UConn’s Neag School of Education Receives Top Funding for Talented and Gifted Research

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) and Joe Courtney (CT-2) today announced that the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education has been awarded two grants worth a maximum of $7.5 million from the U.S. Department of Education to support its ongoing efforts to improve programs for gifted and talented students nationwide.

The funding includes a five-year $2.5 million grant for Project SPARK (Supporting and Promoting Advanced Readiness in Kids), an innovative demonstration project designed to increase participation by minorities and other underrepresented groups in talented and gifted programs.

The Neag School is also receiving a two-year $2 million grant to support its National Center for Research on Gifted Education. If the center meets its performance benchmarks, it will receive an additional $3 million over three years.
“Gifted and talented students can come from all walks of life,” said DeLauro. “Whatever their background, we owe it to them to recognize their abilities and to nurture them as best we can. That is why these two grants from the Department of Education are so important. The Neag Center for Research on Gifted Education is working with schools and helping tear down the learning barriers that keep children from unlocking their full potential and achieving the bright futures they deserve. Great minds can come from anywhere and we need to do our best to nourish them.”
DeLauro and Courtney were instrumental in helping UConn secure funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s revitalized Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education program. They joined UConn officials in announcing the grant awards during a brief ceremony at the Wilbert Snow Elementary School in Middletown.

“This funding will help students in Connecticut fulfill their potentials - a critical goal that will support economic growth in our state for generations to come,” said Courtney, whose district includes UConn’s main campus in Storrs. “Developing a highly-skilled workforce in our state is the best investment we can make in our future, and we should be proud that UConn is leading the way in creating the most effective educational strategies for American students nationwide.”

Federal statistics show that wide opportunity gaps persist for many students who are qualified but underrepresented in programs offering challenging academic content. For example, just 26 percent of the students enrolled in gifted and talented programs are Latino and black, when those groups make up 40 percent of the population in schools that offer such programs. What’s more, only 1 percent of students with disabilities are participating in gifted and talented programs, while 7 percent of students without disabilities participate.

“These programs (like Project SPARK) identify those underserved children and give them the support they need to be successful,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in announcing the Javits funding. “This grant program will help those schools replicate success and challenge the opportunity gap for students who far too often are not given a fair shot at success in college, careers, and life.”

The Neag School of Education garnered the largest grant allocation of any school in the country during the most recent round of Javits funding. Charged with leading U.S. efforts to help gifted students achieve their full potential, the Neag School has served as the home site of a national gifted and talented education research center since 1990, when one was established at UConn by field pioneer and Neag Professor Joseph S. Renzulli.

Project SPARK adopts the Young Scholars Model that has proven successful in Fairfax County, VA. A research team led by Neag Educational Psychology Associate Professor Catherine Little will help teachers screen kindergartners and first- and second-graders in 24 diverse schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Students showing high potential will take part in specialized summer programs designed to enhance their academic abilities. The project, which could become a national model, is expected to involve up to 4,000 students and 300 teachers.

At Neag’s National Center for Research on Gifted Education, researchers are examining how gifted and talented third- through fifth-graders in Colorado, Florida, and North Carolina are taught, paying particular attention to students from underrepresented populations. Data gathered from state testing data sets, classroom visits, and other means will be used to determine how best to teach and support high-potential students from year to year. The results will be documented as best practices for all schools to use as models.

"The fact that UConn received such a large chunk of this year's grant money, and that Dr. Little’s proposal was ranked at No. 1 in terms of both value and awarded funds, is a really big deal," says Professor Del Siegle, director of the National Center for Research on Gifted Education. "As educators, our purpose should be to take every child as far as she or he can possibly go; to find potential and talent, and then to develop it. The only way our country is going to reach its full potential is if we help our children reach theirs."


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