![]() ![]() "First, it's an amazing confidence-builder for them. "What we know from that study is that participants benefited tremendously in two areas from being in gifted programs," VanTassel-Baska said. ![]() The researchers also did follow-up studies to find out what worked-and what didn't-when these students were placed in traditional gifted programs with students from more advantaged backgrounds. "As a result of using those assessments, anywhere from 14 to 20 percent more low-income and minority students are identified now in South Carolina for gifted programs."Ĭenter researchers tracked that pattern for six years, and the results held true each year. "Our center researchers built a series of performance-based assessments that were used for identification by the state of South Carolina and eventually adopted as their mechanism for identifying students," VanTassel-Baska said. The most important research that she and her fellow researchers at the Center for Gifted Education have done in this area was conducted in South Carolina over the last eight years. She said the emphasis in this research has been concentrated on finding appropriate measurements to assess the abilities of these learners and on discovering the best mechanisms for nurturing these students during different stages of development. She began researching gifted students from low-income and minority backgrounds around 1982 while she was still at Northwestern University. talent development in eminent individuals.gifted students from low-income and minority backgrounds.Throughout her career, her research has concentrated on four major areas: Most of VanTassel-Baska's work at William & Mary has been through the Center for Gifted Education. ![]() Curricular materials developed by the center are currently used in all 50 states and 28 countries. The center is known internationally for its research-based curricula, which were developed for high-ability learners. With VanTassel-Baska at the helm, the Center for Gifted Education has supported the needs of gifted and talented people by not only creating services and special programs, but by also providing those same innovative programs for educators, graduate students, policy makers, researchers, parents and K-12 students. Most importantly, she founded the Center for Gifted Education in 1988. At William & Mary, VanTassel-Baska developed a master's program and a doctoral program with emphasis in gifted education. She also initiated and directed the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. "I recognize that it's a small pond, but it's been my niche for a long time, and I think that once you find your niche, you are able to do things at ever-increasing levels and produce more because you know the field deeply and well," she said.īefore coming to William & Mary's School of Education in 1987, VanTassel-Baska served as the state director of gifted programs for Illinois, as a regional director of a gifted service center in the Chicago area, as coordinator of gifted programs for the Toledo public schools and as a teacher of gifted high school students in English and Latin. She is recognized as a pioneer in the field of gifted education, and her research has directly affected students and educators around the world. Now, nearly four decades later, VanTassel-Baska, the Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Education, is preparing to retire from her position as executive director of William & Mary's Center for Gifted Education. That same chutzpah and drive to address unfair situations led the English and Latin teacher to become interested in the 1970s grassroots movement to do more for gifted students. When she stepped onto the court, she had no basketball experience two years later, her team became city champions. Joyce VanTassel-Baska also is not a person who has a long, slow learning curve. In two years, her team became city champions. As a high school teacher with no basketball experience, she decided to coach the girls' basketball team because she thought it wasn't fair that the girls not have a team due to the lack of a coach. Joyce VanTassel-Baska is not a person who is afraid of trying new things. Joyce VanTassel-Baska has spent a career making sure that tomorrow's Mozarts and Einsteins get what they need today. ![]()
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