environment, where students who live in
outlying rural areas are able to take part and meet with lecturers connected with university
academic frameworks.
Academic studies
The Division encourages middle-school and high-school age students to integrate university
studies concurrently with their studies at school, The Division has set up special frameworks for
special classes for gifted students, for graduates of gifted student centers at Open University
branches across the country and at Tel Aviv University. The gifted and outstanding students study
together, and are accompanied during their studies by a coordinator who is a specialist in
education for gifted and outstanding students. These students are able to complete a bachelor's
degree or accumulate credits towards a bachelor’s degree, which they can complete after
completing military service. The Division assists in scholarships for these students as well as for
gifted students electing to register independently at the universities and academic colleges.
Mentors program –for the profoundly-gifted (genius)
This program is aimed at the profoundly-gifted, in 10th and 11th grades from across the country.
Within the framework of the studies, the chosen students meet with world-renowned mentors who
guide the students in their research, and train the students in the areas of knowledge chosen by
the students. Each student receives personal guidance, once a fortnight at the institute where his
mentor is working, and the students meet three times a year for a joint meeting.
The program is designed to ensure that these students are given a chance to realize their
potential, develop social awareness and responsibility and form their aspirations for the future.
Programs for fostering outstanding students
Enrichment and fostering programs at gifted student centers
The enrichment courses are aimed at students from primary schools, who have tested into the top
5% on the standardized examinations for identification of gifted children sponsored by the
ministry. The courses take place once a week after regular school hours at the gifted student
centers or at other locations selected by the Division. Each pupil studies one or more courses of
his choice, from a range of subjects. The formats of the courses enable the student to be exposed
to different areas of knowledge, which are not included in the formal program of studies.
"Community Anchor" programs
Outstanding students from primary schools who are recommended by their teachers participate in
these programs. This program aims to foster the abilities of the top 20% of each age cohort. The
students who are selected to participate in the program come to the gifted student centers where
they receive enrichment courses in various areas of knowledge.
"Amirim" program for outstanding school students
The purpose of this program is to foster outstanding students within the school and to foster
school-wide excellence. The outstanding students are selected to participate in the program by the
school's pedagogic staff. The program is operated in the schools using Prof. Renzulli’s SEM model
– a model for school enrichment. Within the framework of the program, the students choose
courses in various areas of knowledge, and an additional course in the social-value area. The
courses are written by the teachers in the school and are taught by them. These teachers undergo
three years of training in teaching outstanding students.
Special schools for the arts
The fostering of gifted and outstanding students in the fields of the arts takes place in special
schools in Israel that specialize in one of the arts: music, dance, plastic arts, cinema and theater.
The schools accept students from all over the country. The studies include focusing on the area of
art in which the student excels, general studies mandated by the Ministry of Education, as well as
enrichment studies combining the various disciplines. The study frameworks place emphasis on
creativity, the development of artistic skills, giving personal expression and development of critical
thinking. The students are also guided in additional areas, including: dealing with competition, the
development of healthy ambitiousness, deepening social values and encouraging contributing to
the community.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Sunday April 10th, 2011
9.00 – 10.00
Reception, registration and light refreshments
10.00 – 10.10
Opening
Remarks
Mrs. Shlomit Rachmel, Director of the Division for
Gifted and Outstanding
Students, Department of
Pedagogy, Ministry of Education
10.10 – 10.30
Greetings
Prof. Aharon Ben-Zeev, President, University of Haifa
Prof. Ofra Mayseless,
Dean of the Faculty of
Education, University of Haifa
Musical Interlude
Plenary Sessions *
10.40 – 11.40
What Makes Outstanding Students and How Do We Develop
Them in School – Part 1
Prof. Joseph S. Renzulli, University of Connecticut, McGill University,
National Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented
11.40 – 12.40
Giftedness and How do We Develop it in Young People:
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model – Part 2
Prof. Sally M. Reis,
University of Connecticut, Summer Institute on
Enrichment Learning and Teaching, National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
12.40 – 14.00
Break for Lunch, visit at the Hecht Museum, visit to the
exhibitions and poster area
14.00 – 15.30
Parallel Lectures
15.30 – 16.00
Interval and light refreshments
Plenary Session
16.00 – 17.00
Are Cognitively Gifted Adolescents Also Emotionally Intelligent?
Prof. Moshe Zeidner,
Faculty of Education, University of Haifa
*These lectures will be accompanied by simultaneous translation
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Monday April 11th, 2011
9.00 – 10.00
Reception, registration and light refreshments
10.00 – 10.10
Opening
Remarks
Mrs. Shlomit Rachmel, Director of the Division for
Gifted and Outstanding
Students, Department of
Pedagogy, Ministry of Education
10.10 – 10.30
Greetings
Prof. Batia Laufer,
Vice Rector, University of Haifa
Prof. Zippora Shechtman, Head of Study Group for
Counseling and Human
Development, Faculty of
Education, University of Haifa
Musical Interlude
Plenary Session*
10.40 – 11.40
Quo Vadis, Gifted Education?
Prof. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska, William and Mary College
Virginia Center for Talent Development
Northwestern University
11.40 – 12.40
Discussion: What is Between Excellence and Giftedness?
Moderator:
Dr. Rachel Zorman
Panel:
Prof. Joseph S. Renzulli, Dr. Sally M. Reis,
Prof. Joyce Van Tassel-Baska
12.40 – 14.00
Break for Lunch, visit at the Hecht Museum, visit to the
exhibitions and poster area
14.00 – 15.30
Parallel Lectures
15.30 – 16.00
Interval and light refreshments
Plenary Sessions
16.00 – 16.30
Relationship Between Creativity and Ability Level
Prof. Roza Leikin, Faculty of Education, University of Haifa
16.30 – 17.30
Why Gifted Programs Make a Difference in Students` Lives*
Prof. Sally M. Reis
17.30 – 18.00
Concluding
Remarks:
Mr. Gideon Saar, Minister of Education
*These lectures will be accompanied by simultaneous translation
About Guest Lecturers
Joyce Van Tassel-Baska
Joyce Van Tassel-Baska is the Jody and Layton Smith Professor Emerita of
Education and former Executive Director of the Center for Gifted Education
at The College of William and Mary in Virginia where she developed a
graduate program and a research and development center in gifted
education. She also initiated and directed the Center for Talent
Development at Northwestern University. Prior to her work in higher
education, Dr. Van Tassel-Baska has served as the state director of gifted
programs for Illinois, as a regional director of a gifted service center in the
Chicago area, as coordinator of gifted programs for the Toledo, Ohio public
school system, and as a teacher of gifted high school students in English
and Latin. She has worked as a consultant on gifted education in all 50 states and for key national
groups, including the U.S. Department of Education, National Association of Secondary School
Principals, and American Association of School Administrators. She has consulted internationally in
Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, Jordan, Singapore, Korea, China, England, Germany, The
Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. She is past president of The Association for the Gifted
of the Council for Exceptional Children, and the Northwestern University Chapter of Phi Delta
Kappa, and the National Association for Gifted Children. During her tenure as NAGC president she
oversaw the adoption of the new teaching standards for gifted education, and organized and
chaired the National Leadership Conference on Promising and Low-Income Learners, including a
major emphasis on early childhood interventions.
Dr. Van Tassel-Baska has published widely including 27 books and over 500 refereed journal
articles, book chapters, and scholarly reports. Recent books include: Content-based Curriculum for
Gifted Learners (2011) (with Catherine Little) Patterns and Profiles of Low Income Learners
(2010), Social and Emotional Curriculum for Gifted and Talented Students (with Tracy Cross and
Rick Olenchak) (2009), Alternative Assessment With Gifted Students (2008), Serving Gifted
Learners Beyond the Traditional Classroom (2007), Comprehensive Curriculum for Gifted Education
(3rd Edition) (2006) (with Tamra Stambaugh), Designing and Utilizing Evaluation for Gifted
Program Improvement (2004) (with Annie Feng), and Curriculum Planning and Instructional
Design for Gifted Learners (2003). She also served as the editor of Gifted and Talented
International, a publication of the World Council on Gifted and Talented, for seven years from
1998-2005.
Dr. Van Tassel-Baska has received numerous awards for her work, including the National
Association for Gifted Children’s Early Leader Award in 1986, the State Council of Higher Education
in Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award in 1993, the Phi Beta Kappa faculty award in 1995, the
National Association for Gifted Children Distinguished Scholar Award in 1997, the President’s
Award, World Council on Gifted and Talented Education in 2005, the Distinguished Service Award,
CEC-TAG, in 2007 and was inducted as an American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Fellow in 2010 along with receiving the Distinguished Service Award from NAGC in the same year.
She also has received awards from five states - Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, and
Illinois - for her contribution to the field of gifted education in those states. She was selected as a
Fulbright Scholar to New Zealand in 2000 and a visiting scholar to Cambridge University in England
in 1993. Her major research interests are on the talent development process and effective
curricular interventions with the gifted. She has served as principal investigator on 62 grants and
contracts totaling over $15 million, including eight from the United States Department of Education
(USDOE). She holds B.A., M.A., M.Ed., and Ed.D. Degrees from the University of Toledo where
she also received a Distinguished Achievement Alumna Award in 2003.
Joseph S. Renzulli
Director the National Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented, University of Connecticut Board of Trustees,
Distinguished Professor Raymond and Lynn Neag Professor
of Gifted Education and Talent Development, Winner of the
2009 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize For Innovation in
Education
Joseph Renzulli is a professor of educational psychology at
the University of Connecticut, where he also serves as
director of the National Research Center on the Gifted and
Talented. His research has focused on the identification and
development of creativity and giftedness in young people,
and on organizational models and curricular strategies for
differentiated learning environments that contribute to total school improvement. A focus of his
work has been on applying the pedagogy of gifted education to the improvement of learning for all
students.
His most recent books include the second edition of The Schoolwide Enrichment Model, The
Multiple Menu Model for Developing Differentiated Curriculum, The Parallel Curriculum Model, and
the second edition of Enriching Curriculum for All Students. His 1978 article entitled entitled What
Makes Giftedness has been cited as the most frequently referenced article in the field. Dr. Renzulli
is the author of more than 380 articles in professional journals, books, chapters in books, and
numerous technical reports. He has been awarded more than $35 million in research grants, $1.3
million in personnel training grants, and $3.7 million in grants and endowments to support direct
service programs for students and teachers.
Dr. Renzulli is Fellow in the American Psychological Association, a former president of the
Association for the Gifted, and he has served on the editorial boards of Learning Magazine, the
Journal of Law and Education, Exceptionality, and most of the national and international journals
dealing with gifted education. He was a consultant to the White House Task Force on Education of
the Gifted and Talented, has worked with numerous schools and ministries of education
throughout the U. S. and abroad. His work has been translated into several languages and is
widely used around the world. His most recent work is a computer-based assessment of student
strengths integrated with an Internet based search engine that matches enrichment activities and
resources with individual student profiles [www.renzullilearning.com].
Dr. Renzulli was designated a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at the University of
Connecticut in 2000, and in 2003 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from McGill
University in Montreal, Canada. In 2009 Dr. Renzulli was designated a Fellow in the American
Educational Research Association. The American Psychological Association’s Monitor on Psychology
named Dr. Renzulli among the 25 most influential psychologists in the world. He lists as his
proudest professional accomplishment being the founder of the summer Confratute program at
UConn, which began in 1978, and has served approximately twenty-five thousand teachers and
administrators from around the world. In 2009 Dr. Renzulli received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr.
Award for Innovation in Education, considered by many to be “the Nobel” for educators.
Sally M. Reis
Sally M. Reis is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor at The
University of Connecticut and the past Department Head of
Educational Psychology Department at the University of Connecticut
where she also serves as a Principal Investigator for the National
Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. She was a teacher for
15 years, 11 of which were spent working with gifted students on the
elementary, junior high, and high school levels. She has authored or
co-authored over 250 articles, books, book chapters, monographs
and technical reports. Her most recent work is a computer-based
assessment of student strengths integrated with an Internet based
search engine that matches enrichment activities and resources with
individual student profiles [www.renzullilearning.com].
Her research interests are related to special populations of gifted and talented students, including:
students with learning disabilities, gifted females and diverse groups of talented students. She is
also interested in extensions of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model for both gifted and talented
students and as a way to expand offerings and provide general enrichment to identify talents and
potentials in students who have not been previously identified as gifted. She is the Co-Director of
Confratute, the longest running summer institute in the development of gifts and talents. She has
been a consultant to numerous schools and ministries of education throughout the U. S. and
abroad and her work has been translated into several languages and is widely used around the
world.
She is co-author of The Schoolwide Enrichment Model, The Secondary Triad Model, Dilemmas in
Talent Development in the Middle Years, and a book published in 1998 about women’s talent
development entitled Work Left Undone: Choices and Compromises of Talented Females. Sally
serves on several editorial boards, including the Gifted Child Quarterly, and is a past President of
the National Association for Gifted Children. She recently was honored with the highest award in
her field as the Distinguished Scholar of the National Association for Gifted Children and named a
fellow of the American Psychological Association.
Moshe Zeidner
Moshe Zeidner is currently Professor of Educational Psychology and
counseling at the University of Haifa, Israel He held the position of Dean of
Research at the University of Haifa from 2000 to 2005. His main fields of
interest are in the area of personality and individual differences--with
particular concern for the interface of personality and intelligence, emotions,
emotional intelligence, the stress and coping process, and giftedness. He is
the author or co-editor of over 10 books and author or co-author of about
200 scientific papers and chapters. He is the founding Director of the Center
for the Interdisciplinary Research on Emotions and is Scientific Director of
the Laboratory for Cross-Cultural Research in Personality and Emotion. He
received the Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to
stress and anxiety research at the annual meeting of the Society for Stress and Anxiety Research
in July, 2003, in Lisbon, Portugal. His recent book, What we Know About Emotional Intelligence
(MIT Press, 2009, with G. Matthews & Rick Roberts) received the PROSE award from the
Association of American Publishers. He is married, has two boys, two granddaughters, and in his
free time enjoys exercising and reading thrillers and books on humor.
Roza Leikin
Roza Leikin, is a professor at the Department of Mathematics Education, the
Head of the Graduate Program in the Education of Gifted and Talented at
the Faculty of Education, University of Haifa. She is the establisher and the
Director of the Interdisciplinary RANGE Center (Research and Advancement
of Giftedness and Excellence). Her areas of interest include mathematics
teacher knowledge and education, mathematics challenges in education,
and mathematical creativity and giftedness. She is especially interested in
multidimensional examination of mathematical giftedness including
neurocognitive examination of mathematical abilities. For this purpose
Laboratory for Neurocognitive Examination of Giftedness was designed as a
branch of RANGE Center. Multiple Solution Tasks in mathematics are one of the central issues in
her research and design activities. Dr. Leikin published more than 50 research papers in edited
journals and books and co-edited several books and special journal issues in the fields of
mathematics teacher educations and mathematical creativity and giftedness.
Personal site http://construct.haifa.ac.il/~rozal/
Abstracts of Plenary Lectures
What Makes Outstanding Students
and
How Do We Develop Them in School?
Part 1
Joseph S. Renzulli
This presentation will provide an overview of The Schoolwide Enrichment Model and the two
research-based theories upon which the model is based. The first theory, entitled the Three Ring
Conception of Giftedness, deals with a broadened conception of high potential and specific ways in
which multiple criteria information can help us determine how to identify students with outstanding
potential for academic and creative performance. A practical identification system will be
summarized including a discussion of the assessment of academic strengths, interests, learning
styles, and preferred modes of expression, and a technology-based program that allows teachers
to easily gather this information. A summary of more recent work related to the development of
social capital and executive functions will be briefly discussed.
The second part of the presentation will be based on a theory entitled the Enrichment Triad Model.
Examples of enrichment activities that should be provided to all students will be described and the
ways in which these activities can serve as “performance-based assessment” for transition to the
highest levels of enrichment (Type III) will be presented. This type of enrichment consists of
investigative activities and the development of creative products in which students assume roles as
first-hand investigators, writers, artists, or other types of practicing professionals. Practical
suggestions for acquiring these types of skills will be described using exemplary case studies and
resources that have proven to be effective in promoting high levels of creative/productive gifted
behaviors. Although students pursue these kinds of involvement at a more junior level than adult
professionals, the overriding purpose of Type III Enrichment is to create situations in which young
people are thinking, feeling, and doing what practicing professionals do in the delivery of products,
performances, and services. These higher levels of enrichment should be viewed as vehicles that
encourage students can apply their interests, knowledge, thinking skills, creative ideas, and task
commitment to self-selected problems or areas of study. In addition to this general goal, there are
four objectives of Type III Enrichment:
To acquire advanced-level understanding of the knowledge and methodology used within
particular disciplines, artistic areas of expression, and interdisciplinary studies.
To develop authentic products or services that are primarily directed toward bringing about a
desired impact on one or more specified audiences.
To develop self-directed learning skills in the areas of planning, problem finding and focusing,
organizational skills, resource utilization, time management, cooperativeness, decision- making,
and self-evaluation.
To develop task commitment, self-confidence, feelings of creative accomplishment, and the ability
to interact effectively with other students and adults who share common goals and interests.
Type III Enrichment should be viewed as the vehicle within the total school experience through
which everything from basic skills to advanced content and processes "comes together" in the
form of student-developed products and services. The student's role is transformed from one of
lesson-learner to first-hand inquirer, and the role of the teacher changes from an instructor and
disseminator of knowledge to a combination of coach, resource procurer, mentor, and, sometimes,
a partner or colleague.
What Makes Outstanding Students
and
How Do We Develop Them in School?
Part 2
Sally M. Reis
This session will provide an overview of The Schoolwide Enrichment Model, with specific strategies
for implementing the model in a variety of schools with students of different ages and
demographic backgrounds.
The model, based on more than 30 years of research and
development, is a comprehensive system for infusing "high-end learning" into total school
improvement efforts while simultaneously challenging high achieving students. Specific strategies
include the development of Total Talent Portfolios, Curriculum Modification Techniques, and
Enrichment Teaching and Learning. This session will focus on Curriculum Modification, as well as
specific strategies for implementing the SEM in a variety of schools with students of different ages
and demographic backgrounds.
The Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) (Renzulli, 1977; Renzulli & Reis, 1985, 1997) is widely
implemented as an enrichment program used with academically gifted and talented students and a
magnet theme school for all students using talent development experiences. The SEM provides
enriched learning experiences and higher learning standards for all children through three goals;
developing talents in all children, providing a broad range of advanced-level enrichment
experiences for all students, and follow-up advanced learning for children based on interests. The
SEM emphasizes engagement and the use of enjoyable and challenging learning experiences that
are constructed around students’ interests, learning styles, and product styles.
Separate studies on the SEM have demonstrated its effectiveness in schools with widely differing
socioeconomic levels and program organization patterns (Olenchak, 1988; Olenchak & Renzulli,
1989). The SEM has been adopted in over 2500 schools across the country (Burns, 1998) and
programs using this approach have been widely implemented internationally. The effectiveness of
the model has been studied in over 20 years of research and field-testing about (a) the
effectiveness of the model as perceived by key groups, such as principals (Cooper, 1983;
Olenchak, 1988); (b) research related to student creative productivity (Burns, 1987; Delcourt,
1988; Gubbins, 1982; Newman, 1991; Reis, 1981; Starko, 1986); (c) research related to personal
and social development (Olenchak, 1991); (d) the use of SEM with culturally diverse or special
needs populations (Baum, 1985, 1988; Baum, Renzulli, & Hébert, 1999; Emerick, 1988; Taylor;
1992) (e) research on student self-efficacy (Schack, 1986; Schack, Starko, & Burns, 1991; Starko,
1986), (f) the use of SEM as a curricular framework (Karafelis, 1986; Reis, Gentry, & Park, 1995;
Reis, 2006); (g) research relating to learning styles and curriculum compacting (Imbeau, 1991;
Reis et al., 1993) and (h) longitudinal research on the SEM (Delcourt, 1988; Hébert, 1993;
Westberg, 2000).
This research on the SEM suggests that the model is effective at serving high-ability students in a
variety of educational settings and in schools serving diverse ethnic and socioeconomic
populations. These studies also suggest that the pedagogy of the SEM can be applied to various
content areas resulting in higher achievement when implemented in a wide variety of settings, and
used with diverse populations of students including high ability students with learning disabilities
and those who underachieve.
Are Cognitively Gifted Adolescents also Emotionally
Intelligent?
Some Data and Conclusions
Moshe Zeidner
Department of Counseling and Human Development, University of Haifa
This talk will survey emotional intelligence (EI)
and a number of related constructs as they
pertain to understanding the personal profile of gifted adolescents in Israel. EI has emerged as
one of the pivotal new psychological constructs for the 21st century. It is claimed that success in
life depends not just on dry academic knowledge and cognitive competencies, which are critical
attributes and defining features of gifted students, but also on perceiving, understanding and
managing emotion. EI covers self-management abilities such as having insight into one’s emotions,
and being able to control and regulate one’s emotions effectively. It refers also to social skills such
as reading the emotions of others, and expressing and managing emotions constructively during
conversation. EI has particularly excited educational researchers and applied psychologists. The
idea opens up new frontiers for interventions to help individuals, including gifted students, in
various real-world settings. Programs to raise EI may improve the well-being of gifted students
and enhance key skills such as communication and teamwork. We begin with a broad overview of
the nascent field of emotional intelligence (EI), including conceptualization and measurement
issues. We move on to discuss how EI, based on trait and ability models of EI, relates to both
cognitive intelligence and personality. Research will then be presented on EI and related
constructs, comparing gifted adolescents with their same-age peers in the Israeli scene (e.g.,
Zeidner, Shani-Zinovitch, Matthews, & Roberts, 2005; Praekel, Zeidner, Goetz, & Schleyer, 2008;
Zeidner & Shani-Zinovitch, 2011). We conclude by discussing the potential role of emotional
intelligence in the schooling of gifted adolescents.
.
Quo Vadis, Gifted Education?
Joyce Van Tassel-Baska
This session will focus on the trends and issues in gifted education that will continue to be a part of
the field for the next decade. Using research findings from various sources including the speaker's
own work, she will trace the evolution of these trends up to the present day. The trends to be
illuminated include the emphasis on talent development, the focus on low income learners, the
importance of rigor and challenge in programs, and the role of out of school learning opportunities
as a way to develop gifted learners.
Talent development as a trend has been a part of the field since the early work of Julian Stanley in
the mid 1970’s when the focus on large scale off-level testing became an ingenious way to find
highly gifted students in specific domains of learning, especially verbal and mathematical areas. It
continued to remain a term of interest when Gagne in the mid 1980’s proposed a theory of the talent
development process, presenting it as a catalytic converter that transformed ability into talent in
specific careers through learning training and practice, modulated by internal and external forces.
Gardner’s view of multiple intelligences also placed emphasis on the domain specific issues of talent
development.
Yet schools are not set up to provide the level of rigor, continuous practice, or singularity of purpose
seen in the development of high level talent in any number of fields. Rather, schools try to provide a
common core curriculum to all, in the hopes that they will reach a reasonable standard of
competency in it by the time they graduate. Our best hope as gifted educators in this scenario is to
provide the tools and resources to schools to adapt that core curriculum for our best learners by
speeding it up and enriching it, by paying attention to individual differences in small ways that can
have large effects (acceleration to the next grade level cluster or credit for summer work), and by
collaborating with outside agencies to offer other options.
Poor and minority group students many assaults on both their individual and social identity when
they encounter the culture of school for which they are often unprepared by dint of families that do
not focus on education or have the resources to seek out opportunities for their children at young
ages. The lack of social, intellectual, and educational capital comingles to create students without
hope of achieving success. The issue of these underrepresented students not being identified and
served in gifted programs is an international tragedy, regardless of the cultural milieu.
Gifted education must maintain two agendas. One is to provide the most rigorous opportunities for
students who are performers, ready to move to ever higher levels of achievement within a domain.
For these students, special programs and schools coupled with options at university, often with a
tutor or mentor, are necessary to optimize their learning. For poor and minority children not already
performing at high levels, however, the agenda must include appropriate ongoing attempts to find
and nurture talent development among their top 10%.
What is the trend that can best address the issues of poverty and race in our schools? The
presentation will specifically focus on the role of high level curriculum, instruction and assessment as
a powerful way to address these ills and to provide gifted and promising learners the skills and
scaffolds to elevate their thinking and enhance their learning. Studies in the United States on using
curriculum designed for our best learners with promising students from poverty suggest significant
and important results can accrue from such intervention (see Van Tassel-Baska et al., 1998, 2000,
2002, 2009, 2010). Lessons learned from over 20 years of work with curriculum design and
development will be synthesized to illustrate the power of intervention by schools in elevating
learning for our best students, regardless of their background.
Finally, the presentation will conclude with commentary on the trend toward gifted education
provisions outside of school that have mushroomed in popularity worldwide. Run by universities and
other agencies, these opportunities for online courses, for special summer and Saturday classes, and
for unique mentoring and internship experiences are testimony to the needs that remain unmet in
school settings.
Relationship between Creativity and Ability Level
Roza Leikin, University of Haifa
While connecting between high abilities and creativity researchers express a diversity of views.
Some researchers claim that creativity is a specific type of giftedness, others feel that creativity is
an essential component of giftedness, while other researchers suggest that these are two
independent characteristics of human beings. Thus analysis of the relationships between creativity
and giftedness is important for better understanding of the nature of giftedness and creativity.
Another complexity is related to the (overlooked) perspective on creativity that we find in works of
Vygotsky who stresses the role of creativity in the process of knowledge development, abstraction
and generalization. Thus to have knowledge is a necessary condition for a person to be creative
while to have creativity (imagination in Vygotsky’s term) is a necessary condition for knowledge
construction. Thus probably creativity is a condition for realization of intellectual potential.
Viewing personal creativity as a characteristic that can be developed in schoolchildren requires
distinction between relative and absolute creativity. Absolute creativity is associated with great
historical works, with discoveries at a global level. Relative creativity refers to discoveries of a
specific person in a specific reference group.
This presentation will discuss relationships between creativity and high ability based on several
resent studies that implemented the model for evaluation of mathematical creativity with Multiple
Solution Tasks (MSTs). Two of the studies examined development of creativity through systematic
instructions in groups of different ability level. One of the studies considered differences in
problem solving performance in groups of students with different ability level.
Among other findings, we discovered that as the result of systematic implementation of MSTs,
students' flexibility and fluency significantly increased. Students' originality, however, decreased
non-significantly, resulting in a non-significant decrease in the creativity. Findings related to
flexibility and fluency are naturally desirable. Results related to originality have a reasonable
explanation: when the students' flexibility increases, more students in the group produce more
solutions and it becomes more difficult to produce a unique solution. We also learned that
differences between problem-solving performance in groups of students with different ability levels
are task dependen.
Following these findings, we question the possibility of developing originality and hypothesize that
in the fluency-flexibility-originality triad, fluency and flexibility are of a dynamic nature, whereas
originality is a "gift". Finally, our findings demonstrate that originality appeared to be the strongest
component in determining creativity. At the same time, our studies demonstrate that this view is
true for both the absolute and the relative levels of creativity. We also assume that one of the
ways of identification mathematically gifted students is by means of originality of their ideas and
solutions.
Why Gifted Programs Make a Difference in Students' Lives
Sally M. Reis
In this session, research that has been conducted about gifted and talented students and their
learning experiences in school will be reviewed. As we complete the first decade of the new
century we are entering a time when much attention is focused on remediation and test
preparation; it only seems appropriate to reflect upon what has been learned about gifted
education during the last few decades and consider the compelling evidence that may or may not
support special services for the gifted and talented. Consensus on which research themes and
studies should be included in this type of examination would difficult to reach, but in this session,
six important themes will be discussed. This review of research strongly suggests that the need for
gifted education programs remains critical during the current time period in American education
when our nation’s creative productivity is being challenged by European and Asian nations.
What learning experiences do gifted and high-potential students currently encounter in schools?
Are they challenged and engaged in their classes and content areas? Is differentiated instruction
given to them on a regular basis? In this session, the research that suggests that certain types of
provisions result in higher engagement, motivation, and creative productivity will be reviewed.
Recent research related to gifted education is summarized across six important research themes:
(a) expanded conceptions of giftedness and talent development; (b) the continued absence of
challenge for gifted and high potential students; (c) grouping patterns for gifted students; (d) the
effects of differentiation, acceleration, and enrichment on both achievement and other important
outcomes; (e) the use of gifted education programs and pedagogy to serve gifted and high-ability
students from diverse populations as well as high-potential students who underachieve or have
learning disabilities; and (f) longitudinal effects of gifted education programs and pedagogy.