Gifted Education - Online Professional Development Series
The Pennsylvania Department of Education's Gifted Education initiative is offering a series of live, online professional development sessions in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities. To view the recordings of the online sessions that have been held to date and to see the schedule of upcoming sessions, please visit the Online Learning Page.
Programs for Parents & Students
Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship
"The Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship's mission is to identify exceptionally gifted middle school students who have demonstrated academic and personal excellence and to award them with a scholarship to a high school where they can actualize their intellectual and personal potential. This prestigious award offers scholarship support, academic guidance and the opportunity to develop lifelong connections with a unique peer network. A Caroline D. Bradley Scholar is a young student who excels academically, displays a genuine quest for knowledge, thrives in the discovery process, is a leader among peers and embraces the ideals of integrity and honesty."
The Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship is highly selective and uses the following criteria to award scholarships: currently in grade 7, demonstrates exceptional academic ability and achievement, has a 97% in at least one major academic area on a school administered, nationally normed standardized test, scores competitively on the SAT-1 Reasoning Test, strives for excellence & challenge, demonstrates leadership abilities, exhibits creative thinking, is curious, has a thirst for knowledge, exhibits a passion for learning, is highly motivated, has a high degree of integrity & honesty, demonstrates high level of maturity & a strong sense of self, and seeks a rigorous, diversified high school program.
Applications for Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship for current grade seven students is due May 8, 2006. For further information and to download an application: www.educationaladvancement.org
Free Online - AP Physics and AP Environmental Science Courses
The Curry School of Education of the University of Virginia through Project LOGgED ON is offering a free online AP Physics Course for the 2006-2007 school year in addition to continuing the free AP Environmental Science.
Through funding from the Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act, the Curry School plans to offer an online physics course based on the concepts covered by an AP physics course, but not requiring the advanced mathematical competencies associated with that course in hopes to recruit students who have the potential to become engaged in and experience success in the learning of physics concepts. Curry School will be providing course content and activities as well as online instructors who will use a case-based, problem-solving approach. Curry School will also pay for students to take the SAT II Physics test as both a pre-test and a post-test and will also pay student fees for the AP examination if the student wishes to take the AP exam.
The Curry School will offer the online Advanced Environmental Science course again in 2006-2007. The highly interactive format is structured to challenge the students in learning beyond the typical knowledge level coverage of environmental science and to provide engaging, thought provoking opportunities for students to investigate problems that will provide them deep understanding of the content. The real-life cases presented in this course contain complex, sophisticated, and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the nature of environmental science. The Curry School will cover the costs of taking the AP exam for this course too.
If you would like to learn more about the course materials, please visit www.projectloggedon.org Use the topic list on the left to learn more about Project LOGgED ON, the Curriculum, and the participation guidelines in the How to Get Involved. For further information, contact Christie Reed at cbr2e@@virginia.edu or loggedon@virginia.edu or 434-924-0762.
Research Projects
SEM-R (Reading)
Innovative reading instruction strategies to motivate students and enhance reading skills. Dr. Sally Reis, Project Director, 860-486-4676 www.gifted.uconn.eduProject M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds
A national curriculum and research study to nurture math talent in elementary students focused on creating challenging and motivational units. Dr. M. Katherine Gavin, Project Director, 860-486-8881