1997 ANNUAL CONVENTION OF
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR
THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG CHILDREN
Anaheim, California -- Nov. 12-15, 1997
Proposal for Presentation
a. Main Presenter: Dr. Colleen Finegan-Stoll
Title: Assistant Professor, Early Childhood
Special Education
• Business Mailing Address: 376 Millett Hall
Wright State University
Dayton, OH 45435
Work Phone: 937-775-4582
FAX: 937-775-3301
• Home address: 7630 Rozelle Court,
West Chester, OH 45069
Home Phone: 513-779-9994
E-mail address: cfstoll@aol.com
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b. Other Presenter(s): Dr. Ron Helms
Title: Assistant Professor, Social
Studies Education
• Business Mailing Address: 374 Millett Hall
Wright State University
Dayton, Oh 45435
Work Phone: 937-775-3231
FAX: 937-775-3301
• Home address: 7123 W. Von Dette Circle,
Centerville, OH. 45459
Home Phone: 937-433-2611
E-mail address: SavantIII@aol.com
c. Suggested Title of Proposal:
A Mentoring Program For Young Children with Gifts and Talents from Economically Disadvantaged Urban Schools
d. Proposed Subject area:
Equity / Diversity / Culture also Children at Risk
e. Purposes of the proposed presentation:
Young children with gifts and talents from economically disadvantaged
urban schools are historically under-identified and under-served. A number
of reasons for this are documented: low teacher expectations, cultural
differences, narrow definition of "giftedness", limitated enrichment options,
and tests biased in construction, validation, administration and interpretation.
Identified children and those whose talents and gifts are not recognized
often fail to receive the support needed from peers, parents and the schools
and consequently may be undermotivated and at risk for dropping out of
school. Programs, such as mentorships, can help young children to develop
their gifts and talents and increase the chance that they will complete
high school and continue to develop their talents.
Developmentally appropriate programming encourages teachers / caregivers of young children to enrich and encouraging the development of the children's gifts and talents. Early childhood professionals need to reach out to families and the community to help support the needs of young children with gifts and talents from economically disadvantaged urban schools.
NAEYC supports developmentally appropriate programming and family and
community involvement. Therefoe, this topic is an appropriate one for this
Conference.
f. Audio-visual equiptment needed:
Overhead projector / screen
g. Abstract / Summary of content for proposed presentation:
Developmentally appropriate programming encourages teachers / caregivers of young children to enrich and encouraging the development of all children's gifts and talents. Young children with gifts and talents from economically disadvantaged urban schools are historically under-identified and under-served. A number of reasons for this are documented: low teacher expectations, cultural differences, narrow definition of "giftedness", limited enrichment options, and evaluation tools used for identification that are biased in construction, validation, administration and interpretation.
Identified children and those whose talents and gifts are not recognized often fail to receive the support needed from peers, parents and teachers. Early childhood professionals need to reach out to families and the community to help support the needs of young children with gifts and talents from economically disadvantaged urban schools. Strong advocacy efforts, such as parent support groups and mentorships, may help to expand development potential, contribute to a healthier self-concept, and may increase motivation improving the likelihood that these students will graduate from high school.
Wright State University has implemented a teacher education program based on a professional partnership model, where pre-service teachers spend 1/2 day each day in a field placement in a local center city school. In conjunction with this model, a mentorship component was conceptualized for young economically disadvantaged urban students. University representatives (professors and interns) met with the principal and the gifted/talented teacher of specific center city schools in the Greater Dayton Metropolitan area (Ohio) to collaboratively design the mentorship program.
As a result, twenty pre-service teacher interns from Wright State University
selected twenty young children displaying gifts and talents in areas other
than strictly academic, most of whom had not been identified formally.
A mentorship program was initiated in an effort to provide a support group
for a set of students identified as gifted/talented at the selected center
city partnership schools. Joint social and academic experiences were implemented.
The interns completed a written child study requiring observation, interaction
and documentation of the mentee's academic and personal growth, as well
as the intern's reflections on the experience.
Format:
Although identification and placement policies and procedures differ
between states and from locality to locality for children with potential
giftts and talents, under-identification and under-service for young children
from economically disadvantaged urban schools is well-documented. Interaction
between presenters and attendees sharing their experiences of the above
situation will be an integral part of the presentation. In sharing Wright
State's mentorship program with attendees, it is hoped that early childhood
professionals and neighboring universities will join together in their
efforts to supply the guidance and support needed to help more children
to be proud of who they are and can become.