[Ohiogift] Davidson Institute eNews-Update: August 2021

Wed Sep 1 09:01:28 EDT 2021

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| The latest news from the Davidson Institute for those who are interested in services for the profoundly gifted:

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August 2021
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Davidson News
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Announcing the 2021 Davidson Fellows
Meet the 2021 Davidson Fellows! Fellows have completed graduate-level projects or portfolios that have the potential to benefit society. Each will receive a scholarship and be recognized for their achievements at a special virtual awards reception in late September.

Positive contributions to society made by the 2021 Davidson Fellows include:   
   - Discovering that people taking an FDA-approved anti-depressant had a substantially reduced risk of developing a vision-threatening disease that affects 200 million people worldwide, which would shave billions off the cost and years off the time compared to developing a brand-new drug. (Meenakshi Ambati, Laureate, pictured left)
   - Creating a machine learning model that can find “streaks” left behind by fast-moving small asteroids in telescope images to better detect them before they hit Earth. (Franklin Wang, Laureate, pictured right)
   - Developing a model to predict patient responses to various cancer drugs. (Bala Vinaithirthan, Laureate)
   - Creating a literary portfolio chronicling the lineage of the author's family in West Tennessee from the 1700s to the present day, through poems. (Alora Young)
   - Developing a handheld diagnostic device for the detection of HIV, which could provide fast and highly accurate detection of infectious diseases at less than $2 per device. (Stanley Liu)
New for '22, teams of 2! Two-person teams are now eligible to apply for the Fellows Scholarship! The 2022 application will open November 1, 2021, with a deadline of February 9, 2022.   |

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Davidson Academy Online Campus
The Davidson Academy's online campus is a dynamic, flexible option for profoundly gifted students living anywhere in the United States and Canada. Students at this accredited, robust online community are grouped by ability, not age. We leverage cutting-edge technology to create a new, highly personalized model of online education.Davidson Academy Online students benefit from:   
   - Live, synchronous sessions
   - Quality peer interactions
   - Small class sizes
   - Responsive, caring instructors
   - School counseling
   - College planning
   - Prospective Learning Plans
   - Embedded opportunities for socialization
Davidson Academy Online Courses >
Online Single-Course Enrollments >

2022-2023 applications available in September! Contact online at davidsonacademy.unr.edu for more information.   |

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Davidson Academy Reno Campus
Davidson Academy's Reno Campus is the only free public school of its kind for profoundly gifted students. The Academy’s classes group students by ability rather than age, offering middle and high school level curriculum. Our unique approach to learning has attracted families from across the country and globe.

For more than 15 years, our fully-accredited school has centered on interpersonal and instructional-based learning, creating an atmosphere that is vibrant with intellectual energy and dialogue. As the school has grown, the Academy has evolved to offer an increasing number of opportunities, while still providing a laser-sharp focus on the individual student.

The primary focus of the Davidson Academy’s curriculum is for Academy graduates to leave with a solid, broad-based foundation of knowledge. We offer two types of credit: middle school and high school. Given the asynchronous nature of highly gifted young people, students frequently access both levels of curriculum simultaneously.

The Value of a Davidson Academy Education >
Reno Campus Courses > 

2022-2023 applications available in September! Contact applications at davidsonacademy.unr.edu for more information.   |

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Explore: Online Courses for Gifted Middle Schoolers
Designed to be different than other online courses, Explore offers rigorous, advanced, full-year middle school courses that are modeled off of expectations at middle school courses at the Davidson Academy. Students will be expected to work on asynchronous learning activities, such as reading, drafting essays, completing practice problems, assignments, etc. in addition to the hour spent in live-sessions each week. The 2022-2023 application will be available this fall. Explore Admissions >  |

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Young Scholars
There should be no ceiling to your child's education. With the Young Scholars program, there won't be. The Young Scholars program is free to profoundly gifted students and their families and gives them the opportunity to connect and engage in a community that understands their needs. Families choose their level of involvement. From individualized support from a family consultant, including academic and college advising, to opportunities to interact with other Young Scholars during summer programs and much more, the Young Scholars Program sets students and their families up to succeed academically, emotionally and socially.  |

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Whats's New in Gifted Education
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Standardized Test Changes Impact Gifted Students
Due to recent federal regulations, students under the age of 13 are no longer allowed to register for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or ACT Assessment (ACT). With many families of gifted students relying on these tests to gain access to gifted programs, many are left scrambling for other options. A number of gifted programs that rely on these talent search/college placement tests are considering next steps on addressing eligibility and application requirements moving forward.

Numerous gifted advocates are encouraging parents to contact the College Board and the ACT directly to express concerns, as these organizations have direct oversight over age-related policies, and gifted organizations do not impact the decision-making process. The Davidson Institute actively works to empower the voices of our community members through delivery of our individualized support services provided directly to profoundly gifted youth and their families.   
   - What’s the Best-Kept Secret in Gifted Education? Above-Level Testing. (Belin-Blank)
   - Profoundly Gifted Parenting post on the importance of SAT and ACT testing for younger students.
   - Gifted Issues discussion forum post on the ongoing issue. 
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|  In the News
Pioneer Academics is the world's only fully-accredited online research program with U.S. college credit for high school students. Applications are now open for 2022.

An elite Virginia high school overhauled admissions for gifted students – here’s how to tell if the changes are working (The Conversation)

How are our public school gifted programs doing? It’s hard to say (Washington Post)

Neurodiversity and Gifted Education (Psychology Today)

Talent Development in School: The Role of Acceleration (Center for Talent Development)

The Strange Past and Messy Future of 'Gifted and Talented’ (EdSurge)

We Are Leaving ‘Lost Einsteins’ Behind (New York Times)

World Council for Gifted and Talented Children Releases Global Principles for Professional Learning in Gifted Education (WKU)

Georgia
Gwinnett school district seeks to close equity gaps in gifted programs (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)  |

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On the Web
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Blog Posts & Podcasts
Automatic Enrollment is a Promising Equity Strategy for Advanced Education - "Automatic enrollment implicitly endorses the value of advanced education, choosing to remove barriers to those services rather than eliminate them. Advocates for advanced learning should embrace auto-enrollment and help districts implement it as part of a comprehensive set of strategies for eliminating excellence gaps." (NAGC)

Early College for the Gifted Learner - "Early college is a highly personalized decision, weighing many factors above and beyond academics. There are many ways to obtain college-level learning and classes, even without being enrolled in community college or university for radically gifted learners." (Profoundly Gifted Parenting)

Finding a Therapist for Your Gifted Child - This blog post reviews some of the main reasons parents of gifted children might seek counseling, and how to select the right professional. It provides special considerations for gifted children within the context of therapy. (Davidson Gifted Blog)

Giftedness: The view from within - "Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm." (Davidson Gifted Blog)

How to build your child’s emotional intelligence with books - "Research shows that kids with high emotional intelligence tend to be skilled at paying attention, staying engaged, solving problems, and managing conflict." (Medium.com)

How to Motivate Kids & Build Their Stress Tolerance - Dr. William Stixrud and Ned Johnson have a critical conversation on how to motivate kids, build their frustration tolerance, and more. (TiLT Parenting Podcast)

Mentoring for Gifted Middle and High Schoolers - "Mentorships are one way to help these students find their footing during this transitional period in their educational and personal development." (Davidson Gifted Blog)  |

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|  Releasing the Potential of High-Ability Kids - "Should teachers play a role in their students’ social and emotional well-being, or is school only about academic rigor? What are some teaching techniques that will get kids talking and participating?" Emily Kircher-Morris and Jim Delisle have a conversation about ways to release the potential that’s often locked inside neurodivergent kids. (Neurodiversity Podcast)

Tall tales: When your gifted child lies to you - "How we respond to our child's attempts at deception is essential to their growth and development." (Gifted Challenges)

The vast majority of parents want schools to teach children social and emotional skills - "The mental-health challenges imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic have also deepened the need to better support students’ social and emotional needs as they acquire cognitive skills and knowledge." (Fordham Institute)

What does Profoundly Gifted Mean? - "Gifted students are among the least understood, under-identified and underserved population in schools. The subset of “profoundly gifted” students is even less understood." (Davidson Academy Blog)

What is Giftedness? - "Your school's understanding of giftedness may be influencing key decisions about your child's education, so it can be important to find out how this term is being defined by others." (Davidson Gifted Blog)

What's so bad about being gifted? - So, is giftedness a good or a bad thing?  Unsurprising answer: neither. It just is. (Gifted Challenges)

Whatever you do, don’t call it social and emotional learning (Fordham Institute)

See more on the Davidson Gifted Blog >  |

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Student to Student
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Harrish Ganesh, Davidson Ambassador

The purpose of the Young Scholars Ambassador Program is to foster learning and civic engagement through community service, volunteerism and leadership in highly motivated and mature Young Scholars. Harrish's project is "The Future Brighter."  |

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|  What are some past and present projects you’ve worked on to help make a positive difference in the lives of others?
I am currently serving in the Student Advisory Board (SAB) of the Journal of the Emerging Investigators (JEI). As a member of the SAB, my role is to motivate middle and high school students across the nation to perform and publish their scientific research in the JEI. Recently, I was also involved in promoting their mini-PhD program for students mainly from the underrepresented communities in Virginia. The mini Ph.D. program is an excellent opportunity for students to learn directly from Harvard scientists, from hypothesis to publication. 

Through my non-profit organization, The Future Brighter (TFB), I reached out to hundreds of elementary school students in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) for conducting virtual STEM clubs on a weekly basis. The purpose of the STEM club is to expose students to various STEM activities every week for students to explore, succeed, and persevere while gaining confidence in STEM fields. By instilling STEM interests among students at an early age, the hope is that they continue their STEM interests in the middle and high school years and eventually land in a STEM field.

What are some of your short-term and long-term plans?
My short-term plan is to expand the STEM club outreach to almost every school in the DC metro area through a virtual/remote learning model. The uniqueness of the TFB STEM program lies in the fact that students are constantly exposed to different subject areas within STEM instead of focusing on a single subject or topic. For example, instead of spending the entire school year teaching a group of students how to program in Java, we chose a model wherein we continuously rotate the topics every week in all STEM subjects that cover a variety such as life sciences, chemistry, programming concepts, engineering methods, algebra, statistics. The continuous exposure to various STEM topics increased student participation and interests without risking the learning fatigue on a single topic for an extended period. Students also had the chance to learn what STEM subject interests them the most without being forced into a specific STEM area.

My long-term plans will include opening a STEM club in every school in Virginia and advancing the STEM impact, particularly in the underrepresented counties of Virginia. Additionally, I hope for The Future Brighter to partner with other STEM organizations to make STEM accessible to all students.

How has the Young Scholars program helped you to reach your goals and achieve your accomplishments?
The Young Scholars Program provided me the opportunity to participate in the Davidson Ambassadors program. By participating in the Ambassadors program, I had the chance to interact with many other student leaders/volunteers, all of them trying to make a positive difference in their communities. The interaction with other students across the country allowed me to understand the challenges that each one faced in implementing their project and how they overcome those challenges. That experience allowed me to change my strategies in successfully implementing my project, The Future Brighter.

Please describe your academic setting and some positive experiences with mentors.
When I first started The Future Brighter project, I only had some basic plans to implement it. Thanks to Ms. Nuntiya Smith for her outstanding support and advice throughout the 12+ month journey, I was able to bring quality improvements to my project. “Think Tank” was an excellent jump start for me as I had the opportunity to hear from previous Ambassadors who successfully implemented their projects. I was able to incorporate many ideas into my project. In addition, our group of Ambassadors was beneficial in answering any questions that I had along the way. Overall, I am very thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Ambassadors program. I will be forever indebted to Davidson Institute, Ms. Nunitya Smith, and the entire team for their help in bringing the best out of me through The Future Brighter.  |

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|  “Knowing how students performed on an above-level test helps us to give the students, their families and their educators better advice about the kinds of educational options the students might need. For example, does this student need educational enrichment? Would that student benefit from moving up a grade level or two in math? Would yet another student benefit from grade-skipping?”

--Ann Shoplik, in the Belin-Blank article, What’s the Best-Kept Secret in Gifted Education? Above-Level Testing  |

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|  If you have information to include in a future newsletter, please contact us at administrator at davidsongifted.org.

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 Davidson Institute
 Nurturing Intellect. Unlocking Potential.
 Reno, Nevada
 DavidsonGifted.org
 administrator at davidsongifted.org

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