Abstract
“Getting into a music school is the aspiration of a far smaller proportion of young people than those who want to go to science high schools.”
In recent years, specialized schools have become far more visible in the public domain, and with that visibility comes a responsibility to share what such schools provide for their students and to the education community (see National Research Council, 2011). The editors of this issue elicited responses from a set of authors representing five different models of selective science high schools to a number of prompts that ascertain the contributions specialized high schools make and could make in the future to the development of academic talent. These prompts asked authors to describe the following:
The school’s vision, goals, and/or mission
The selection processes, how/if they prepare students for admission into the school, and how they prepare newly admitted students for entering their specialized environment
Specific attributes or components of the school that nurture enrolled students’ ability to fulfill the school’s vision, goals, and/or mission
How they use data to reflect decision making about each of the above items
We propose that specialized schools be viewed as incubators for talent development (Almarode et al., 2014). Talent development involves identifying and promoting domain-specific abilities (e.g., the sciences or mathematics) into competencies that lead to emerging expertise. The long-term goal of talent development is preparing individuals for path-breaking careers in domains that contribute to improved societal health, welfare, and beauty (Subotnik, Olszewski-Kubilius, & Worrell, 2011). Meeting short- and long-term goals requires both the provision of opportunities on the part of the school, as well as complicit commitment from the participating students. This kind of student engagement and persistence must be sustained in spite of internal and external distractions, frustrations, and even setbacks (Andersson & Bergman, 2011). The quality of student experiences has been shown to be more critical than the amount (Plant, Ericsson, Hill, & Asberg, 2005), making the specific nature and characteristics of provisions offered in these specialized schools central to the talent development of participating students. Thus, it is through the four prompts provided to the authors that we sought to further understand the contributions specialized high schools make and could make in the future to the development of academic talent (see Table 1).
Summary of the Responses on School Vision, Selection Process, Special Attributes, and Use of Data
Note. STEM = science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; ESL = English as a second language; WKU = Western Kentucky University; NCSSM = North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, AP = Advanced Placement.
Vision
Evaluating any program for effectiveness involves matching goals with outcomes. Three components of the talent development process are especially salient to assessment. One is the notion of vision. Schools or institutions with vision organize themselves in such a way that the inputs (i.e., coursework, teacher expertise, facilities, etc.), supporting structures (i.e., schedule, integration with community resources), and outputs (i.e., data that provide information on how well the mission is being met) are matching and interdependent. In the case of specialized schools, we asked the contributors in this special issue to present readers with their goal or mission for developing the talent of the participating students in their school. More specifically, we wanted to know what they envisioned their students doing upon graduation and beyond.
Selection
A related concern for specialized schools is selection/recruitment as it relates to the vision. In other words, how does the school find students who are able and willing to benefit from what the institution has to offer, and thereby achieve the school’s vision? What characteristics, background, knowledge, and skills do students need? How developed does their interest in science need to be upon entry? Unfortunately, because control over selection and recruitment varies depending on location and statute, matching vision and selection is a more challenging task for some specialized science high schools than others. For example, some districts require strict reliance on standardized tests of admission, and others have rules about geographical distribution of participants.
Preparing Students to Meet School Goals
No set of classes, no matter how compelling or advanced, is going to prepare students for what they might encounter in the real world. Outside-of-school laboratory experience allows exposure to and emphasis on the social rather than isolated nature of scientific research, with its collaborative teams of scientists, technicians, and students; its value system; and its expectations for behavior, such as understanding the system and intense rhythms of laboratory work. This kind of exposure provides great advantage, particularly to those who have experienced it during the secondary years. Virtually all specialized science high schools offer outside-of-school research experiences for their students. However, not all students choose to pursue this opportunity.
A Comparison With Music Schools
For comparison’s sake, how would these basics of talent development be manifested in another setting like a special music school? Music schools are designed to prepare performers who can make a career in music. If a significant number of performers do not emerge from the ranks of graduates, then the school will not have a very good reputation. Although everyone involved in the music business recognizes that opportunities in a music career are small, students are given what they need to be successful performers and, at the very least, are provided with sufficient preparation to allow for them to involve music deeply in their lives, whether in performance, management in the music business, or teaching.
Selection is based primarily on audition, where judges look for effective and quality expressiveness through music. The expected level of a candidate’s technique varies by instrument group because, for example, string players start their music education earlier than other performers and therefore tend to be more polished at auditions. Requirements for audition are generally well known (what to be prepared to play), and most music teachers in the country know how to ready their especially talented students for entry into a music school.
Instruction at a selective music school prepares students for competitions, auditions, and for soliciting patrons. Most classes are taught by professional musicians, coaches, or talent agents, and all the courses are geared toward supporting students’ musical endeavors, as well as to make them sufficiently well-rounded to qualify for university entrance, should they choose to pursue a more academic path. Finally, psychosocial development is viewed as an essential component of music school education, including techniques for dealing with setbacks and disappointments.
Music schools have a clear vision for their students. In addition, selection and instruction are based directly on the likelihood that students will fulfill that vision. Music schools do serve as the prototypical talent development model and provide exemplars for our consideration here. Yet, they are not entirely comparable to selective science high schools. For example, at specialized science high schools the stakes are higher for a wider number of students. That is, music talent is considered important but not central to the everyday lives of most families in the United States, and getting into a music school is the aspiration of a far smaller proportion of young people than those who want to go to science high schools. In the case of both music schools and selective science schools, however, the institution’s reputation is based to some degree on the rates of selection for admission (the harder to get into, the better) as well as by virtue of famous or even eminent graduates.
Conclusion
Vision
Particularly during times of austerity and concerns about inequity, more clarity is needed on the mission of selective science high schools. For example, is the goal of selective science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools to be an excellent environment for academically talented students? Or rather, a school that develops future innovators in STEM fields? With clear goals, it is easier to determine how successful the school is at meeting its mission and tweaking for continuous improvement. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with specialized science high schools’ serving primarily as excellent schools for academically talented students, policy makers and education community expect selective STEM schools to prepare students for STEM careers or careers that have direct applications of STEM.
Selection
Currently, most of the selective STEM schools choose their students via some kind of group standardized test. This has become necessary when so many students apply, in that it is far easier to claim objectivity when using standardized examinations than reviewing portfolios, teacher recommendations, essays, or interviews. Something is certainly lost when selection does not include evidence of interest and earlier success in STEM subjects in the form of, for example, participation in science fairs, competitions, summer programs, or independent projects. However, the expense and time needed for more personalized admissions criteria may be unrealistic burdens for schools and school systems.
Discussions about admission criteria, while essential, distract us from a greater concern, which is that far more students have the interest and ability to benefit from selective science high school education than can currently be accommodated. There are too few such schools available, and they are not equitably distributed among states and regions. Strong evidence of mission success might assist in gaining increased support from policy makers for additional selective schools.
Instructional Strategies for Meeting Long-Term Goals
Selective STEM schools are in an ideal position to provide an intensely rich environment during which their students can “try on” various high-level STEM identities. Although they offer an array of advanced courses, so do many comprehensive high schools in well-resourced districts. What most high-quality comprehensive high schools, to say nothing of poorly resourced schools, do not have in abundance are teachers with professional or amateur experience in the science or engineering enterprise. Selective STEM schools do.
Yet, on their own, schools cannot provide everything needed for a comprehensive talent development program (Bloom, 1985; Olszewski-Kubilius, 2010). Adolescent expertise is enhanced through internships and research experiences (Subotnik, Tai, & Almarode, 2011) that prepare young people for careers where they can contribute creatively and productively to the scientific enterprise. This involves working in collaboration with outside of school institutions and mentors (as described by several authors of this special issue). Currently, a smaller number of selective school students take advantage of this opportunity than they might, and we would like to see more encouragement and preparation for specialized school students to take this path.
What no school, whether specialized, comprehensive, or private, offers to a sufficient degree is a comprehensive program of psychosocial skills training to prepare students proactively for excelling in competitive and highly challenging environments (National Research Council, 2007). Specialized schools could serve as leaders in this arena by working collaboratively with sport and music coaches and psychologists to develop students’ capabilities in, let’s say, strategic risk taking that is a signature of all careers aspire to path-breaking creativity. For example, in music, you may learn to weigh giving up a fingering technique that has worked for you in the past with the risk of learning a new one that opens up a wider repertoire. Or whether to prepare for an audition with a safe piece or one that is highly challenging but may lead to errors in performance. In science, risks might include deciding whether to pursue a personal passion for a scientific research topic or to be mentored by a highly regarded scientist in conducting work he or she is well known for. Psychosocial skills prepare students for the exciting yet sometimes heartbreaking world of experimentation, with all its false starts and opportunities for failure in the pursuit of improved health and well-being in the world in which young people will be living.
Selective science high schools are highly valued by their communities and have much to be proud of in their contributions to the education of talented students. They are also under the microscope in times of austerity and economic/social inequalities. This can leave selective schools hesitant to engage in dialogue about their vision, selection process, attributes and characteristics, and data reflection when it is these very discussions that provide the greatest opportunity for continuing to meet the needs of the students and communities in which they serve. Having a clear mission and solid evidence in support of the mission are good ways to address reasonable policy concerns. The authors of the articles in this special issue have provided examples of how to negotiate such challenges. We hope that this display of their work and our associated commentary will lead to further dialogue about the intersection between specialized schools and talent development.
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research examined in this article has been funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF DRL 0815421).
Bios
Rena F. Subotnik is the Director of the Center for Gifted Education Policy (CGEP) at the American Psychological Association. The center’s mission is to generate public awareness, advocacy, clinical applications, and cutting-edge research ideas that enhance the achievement and performance of children and adolescents with gifts and talents in all domains. She has been supported in this work by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Association for Psychological Science, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, and the American Psychological Association.
John Almarode is an associate professor in the College of Education at James Madison University and Co-Director of the Center for STEM Education and Outreach. He taught all levels of secondary science and mathematics at a traditional high school as well as a specialized science, mathematics, and/or technology (SMT) high school. As a researcher, he is actively involved with several externally funded grant projects focused on student interest, engagement, and learning outcomes.
G. Maie Lee is the Assistant Director for the Center for Psychology in Schools and Education at the American Psychological Association (APA). Her work at APA involves applying psychological science to enhance PreK-12 teaching and learning. She is currently pursuing a graduate degree in industrial-organizational psychology at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.