Field Test the New Renzulli Executive Functioning Scale

 

The Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development is creating a new scale to measure various aspects of executive functioning.  The scale asks you about your ability to start tasks, ability to stay on task, organization, awareness of strengths and weaknesses, self-advocacy, ability to collaborate, and awareness of and ability to manage emotions. Your responses are anonymous. If you complete the survey and wish, your name will be entered in a lottery drawing for one waiver of Confratute registration for the 2025 Confratute (visit confratute.uconn.edu to learn more about Confratute). To learn more and participate in the adult version of the survey, please visit: s.uconn.edu/adultrefs

To learn more and participate in the student version with built-in parent and student permission, please visit: https://s.uconn.edu/refs

Supporting Academic Acceleration in Schools

The National Center for Research on Gifted Education is seeking school districts interested in expanding their use of subject-specific and whole-grade acceleration as a way to meet the needs of advanced learners. We are seeking participants for research that can begin in academic year 2024-25. Academic acceleration is the intervention for advanced learners that has shown the greatest effect on learning and achievement. This project seeks to (a) provide professional learning around what acceleration actually is and how it can be used with compensation for participating grade 2-5 teachers, (b) develop a universal screening process to determine which students should be considered for acceleration, and (c) provide resources and professional learning to schools to help them implement subject-specific and whole-grade acceleration decisions for students who meet the criteria.

What you would get from us:

1. Free access to online professional learning modules for second- through fifth-grade teachers and others who would be involved in acceleration decisions. Each educator who completes the set of four 45-minute modules will receive a $100 Amazon gift certificate.
2. Technical support implementing a universal screening system with your existing data to determine who should be considered for acceleration.
3. Access to the Integrated Acceleration System (Acceleration Institute, University of Iowa) for making whole-grade acceleration decisions. Educators who participate in a one-hour Integrated Acceleration System meeting will be compensated for their time with a $100 Amazon gift certificate.
4. Funding necessary to purchase any additional assessment tools.
5. Ongoing facilitation of accelerated placement decision making.
6. Compliance with all district policies. We understand that working with your district may require a data-sharing agreement and/or approval by a district or school research institutional (ethical) review board. We will comply with all district policies.

What we would want from you:

1. A commitment to have second- through fifth-grade teachers and administrators work through about 3 hours of online professional learning related to acceleration. We will compensate them with a $100 Amazon gift certificate.
2. De-identified academic achievement and ability data for all district students in second and third grades (if possible, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, gender, and ideally free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL), language, and special education status). We will compensate the district for the cost of pulling the data. We will use the data to assist you in determining students to consider for acceleration.
3. Willingness to work through the Integrated Acceleration System process for some students (approximately 1 hour with our support); any decision to accelerate students is determined by the district.
4. A willingness to share student ability and achievement test data for participating students as part of the IAS process. We will pay for those tests if they are not already given.
5. A commitment to have second- through fifth-grade teachers and other school personnel provide feedback about the acceleration process.
6. Data on how often acceleration is used in subsequent years after the project.

Visit https://ncrge.uconn.edu/acceleration/ for more information

Study of Subject Acceleration Practices – Seeking Interview Participants

Project Focus Research Participation

Project Focus at UConn is seeking participants for a research study. We are conducting a survey focused on teacher self-efficacy, especially related to questioning and discussion. We are seeking responses from currently and recently practicing teachers at grades K-12. Teachers who participate are eligible for a $10 electronic gift card. Please use the QR code to access the survey. Contact Catherine Little at catherine.little@uconn.edu or project.focus@uconn.edu with any questions.

Project Focus at UConn is seeking participants for a research study. We are conducting a survey about how teachers describe their students’ participation in classroom discussion. We are seeking responses from U.S. teachers at grades K-12. Teachers who participate are eligible to enter a drawing for one of 25 $25 electronic gift cards. Please use the QR code to access the survey. Contact Catherine Little at catherine.little@uconn.edu or project.focus@uconn.edu with any questions.

Project Focus at UConn will be inviting schools in 2024-2025 to participate as professional learning and research sites. We will be looking for schools with multiple potential teacher participants at grades 3-5. Contact Catherine Little at catherine.little@uconn.edu or project.focus@uconn.edu to learn more.

Seeking Educators from Arizona, Colorado, and Texas to Serve as Project EAGLE Trainers

Project EAGLE (Eliciting Advanced Gifted Learning Evidence) addresses the critical need for assessment systems that better identify talent in diverse student populations. We tackle the issue of underidentification, which leads to underservicing, by implementing a dynamic approach to recognizing gifted behaviors. This approach empowers grade 3 and 4 teachers to use our Points of Promise observation checklist, designed to identify characteristics of mathematical potential and talent, as they observe and engage students in five problem-based math activities specifically crafted to elicit gifted behaviors.

We are currently seeking educators from Arizona, Colorado, and Texas to become Project EAGLE Trainers as part of a federally funded Javits research grant. Fifteen trainers–five from each state–will participate in a five-day orientation on the Project EAGLE dynamic identification system, to be held from July 13-17, 2025, at the University of Connecticut’s Confratute. Following this training, the trainers will return to their respective states to conduct five workshops during the 2025-26 academic year, sharing the Project EAGLE approach to identifying underserved gifted students.

Benefits for Selected Trainers:

• Complimentary attendance at Confratute 2025 at the University of Connecticut, including registration, meals, and lodging
• Travel expenses covered to and from Connecticut
• Comprehensive training on the Project EAGLE dynamic approach and best practices for delivering professional development
• A $3,600 stipend for participation in the training and conducting five in-state workshops
• Supplies and reimbursement for expenses related to conducting the workshops

Complete application to be a Project EAGLE Trainer by March 15, 2025 here. 

For more information, email projecteagle@uconn.edu