I love the beginning of a new school year. Sure, I’m sad to see the end of summer, and usually there’s a little apprehension about the challenges ahead, but I love the sense of new beginnings, of renewal, and of possibility as September approaches every year. I feel fortunate to be part of a profession that has these cycles of renewal, growth, and reflection, so that every year we have the chance to refine what we’ve done before, try out new ideas, and see a bright future in the new and returning faces in our schools and other centers for learning.

I am also excited every fall to look ahead to the NAGC24 Annual Convention, with all the opportunities it brings for exploring new directions, spending time with friends and colleagues, and seeking renewal and growth. The NAGC staff, the Convention Committee, and the Local Host Committee have been hard at work preparing for our gathering in Seattle this November. This is NAGC’s first time in Seattle, and we are looking forward to all that this great location has in store. 

The Convention will offer more than 200 sessions across four days, including more than 500 presenters working to share their knowledge, insights, and experiences about the persistent questions and new challenges we face as a field. We’ll see familiar faces and new ones on the program, and some new formats along with those that are tried and true. At this year’s convention, participants will have the chance to squeeze in an extra session or two with some 45-minute blocks, or to try out some “deep dive” 90-minute sessions. We are also offering two postconvention workshops in addition to our preconvention events, for those who want to extend the learning on either end of the event!

We are also excited to welcome participants to our new “Lesson Roundtable” sessions, which will be lively events at which presenters will share specific, practical examples of classroom learning experiences designed to support advanced learning. During these sessions, participants will get to choose three different tables to visit for 15-minute blocks, covering a wide variety of content areas and grade levels in fast-paced conversations!

The Convention also offers the chance for our community to recognize 70 years of NAGC, including some reflections on our history and celebrations of excellence among our members and the learners we support. Whether this would be your first convention or your 40th, I hope you’ll consider joining us to connect, reflect, renew, and look ahead. Please watch your NAGC communications in the coming weeks for more details on the schedule of events and the opportunities to be involved. 

And as you are building lesson plans and syllabi, writing welcome letters and name cards, and greeting students, families, and colleagues as another school year begins, I hope you are as excited as I am to see where the paths ahead may take us. Wishing a safe and satisfying new school year to all—hope to see you in Seattle! 

Starting Strong: Inquiry-Based Strategies for a Successful School Year

Michelle Buchanan, PhD, NBCT University of Central Arkansas
Monica C. Meadows, Ed.D., University of Arkansas at Little Rock

As a new school year approaches, educators are busy preparing their classrooms, building lesson plans, and incorporating strategies to ensure a successful and engaging year for their students. Inquiry-based learning continues to be an effective approach to enhance student learning and curiosity in STEM content. Here, we will explore best practices for incorporating inquiry learning into your classroom as you get ready to welcome your students back to school.

One idea is to start with a question that stimulates curiosity and sets the stage for investigation. For example, a Formative Assessment Probe about mittens by Page Keeley asks students to predict the results of an experiment: How would the temperature reading on a thermometer change if the thermometer were placed inside a mitten? Three possible answers to the question are provided and students describe their thinking in choosing their answer. Give students the opportunity to test their response, collect and analyze data, explain and communicate their findings, and eventually lead students to a deeper understanding of the phenomena. This testing gives students the opportunity to confront their predictions and grapple with uncertainties as they develop a new explanation. Encourage a growth mindset by celebrating effort, perseverance, and the learning process. Help students understand that making mistakes and facing challenges are essential parts of learning. This mindset will support them in tackling complex problems and persisting through difficult investigations.

Beginning the school year with investigative questions sets the foundation for inquiry-based learning. There are several online resources educators can use to encourage the next generation of problem-solvers similar to Keeley’s Formative Assessment Probes (https://www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/books/formative-assessment-probes). The Youth Engineering Solutions and Engineering is Elementary curriculum that is free to download (https://yes.mos.org/). The Exploratorium provides teacher-tested activities that use low-cost materials (https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks). eCYBERMISSION (https://www.ecybermission.com/) provides problems for student teams to solve using scientific inquiry or the engineering design process. This free, online competition for middle-level grades provides multiple resources for the team leader and student teams.

As you are busy preparing for the new year remember, incorporating inquiry-based learning into your classroom can significantly enhance student engagement and curiosity in STEM subjects. By starting with thought-provoking questions and allowing students to explore, test, and analyze their predictions, you foster a deeper understanding of scientific phenomena and encourage a growth mindset. Utilizing resources like Keeley's Formative Assessment Probes, Youth Engineering Solutions, and activities from the Exploratorium, you can create a dynamic and supportive learning environment. Remember, the goal is not just to teach content, but to inspire a lifelong love of learning and problem-solving in your students. Embrace the journey of discovery and watch your students thrive as they tackle complex problems and persist through challenges. Here's to a successful and enriching school year filled with curiosity, creativity, and collaboration!

This spring the field of gifted education unexpectedly lost one of its most ardent advocates, Dr. Virginia “Ginny” Burney. Ginny wore many hats in the field of education, beginning her career as a math teacher and then serving in the capacity of a guidance counselor, school administrator, and eventually professor of Educational Psychology where she taught graduate level courses in gifted education.  

Her advocacy for gifted students began for her own precocious children who needed access to curriculum and instruction beyond grade level content to be engaged and challenged. This experience opened her eyes to the need for state and national supports for gifted children. In her own words, she said, 

My years as a parent of three gifted children and as an administrator in a school for gifted children reinforced for me the special needs of gifted students. It also made me concerned every day for those gifted children who did not have parents who were comfortable or able to articulate what it was their children needed at school and who did not have educational experiences designed for gifted children. I vowed to advocate for gifted education in the public schools.   

Ginny dedicated the next three decades of her life to this cause and in the process became one of the greatest champions for gifted students not only in her home state of Indiana but at the national level as well. Her effective influence on legislation and services for gifted students earned her both the Lifetime Service Award from the Indiana Association for the Gifted and the David A. Belin Advocacy Award from the National Association for Gifted Children.  

For the last two decades I was fortunate to work alongside Ginny on advocacy efforts in Indiana and nationally. As I reflect on her mentorship and the lessons I learned from her during our work together, one overarching concept stands out, and that is her sage advice to always “Be part of the solution, not the problem.” Ginny told me that in the beginning, she thought that 

if I just explained to the Department of Education that these kids had different academic and social emotional needs, people would be amenable to instituting measures that would support these learners. I learned that it is not enough to say there is a need. IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT A GOOD IDEA. You have to propose a solution to the Department of Education or a member of the legislature who agrees with you [that] there is a problem, it needs to be solved, and your solution is the right solution for that problem.  

At first this may seem obvious, but so often we approach teachers, principals, and legislators with complaints that gifted children are overlooked and unchallenged and therefore disengaged in school. The “good idea” would be to increase rigor by offering services that would enable them access to higher level curriculum and instruction to meet their needs. But as Ginny found out, it is not about the good idea. For example, she explained that 

an administrator needs to make the system work to meet the greatest needs for the greatest number of students and staff. By definition, gifted students make up a small percentage of the student population. Administrators have many competing needs and challenges; [therefore], advocating for gifted kids and their education is not always well received. We have tried to do that from the standpoint of it being the right thing to do, and it is, but others may not see it as a priority or worry it could be a negative thing for all of those not selected.”  

So, what are we to do? How can we ensure the needs of gifted students are being met in schools?  

Ginny taught me that the more effective approach is to find a way to be part of the solution rather than being seen as another problem. To do that effectively first requires becoming well versed on the “what”— what problems are already on the horizon, and what education initiatives and/ or proposed legislation is being discussed/drafted to address them? Second involves gaining an understanding of all perspectives—what are the concerns and viewpoints of all stakeholder groups on this issue? And finally, it involves putting it all together by figuring out how the needs of gifted students could fit into the proposed initiative or legislation and align with the concerns and viewpoints of other stakeholder groups.  

If the needs of gifted students are not being addressed by the proposed initiative or legislation, or if the impact is negative, then how might it be adapted or modified, so these students can grow and thrive as well? This approach shows educational leaders and policy makers that we want to be on the same team; we understand that education is a system, and gifted students are part of that system. Ginny often said, “gifted students are not more important than other students, but they are just as important."

As such, effective advocates will need to demonstrate their understanding of all stakeholder views and explain how the needs of gifted children fit into a larger framework and offer a solution that addresses the needs of gifted children without detracting from the needs of other groups. All proposed solutions need to reflect this notion if they are to be well received. Currently, I am keeping this advice at the forefront of my thoughts as I work with the Indiana Association for the Gifted to propose modifications to our state’s proposed new high school diploma pathways to ensure a rigorous pathway of courses is available for our most able learners.  

Ginny has left a lasting mark on the field of gifted education. As NAGC President Shelagh Gallagher noted, “the phrase ‘small but mighty’ comes to mind when [one] thinks of Ginny. She was always game to try a new idea, consider problems in a new light, and lend her elbow grease to efforts to improve circumstances for gifted students.” I hope that I, as well as others who had the good fortune to work with her, can carry her advocacy lessons forward to continue to maximize the potential of all gifted students.   

Kristie Speirs Neumeister is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Association for Gifted Children. She directs the gifted and talented licensure program at Ball State University, and she is the president-elect of the Indiana Association for the Gifted.

Being a Coordinator of Gifted in a school district is like living in a whirlwind. As you know if you’ve been in this field for any length of time at all, gifted programming is multi-faceted from the identification and programming to the staffing and funding to the social-emotional needs, and the list goes on. Within the exciting tumult, something guides the work, the North Star. For my district and team of consultants, our North Star is equity.

Understanding that equity and equality are not synonymous is fundamental in this work. Many educators cling to the historical belief that we must be consistent in our work with every student – making the work the same or equal for every student – to be fair. This often leads to a variety of problems in our work like scripted curricula, limiting rubrics, and ceilings on assessments. While this may be considered equal, it is not equitable, which is providing support for the varying needs of each student. To provide this support, a universal focus on equity with three main properties is important.

First, we must be conscious of our own biases. This requires reflection to know and understand them, but also to impact our actions. If we realize that we struggle with certain students, we must ask ourselves why. We must work on our own understandings and perceptions to ensure we support every student in our classrooms, not just those who are easiest to support. 

Our equity work began with deep dives. We brought in Dr. Gil Whiting of Vanderbilt University to talk with us about implicit bias. We processed as he shared his work with Scholar Identity. We each took the Intercultural Development Inventory and reflected as individuals and as a department on our own biases. We engaged in equity challenges to build our understanding and commitment. We brought in Eddie Moore, Jr. to share his experiences with systemic racism and his passion for fighting injustice. We attended and supported students to present and attend the White Privilege Conference sponsored by The Privilege Institute. We invested in these efforts to build a solid base for our equity work.

Second, regardless of our desire to generalize, students are not the same. Students come to our classrooms with vast experiences, unique strengths and weaknesses, and a wide variety of personalities.  One size cannot fit all. 

Our work continued as we deconstructed and rebuilt our identification protocol for our district. We started this work by reviewing the NAGC Report State of the States Report. This provided a lens of what types of identification and programming are happening in other states. We then began evaluating our Eligibility Report and Protocols with identification and programming information from other states – Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, and Wisconsin. We then read Excellence Gaps in Education by Plucker and Peters (2017) and followed that learning by taking a deep dive into our district demographics. We compared our classroom, building, and district demographics to the demographics of our identified advanced learning students. We discovered that we had begun the work of moving toward proportional demographics, but we still had a lot of work to do. This led us to revise our identification eligibility guide and our protocols to be more inclusive (eliminating gate keeping scores), adding elements of qualitative data (with universal qualitative screening in grades K & 1), and changed our focus from a program serving Capital G Gifted students to a Talent Development Model (or Paradigm as described by David Yun Dai and Fei Chen in Three Paradigms of Gifted Education). Finally, we added Proportional Demographics to our department goals alongside our academic and social/emotional goals.

Third, education – and life – are not zero-sum games. All students can be winners. One should not be limited if another is supported. Advanced students need enrichment and support as much as students who struggle with learning need scaffolds and support. They need direct instruction, and they need materials that are challenging. We cannot expect them to wait while others in class catch up. We cannot expect them to be the teacher or the teacher’s aide. Additionally, our students need to be challenged more often than a pull-out program can provide. By working with teachers and providing extensions for advanced learners, we are building capacity in our teachers to benefit all advanced learners.

Our work continues as we work with the district curriculum coordinators, PLC leads, and teachers. We have spent two years learning the district curricula for English and math so that we are able to speak to standards in all grade levels. Knowing the standards helps us unpack them to create extensions that can take students deeper so we can promote analysis.  Our work first centered around a Crosswalk of Bloom’s Taxonomy, Webb’s Depth of Knowledge, and Marzano’s Taxonomy. The goal was to determine the level of the standard required for the lesson and create an extension task that would take the students at least one level above where the standard landed. If possible, extending to analysis was always a goal. While continuing this work, we began adding cluster grouping based on Marcia Gentry’s An Investigation of the Effects of Total School Flexible Cluster Grouping on Identification, Achievement, and Classroom Practices to our middle school math courses. Our first year was a challenge with getting into the classes at least twice each week and planning specifically with those PLCs in addition to the other work to be done in each middle school, but we are confident we have, based on reflections, created improvements to implement this fall.

Being a Coordinator of Gifted Programming for an urban district is an incredibly rich experience, yet finding ways to develop equitable identification and programming is challenging. Our students, however, are worth it. So I encourage you to consider making equity your North Star. Dig in, do the work, and enjoy the joy of serving all students in your district with gifts and talents.

In a sane world, winning a state championship should be a well-earned celebrated instance of glory for a talented young person. However, last month, as sophomore Aayden Gallagher crossed the finish line first, winning the 200-meter race at the Oregon School Activity Association (OSAA), she was met with cruel boos and hostility from event attendees. Further, she was accused of cheating and her talent was questioned. Why the derision? Aayden is transgender. And like many talented LGBTQ+ youth in schools and at school events she had to endure yet another disgusting occurrence of bigotry. Read the story here (Lavietes 2024).

Like Aayden, many LGBTQ+ kids and teens who are also gifted and talented experience the challenges of a hateful world. It’s hard to navigate the masses of people and policymakers who are still stuck somewhere within a continuum of hatred, ranging from prejudice to violence, as illustrated in Hicks’s (2006) report and the most recent National Survey of School Climate (GLSEN, 2021). Despite slow progress, these reports reveal the remaining hostility that society and schools in particular still carry against LGBTQ+ people. Thus, we need Pride. Pride Month, celebrated in June every year, is the reminder of why such large-scale LGBTQ+ awareness is necessary. For our community, Pride is remembrance, resistance, freedom, and fun. 

For the gifted education community, Pride Month is an opportunity to use the power of transformational giftedness of LGBTQ+ learners to counteract the influence of toxic giftedness. According to Sternberg (2023), toxic giftedness is “used for negative and even harmful ends'' such as creating and promoting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Toxic leaders use their gifts, power, and influence to undermine human rights by banning information, limiting discussion, undermining opportunity, restricting healthcare, by making us invisible 

On the contrary, “transformationally gifted individuals seek positively to change the world at some level--in their own way, to make the world a better place” (Sternberg, 2020). This is what most gifted and talented LGBTQ+ children have to do at some point in their lives. To resist and survive this anti-LGBTQ+ society, learners use their self-transformational giftedness to cope and adapt to challenges. Others go further, they transform the world with their intelligence and creativity, by becoming icons, fighters, and activists (Parra-Martinez & Treat, 2022). Many gifted LGBTQ+ people have fought for social acceptance, inclusion, recognition, and respect of their rights and the rights of others. Their transformational power made space in this world for them and others But, self-advocacy can’t be the only way. All gifted individuals in education, leadership, and in positions of power have a human duty to use their intelligence, creativity and talents to make the world a better place for those who are not visible, for those who are oppressed. 

Our gifted LGBTQ+ young people need caring adults who can see, hear, and understand them. That is our primary objective here within the NAGC LGBTQ+ network. We welcome anyone and everyone (you don’t have to be gifted nor identify as LGBTQ+). Please consider joining our efforts to help raise awareness about the realities and needs of these vulnerable kids and teens. Help us grow our community!

Research suggests that gifted young people tend to be more aware and sensitive to not only their immediate environment (Gere et al. 2009) but also to media representations about giftedness (Bergold, Hastall & Steinmayr, 2020; Dunan et al., 2020). Research also indicates that LGBTQ+ youth tend to look toward media and pop culture for role models (Bird, Kuhns & Garafalo, 2012; Greensmith & King 2020; Berger et al., 2022). While research about the overlap of giftedness and LGBTQ+ identity is limited, it stands to reason that gifted LGBTQ+ youth are indeed paying close attention to media and are influenced by pop culture representation. Since much progress has been made with LGBTQ+ acceptance and rights in the past 50 years, there is more LGBTQ+ representation in the media than ever before. Educators and families can utilize the media’s positive portrayals of gifted and talented LGBTQ+ people to help guide gifted LGBTQ+ youth toward finding community, understanding themselves, and providing potential role models. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) publishes an annual “20 Under 20” list honoring young LGBTQ people “who are accelerating acceptance of LGBTQ people while shaping the future of media and activism” (see last year’s list). The Advocate recently compiled a list of “LGBTQ+ celebrities and activists TIME called the Most Influential People of 2024.” Additionally, positive LGBTQ+ representation is becoming more common in pop culture. Recent examples in fiction include (but are not limited to) Disney’s The Owl House, Stranger Things, Star Wars: Asoka,  Disenchantment, Batwoman, Better Nate Than Never, Red White & Royal Blue, and so on. And there is more representation than ever in music (such as Kim Petras and Billie Eilish) and sports (such as NFL’s Carl Nassib and soccer star Megan Rapinoe).

What else can you do to show your support during pride month? 

• Join the LGBTQ+ Network within the National Association for Gifted Children by attending and volunteering at our events.
• Help us remember those LGBTQ+ individuals who have transformed the world in the face of discrimination and oppression.
• Display and use your talents to creatively protest and resist unjust legislation and bigotry. 
• Live the transformational power of our youth giftedness and diversity by attending, volunteering, and contributing to any of the Nationwide pride celebrations during June 2024
• Engage teachers and learners in the GLSEN survey of school climate for LGBTQ+ Learners to provide current and accurate information of the status of LGBTQ+ rights in your school

Finally, As for Aayden Gallagher and our community, her gold-metal win was bittersweet. We must continually strive for a near future in which any young talented person’s victories are not bitter, just simply sweet. Happy Pride Month, everyone!


References

Berger M.N., Taba M., Marino J.L., Lim M.S.C., & Skinner S.R. (2022). Social Media Use and Health and Well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth: Systematic Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(9). DOI: 10.2196/38449. 

Bergold, S., Hastall, M.R., & Steinmayr, R. (2020). Do Mass Media Shape Stereotypes About Intellectually Gifted Individuals? Two Experiments on Stigmatization Effects From Biased Newspaper Reports. Gifted Child Quarterly, 65(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986220969393

Bird, J.D.P., Kuhns, L., & Garofalo, R. (2012). The Impact of Role Models on Health Outcomes for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50(4), 353-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.08.006 

Duncan, S., Goodwin, C., Haase, J., & Wilson, S. (2020). Neuroscience of Giftedness: Greater Sensory Sensitivity. Gifted Research & Outreach. https://gro-gifted.org/neuroscience-of-giftedness-greater-sensory-sensitivity

Gere, D.R., Capps, S.C., Mitchell, D.W., Grubbs, E., & Dunn, W. (2009). Sensory Sensitivities of Gifted Children/Invited Commentary on "Sensory Sensitivities of Gifted Children." The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(3), 288-95. https://unco.idm.oclc.org/loginurl=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/sensory-sensitivities-gifted-children-invited/docview/231968900/se-2 

Greensmith, C., & King, B. (2020). “Queer as hell media”: Affirming LGBTQ+ youth identity and building community in Metro Atlanta, Georgia. Journal of LGBT Youth, 19(2), 180–197. https://doi-org.unco.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/19361653.2020.1829524

Hicks, T. (2006). Humanizing the Other in “Us and Them.” Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 18(4), 499-506. DOI: 10.1080/10402650601030435 

Lavietes, M. (2024, May 21). Transgender Teen Booed After Winning Girls’ Track Race at State Championship. NBC News.  https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/transgender-teen-booed-winning-girls-track-race-state-championship-rcna153383

Parra-Martinez, A., & Treat, A. R. (2022). The Rainbow Revolution: Empowering Gifted LGBTQ+ Learners for Transformative Action. In R. J. Sternberg, D. Ambrose, & S. Karami (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Transformational Giftedness for Education (pp. 287-312). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91618-3_15

Sternberg, R. J. (2020). Transformational Giftedness: Rethinking Our Paradigm for Gifted Education. Roeper Review, 42(4), 230–240.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1080/02783193.2020.1815266

Sternberg, R. J. (2023). Toxic Giftedness. Roeper Review, 45(1), 61–73. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/10.1080/02783193.2022.2148311