Context What a time to be alive! What a time to be an educator! I say that as an educational pundit, and in a decorous manner. College readiness may have forever changed as of spring 2020, due to the impact of COVID-19. Per notable publications, listservs with resources and short snippets of advice, webinars and chats featuring higher education professionals, related professional associations, and more, the subject of the pandemic’s impact on current student experience has dominated … [Read more...] about How Higher Ed Can Help Prospective Gifted Students During and After COVID-19
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Ask the Experts: Redirecting a Demotivated Gifted Student
Dear Dr. Courtright, My gifted sophomore was always a high-achiever, but as of late, he is showing signs of apathy and an overall lack of direction in his studies. During elementary school, he ended up in detention after his teacher misread his curious mind as him showing disrespect. He has been associating himself with less aspirational, even trouble-making students. I’m worried that the incident may have hurt, in some way, his perceived personal image – demoralized him – and that it may … [Read more...] about Ask the Experts: Redirecting a Demotivated Gifted Student
The Duke TIP Podcast Episode 3: Dr. John Kane
Click here to listen! Dr. John Kane has been an instructor at Duke TIP's Summer Studies Program since 1987. Tracy sits down with him in this third episode of the Duke TIP Podcast. Among other things, John recalls his favorite TIP memory, compares his TIP courses to the college and graduate-level courses he teaches, and tells us just how many TIP t-shirts he's accumulated over the years. There's simply no better authority on what makes a Duke TIP classroom so special. Don't miss it! Subscribe … [Read more...] about The Duke TIP Podcast Episode 3: Dr. John Kane
The myth of the gifted college dropout
When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was asked to give this year’s commencement address at Harvard, he asked for advice from Bill Gates. Zuckerberg said, “They know we didn’t actually graduate, right?” To which Gates replied, “Oh, that is the best part! They actually give you a degree!” This recent exchange between two famous Harvard dropouts might lead you to think college doesn’t matter. Numerous media stories and even famous billionaires are glamorizing dropouts or encouraging kids to … [Read more...] about The myth of the gifted college dropout
What Happens To Students On The College Fast Track?
Most of us spend four years in high school, but every once in a while you’ll hear about some prodigy who enters college earlier than typical. For example, Murray Gell-Mann, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, entered Yale University at age 15. Gell-Mann turned out pretty successful, but what about people who entered college early as a whole? What happens to them later in life when they grow up? A study by Nancy B. Hertzog and Rachel U. Chung published in Roeper Review attempted to address this … [Read more...] about What Happens To Students On The College Fast Track?
Suggestions for Reshaping the Admission Process
College admissions can play a huge role in shaping a student’s life. A new report from researchers at Harvard makes some recommendations for reshaping the college admissions process. Their goal is to put greater emphasis on a student’s commitment to others and the common good rather than personal success and academic performance. It is their belief that citizens, including students, need to be concerned about others and the common good—and that today’s culture sends messages that emphasize … [Read more...] about Suggestions for Reshaping the Admission Process
Advanced Placement
Advanced Placement (AP) courses and tests offer college level material to students while they are still in high school. The 37 AP courses currently offered prepare students to take a standardized test of the knowledge and skills acquired in the course. Colleges and universities throughout the U.S. accept the test results as evidence of learning at a level that is largely comparable to what is taught in their classes. … [Read more...] about Advanced Placement
Dual Enrollment: The Right Challenge
Dual enrollment provides high school students with access to college-level courses after they have exhausted all of the options available at their high school. For our son, dual enrollment became the centerpiece of a homeschool curriculum that balanced radical academic acceleration with the asynchronous development needs of a young adolescent. … [Read more...] about Dual Enrollment: The Right Challenge
High School Reform and Gifted Students
The litany of secondary reform efforts grows longer every year. Looking just at the past decade, we have seen efforts that seem at odds with each other: … [Read more...] about High School Reform and Gifted Students
The Middle School to College Connection
Ninety percent of middle-school students state they plan to attend college. However a deeper look into a study released by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and Phi Delta Kappa International reveals that only 66 percent actually go on to enroll in college. The study funded by the Lumina Foundation was based on a survey of 1,800 seventh and eighth graders around the U.S. This poll of middle-grade students shows how the transition into high schools can be a key determinate … [Read more...] about The Middle School to College Connection