# Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Grant Program

# FY 2003 Awards 

# 

# 

The Department received 105 applications for the Javits competition.
Specifically, 83 applications under Priority One and 22 applications
under Priority Two were submitted. The Department fully funded two
Priority One and five Priority Two awards totaling \$8.17 million.

To ensure a multidisciplinary evaluation of each application,
professionals with expertise in research & evaluation, curriculum
content of core subjects, gifted and talented education, and/or
education of disadvantaged children were among the experts solicited by
the United States Department of Education to review proposals.

Using the criteria published in the application package, each reviewer
independently read and rated a set of applications. Reviewers documented
application strengths and weaknesses, provided a raw score based on a
100-point scale, and held panel discussions. The Department of Education
staff used raw scores assigned by panel reviewers to determine the
awards to be funded.

Status notification letters along with reviewer comments for each
application were mailed to applicants on Monday, September 22, 2003.

For additional information on the FY 2003 awards please see the attached
project abstracts or forward an email inquiry to the program mailbox at
<jacobk.javits@ed.gov>.

# Connecting Worlds, Mundos Unidos Gifted and Talented Two-Way Dual Language Education

# 

# PR AWARD #: S206A030026

**Grantee:** El Paso Independent School District

6531 Boeing

El Paso, Texas 79925

**Contact:** Fara Green

\(915\) 779-4087

<fegreen@episd.org>

**Target Grade Level:** K-12

**Funding:** \$2,575,495

Connecting Worlds, Mundos Unidos is a gifted and talented, dual language
immersion magnet project that integrates second language acquisition for
gifted and talented English and Spanish language learners with the goals
of achieving high academic excellence, first and second language
proficiency, and multicultural appreciation and interactive skills. The
El Paso Independent School project is currently serving students in
grades K-8, and this project will extend it into the high school.

The project will provide a challenging curriculum that is differentiated
through depth, complexity, pacing, and will be delivered in two
languages as a 50/50 model. It is also designed to actively involve
parents in the education of their children. Through a partnership with
the University of Texas at El Paso, a comprehensive training model will
be implemented that increases the number of teachers endorsed in both
gifted and talented education and dual language immersion education. The
project will operate in ten (10) elementary classrooms, six (6) middle
school classrooms, and five (5) high school classrooms.

**U-STARS PLUS**

# PR AWARD #: S206A030060

**Grantee:** University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

440 West Franklin Street

CB#1350

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599

**Contact:** Dr. Mary Ruth Coleman

\(919\) 962-7375

<mary_ruth-coleman@unc.edu>

**Target Grade Levels:** K-3

**Funding:** \$2,564,505

This project scales up the U-STARS model in multiple sites, supporting
teachers in the early recognition and nurturing of potential in children
from economically disadvantaged and/or culturally diverse families and
children with disabilities in order to improve achievement and provide
access to advanced educational opportunities.

The project's goals are: (1) To create a leadership cadre of individuals
who can provide technical assistance to schools and school districts;
(2) To develop school site teams for implementation; (3) To enhance the
model by translating materials into Spanish, extending to third grade,
and developing new materials in the reading area; (4) conduct an
evaluation study; and, (5) disseminate project findings. The project
will be involved in over 75 districts in 6 states (NC,LA,CO,NM,MD,IL).

Talented and Gifted Students in Alternative Schools

**PR Award** #: **S206A030033**

**Grantee:** Iowa Department of Education

**Contact:** Rosanne Malek

\(515\) 281-3199

<Rosanne.malek@ed.state.ia.us>

**Target Grade Level:** K-12

**Funding:** \$790,035

The *Talented and Gifted Students in Alternative Schools Project* is a
collaborative involving the Iowa Department of Education, seven local
education agencies, the Iowa Association of Alternative Education, and
the Belin-Blank Center to serve academically talented students in
alternative programs.

Using the 5-D Model of Discovery, Description, Documentation,
Development, and Dissemination, the project proposes to: (1) create a
process for identifying academically talented students in alternative
programs; (2) document and describe information about the
characteristics of these students; (3) provide better training and
preparation for teachers in alternative programs on how to support
talented students; (4) assist alternative schools to provide high level
courses and content for talented students; and (5) disseminate
information about academically talented students in alternative schools
throughout the state and nation through development of a model program
of assessment and professional training.

The Iowa Department of Education and the UI Belin-Blank Center will work
with 3,000 students in 7 alternative schools in Year 1, later inviting
more than 100 alternative schools in Iowa to use the assessment model in
Year 3.

**Project Bright Horizon**

**PR Award Number:** S206A030085

**Grantee:** Washington Elementary School District

**Contact:** Andree Charlson

\(602\) 347-2644

<acharls@wesd.k12.az.us>

**Target Grade Level:** 3-6

**Funding:** \$787,541

## 

Project Bright Horizon is a collaborative effort of the Arizona
Department of Education, Washington Elementary School District, and the
Arizona State University, West to develop, improve, and empirically
evaluate the capacity of the LEA to increase the proportion of limited
English proficient students who are identified and served by gifted and
talented programs.

Using an expanded intervention package developed through the
collaborative efforts of Dr. Jamie Castellano, Dr. James Granada, Dr.
Ray Buss, and ASU West, WESD, and a "Teaching all Teachers" grant, the
proposed project targets schools with a demonstrated need, a high
percentage of English language learners, low average rate of formal
gifted identification of English language learners, low average rates of
English language acquisition, and low average student achievement by
English language learners.

The strategy involves providing teachers with English language learner
endorsements who have responsibility for teaching classes of
predominately English language learners, 18 credit hours of high-quality
graduate level course work in the form of four courses and two 3- credit
hour practicum courses. Coursework will satisfy certain conditions for
teachers working toward earning a G&T endorsement and will provide high
quality, evidence based instructional, curricular, and identification
strategies for use in the classroom. Additionally, students will
received in-class interventions, extended day programs, and shall
participate in summer programs. Parents of participating students will
be included as professional partners and will received support regarding
the use of home bases strategies to support academic and affective
development of their children.

The project will directly impact 4 schools, 200 teachers, and 4,000
students.

**Project STAR**

**PR Award Number:** S206A030031

**Grantee:** South Carolina Department of Education

**Contact:** Dr. E. Wayne Lord

\(803\) 734-8335

[wlord@sde.state.sc.us](mailto:Rosanne.malek@ed.state.ia.us)

**Target Grade Level:** 3-12

**Funding:** \$ 723,659

The *South Carolina Javits Project* is a collaborative of the State's
Department of Education, 85 local education agencies, the South Carolina
Consortium for Gifted Education, the College of Charleston, and Converse
College. SC Javits proposes to raise student achievement by improving
teacher knowledge, and practices as well as by learning more about GT
students and expanding access to GT programs.

More specifically, project goals include: 1) Increasing the appropriate
use of performance tasks as alternative assessments to identify GT
students in grades three through six; 2) Analysis through quantitative
and qualitative data, student performance and success in GT programs
when alternative rather than traditional assessment is used to determine
eligibility for services; and 3) Providing SC educators with broad-based
professional development in gifted education theory and curriculum
development.

**PR Award Number:** S206A030048

**Grantee:** Sunnyside School District

**Contact:** Ruben Carrera

\(509\) 836-8402

<carrerr@sunnyside.wednet.edu>

**Target Grade Level:** K-6

**Funding:** \$786,891

The Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction will
partner with the Sunnyside and Grandview School Districts, the Center
for the Study and Teaching of At-Risk Students with the offices at
Heritage College, the University of Washington, the Robinson Center for
Young Scholars, and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.

The focus of the project is to provide annual yearlong Enrichment
Cluster Training Academy Programs to teams of bilingual paraeducators
and English-speaking teachers who work with large numbers of LEP, Title
I-eligible and minority students in diverse school districts. The model
to be implemented is an enhanced version of Renzulli's (1999) Schoolwide
Enrichment Model (SEM).

The project will directly impact over 100 two- member teams of bilingual
educators and nearly 5,000 LEP and underrepresented students across the
state.

**Arkansas Evaluation Initiative (AEI)**

**PR Award Number:** S206A030075

**Grantee:** Arkansas Department of Education

**Contact:** Ann M. Biggers

\(501\) 682-4244

<abiggers@arkedu.k12.ar.us>

**Target Grade Level:** K-12

**Funding: \$**588,749

The Arkansas Evaluation Initiative (AEI) is a collaborative effort of
the Arkansas Department of Education and five school districts. The
Center for Gifted Education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
will deliver professional development content.

The project focuses on improving services to gifted and talented
students, including students from underrepresented groups by building
statewide capacity among local districts to conduct program evaluations
and modify services based on the evaluation results. Using four major
components: (1) Evaluation Institutes; (2) District Evaluation
Exemplars; (3) Statewide Evaluation Teams; and (4) Evaluation Status
Reports, gains in the knowledge and skill of educational personnel in
evaluations of gifted and talented programs and establishment of
statewide teams trained to collaborate with districts conducting local
program evaluations will be made.

The Arkansas Evaluation Initiative will serve 7,842 students and 200
educators statewide.