The state’s gifted and talented children deserve an education appropriate to their needs and talents. That’s the philosophy behind a new graduate certificate series launching this summer, designed to train educators, counselors and administrators to work effectively with these learners within the K-12 system.
Drawing on input from New Jersey school superintendents and educators, as well as parents and advocates from the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey Association for the Gifted Child, and the Educational Information and Resource Center, this five-course program will include coursework on the gifted child, social and emotional development of the gifted child, pedagogy, instructional strategies, and developing and administering a gifted education program. The program will culminate in an applied practicum experience tailored to the needs of the individual participant.
This course series will provide participants with critical professional skills and strategies, create a professional network, and award graduate credits for pay-scale advancement. It is geared not only to classroom and resource teachers, but also to librarians, child-study team members, guidance counselors, administrators, curriculum directors, and parents.
“Just as special education students need to work with trained teachers, those working with students at the other end of the spectrum need specialized training too,” says Donna Vaupel, president of the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children (NJAGC). “These graduate-level courses in gifted education will provide an opportunity for educators to develop skills and strategies that will support the needs of gifted children and benefit all children as well.”
Authoring the program is Dr. Joyce VanTassel-Baska, professor emeritus of education and former executive director of the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary. Consulting in all 50 states and abroad, she has worked with the U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the American Association of School Administrators, among other groups.
Cherry Hill, N.J., Superintendent David Campbell, who hosted some of the focus groups whose findings helped shape the program, says, “If I only had one weapon in my arsenal to improve the quality of education in our schools, I would choose a research-based professional development program for all teachers, to include teachers for the gifted and talented.”
Kate Burke-Napolitano, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction in the Moorestown, N.J., school district, says she is particularly encouraged that the courses address not only academic issues, but also social and emotional ones.
The first two courses in the series, The Gifted Child and The Social and Emotional Development of the Gifted Child will be offered this summer (July 12-August 18) in hybrid format (half on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, half online). For more information about this program, please visit Summer Session, or e-mail Elizabeth Hough, Summer Session Director, at houghliz@dceo.rutgers.edu.