Partnerships: Austin Public Schools

“It was within that same vein that the Foundation decided to step up to support gifted and talented education in Austin Public Schools . . . and it all started with a phone call.”

It is a Thursday morning, and Pam Schwarz, gifted intervention teacher at Woodson Kindergarten Center in Austin, Minn., is conducting one of her Young Scholars groups. The four boys in the group are typical kindergarteners—unable to sit still and excitedly blurting out answers even after being reminded that it is important to raise their hands. But if you listen carefully, you will notice this diverse group of boys is analyzing narration for a story based on pronoun use as well as making advanced predictions and connections. This is the heart of gifted services in Austin.

Located in southeastern Minnesota, Austin is best known as the birthplace of SPAM. Our school system of approximately 5,300 students has been experiencing rapid shifts in population. Over the last 10 years, the number of home languages spoken has increased from 18 to 47, the percentage of non-White students has increased from 30% to 51%, and the percentage qualifying for free and reduced lunch has increased from 51% to 57%.

Through significant partnerships, the Austin district has developed a comprehensive service model for its most able learners that enhances our ability to serve underrepresented populations.

In 2008, Austin Public Schools (APS) entered into a partnership with the Hormel Foundation and the Minnesota Department of Education with a focus on improving programming for gifted learners in the district. While the Hormel Foundation has had a rich history of supporting the community of Austin, MN, this new partnership was and continues to be a unique effort that demonstrates well the power of partnership.

The Hormel Foundation was established in 1941 by Hormel Foods Corporation founder George A. Hormel and his son Jay. The Foundation has supported the community that its corporate home is located within for years, and it has taken a special interest in supporting education within the community. From early literacy to technology to supporting the improvement of science and music facilities, the Foundation has taken an interest in augmenting what the local taxpayer and state and federal funding supports. It was within that same vein that the Foundation decided to step up to support gifted and talented education in Austin Public Schools . . . and it all started with a phone call.

A core group of Foundation members decided to get some advice on ways that they could impact gifted education in the schools, and therefore, they placed an initial phone call to the U.S. Department of Education. It was their feeling that while the school district received financial support from the federal level to support students who struggle academically, the same level of support did not exist to support gifted education. Based upon the funding received from the state, APS at this time had one position to support gifted education throughout the entire district; this position was not fully funded from the state allocation for gifted education even. This position mainly worked with training secondary teachers to support honors and advanced courses. At the elementary level, the position trained volunteers from the community who came into buildings to deliver Junior Great Books, literature-based student-centered discussions. From the phone call to the U.S. Department of Education, the Foundation members were directed to the Minnesota Department of Education, and specifically the State’s gifted and talented specialist, Wendy Behrens. The Foundation encouraged Behrens to create a plan for an ideal, multi-tiered system of support for gifted learners. They were specifically interested in a level of services that would not only meet the needs of the district but also serve as a magnet for drawing people to the community.

As the groups brainstormed, a two-pronged approach emerged that focused on professional development and student experiences. Once this initial conception was created, the Foundation and Behrens brought the draft to the district to discuss the recommendations.

From there, the plan was refined to become ultimately what was adopted and has been in place since—a three-pronged approach that encompasses professional learning, student experiences, and student support. In the area of professional development, the project has supported two cohorts of teachers to receive gifted and talented certificates at no cost to the teachers. Each cohort followed a prescribed series of certificate courses aligned with national standards in gifted education from an accredited university.

In student experiences, the project supports students attending the University of Minnesota Talented Youth Mathematics Program (UMTYMP) for students who show high abilities in mathematics as well as the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth (MITY) Summer Program. The project provides full funding and transportation for students to participate. UMTYMP provides accelerated mathematics classes for students who are highly gifted in mathematics. Interested students (Grades 5–12) take a qualifying examination. If selected for the program, they receive accelerated math instruction from University of Minnesota mathematics professors in Rochester, MN, a city located 45 miles from Austin. Students in the program can receive college credit for their last 3 years of coursework in this program. The Hormel Foundation’s support has removed the burden that tuition and transportation could exist for some families and made this option viable for all who qualify. Transportation is critical to providing both access and opportunity to these student experiences. Two scholarships to the Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth summer Expand Your Mind camp at Macalester College are also sponsored by our partnership with the Hormel Foundation. This opportunity is for students in Grades 7–11. Students who are awarded this scholarship choose a session that allows them to dive deep in an area of interest and stay on the college campus. Students are challenged academically, but also develop leadership skills and frequently build lifelong friendships.

Also in the area of student support, the project provides partial funding for 3.5 positions in the district to serve as gifted and talented interventionists to support students in Grades K-4.

Finally, the project provides funding for an annual June symposium that brings leading thinkers and presenters in the area of gifted education to Austin, MN, with all Austin teachers and residents having the ability to attend at no cost. In 2021, the 12th annual symposium will be held, with the total number of attendees over 11 years exceeding 3,000. Although primarily attended by Minnesota educators, the symposium attracts attendees from around the country and increasingly, the world. In the last few years, a “parent day” has been added to the symposium schedule, increasing the breadth of its impact. The speaker for parent day addresses issues of gifted learners and how to help them from the perspective of a parent. Numerous parents have commented how helpful this has been in their understanding of the unique needs of their gifted learner(s).

As a result of this project and funding, gifted services in APS have seen significant changes. The first major change was the District making the decision to no longer label students as “gifted.” The district instead moved to a just-right, just-in-time model of service. Some students may receive additionally extension support all year, while some students may receive it for certain parts of the curriculum for which they have demonstrated mastery prior to instruction. Next, a universal screening protocol was instituted. In addition to achievement-based screeners that the district already had in place, the Cognitive Abilities Test full battery test was added as a screener given to all students in Grades 1, 3, and 5. From there, a significant shift was made to a talent development model of service. Partnering with the district integration funding, half of all the now gifted services for talent development interventionist time is spent delivering Young Scholars programming based on students identified through universal screening. In 2018–2019, the demographic makeup of the students who received talent development and/or advanced academics support from the interventionists was 53% White students and 47% non-White students. This is within 4% of being reflective of the district as a whole. Just 8 years earlier, the makeup of students who received this same programming was 81% White. Through the use of universal screening and purposeful, personalized multilingual outreach made by district Success Coaches, district cultural liaisons who work with families in their native languages, diverse students are becoming included in talent development programs and rigorous courses at a much higher rate.

This year’s MITY scholarship winners provide an extraordinary example of how this multi-pronged approach offers an inclusive approach to talent development. Both of the girls selected as scholarship winners have some things in common: they are students of color, driven, highly involved, and they are alumni of Project E3. Project E3 is an extracurricular STEM enrichment program for above average students interested in environmental science that resulted from a partnership between integration and Gifted Services for Talent Development. Yet, the girls are also from completely different backgrounds. Namo Afanou’s family hails from Burkina Faso. She is not a first-generation college student; her father is a nurse at the local hospital. She’s fluent in French and English, and she talks about her Ivy League college aspirations. Her drive to excel academically helped her qualify for UMTYMP: a University of Minnesota math program for highly able students. Katherine Diaz was one of the first alumni of the Project E3 program. She is an extraordinary example of how the program has succeeded in achieving its goals, to increase diversity in STEM programs and give students the confidence to challenge themselves in rigorous courses in secondary education and beyond. After participating in Project E3 for several years, Katherine and her mother, immigrants from Cuba, presented to our school board, in Spanish, about the impact the program had on her. As a high school freshman, she has now come back to volunteer to help current Project E3 students. Her course schedule reflects her diligence and passion for advancement: she is doubling up on math courses while also taking four honors courses: Algebra II, Biology, Language Arts, and World History. These girls both demonstrate how multiple partnerships in the community can enhance the experience of all learners and set them up for success.

During the 2014–2015 school year, the District opened Pi Academy, a full-time gifted services center for the district’s highly able. A space was renovated in an existing elementary school to create an ungraded environment to meet students’ interests and needs based on their ability levels through a highly interest-based curriculum. Students represent the top 2% of students in Grades 1–4, and qualification is based on a blending of achievement and ability universal screeners. The District came to develop this programming and identification process through the work of the partnership. This entire change in philosophy and delivery of the gifted programming of the district was predicated on the project that began with the phone call by a core group of the Foundation.

Through this process, there are a number of lessons that have been learned about how to develop and maintain a partnership:

Check egos at the door. While it is often easy, and sometimes rightfully so, to perceive that an outside group wanting to help support the work in the district as a threat or a judgment on the effectiveness of the district, opportunities can be lost if this viewpoint is held. In the case of the Foundation, it was very aware that the school district is provided many sources of additional revenue to support struggling students, the amount it receives to support high achieving and high abilities students is less. With the support they wanted to give, they also wanted the support that the district would receive would be of the highest quality, so they reached out to experts.

Have a good understanding of the roles in the partnership. Within the partnership in the APS, each participant has clear roles and adheres to these roles. The Foundation provided the funding, but also the view of wanting to augment and support the educational system, but also to increase the community’s attractiveness to prospective families. With nearby communities that have more amenities than Austin, there is a clear view that by supporting endeavors that enhance quality of life, it makes Austin more attractive to prospective families and workforce. The Foundation is also very clear that its role is to augment what the district is provided and that there are areas that the local taxpayer and district are responsible for. The Minnesota Department of Education provided the expertise in the area of gifted and talented education. Behrens provided the knowledge of best practices both nationally and globally and was able to bring that knowledge to bear on the project. Finally, the district brought the expertise of knowing the families and students it serves, and the demographic changes that the district was about to face. In many ways, it was the role of the district to work with the desires of the Foundation and the expertise of the Department of Education to determine what would be best for the students and families of Austin. For instance, it was from this that the interventionist positions were added to the project as well as the addition of Young Scholars implementation. Each participant understood its role and never encroached on the roles of others.

Continue to communicate. One important element of success with this partnership has been the ongoing communication among all the participants. On a regular basis, the Foundation receives updates from the District on the work of the partnership including participation data. The District and Department of Education communicate regularly to insure that the needs of the students continue to be met as well as to address new challenges.

It is often said that schools face many challenges as they work to meet the needs of the ever-increasing diverse needs of the learners they serve. It is only through the curation and tending of these partnerships, can truly effective and efficient change occur. As Helen Keller is often quoted: “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”