Abstract
On the Web
Quizlet
Do you have an upcoming quiz or exam and need to review key terms and concepts? Trusty 3x5 index cards are always a good choice, but here’s a virtual version. Simply type in whatever you would like on the front and back of your virtual index card. You can even upload an image. Teachers can also use this tool to help students review by assigning teams within a classroom and holding competitions that reward accuracy over speed. The Quizlet Learn app is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Grammarly
This is a free extension that you can add onto your web browser that is an AI (artificial intelligence) writing assistant. It can help with so much more than check spelling. Grammarly has a tone detector and can help make suggestions for synonyms, transition words, and punctuation. Since it is an extension on the web browser, you can use it while you write emails, while posting on Twitter, Instagram, and all of your other favorite sites.
Wolfram|Alpha
What would you like to know about? Have you ever wanted to compare player statistics for Major League Baseball players? Or have you wanted to look up National Football League season statistics for players, teams, and games. Have you ever wondered about the rating or box office performance for a movie or wanted to search for facts about a singer or band? In addition to these data, this website also features the ability to complete calculations on data in science nutrition, engineering, thermodynamics, and more. There are step-by-step solutions for elementary math, algebra up to differential equations, physics, and other areas.
wikiHow
https://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
Do you need advice on how to vote by mail? Are you needing help with cropping a video in Adobe Premiere Pro? Were you wanting to make your own hand sanitizer? wikiHow provides step-by-step instructions on how to complete just about any activity. There are articles and videos on topics ranging from home and garden, health, car maintenance, cooking, playing musical instruments, pets, relationships, and more.
Notable
The Fordham Institute (Winters, 2020) examined differences in earnings between college and non-college graduates. They found that bachelor’s degree holders strongly out earn workers with less education or with associate degrees except in three states—North Dakota, Alaska, and Vermont. The earning premium between bachelor’s degree vs. high school diploma, however, varies widely across states, across the size and location of the city, and by race and ethnicity. To retrieve the full report, visit https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/what-you-make-depends-on-where-you-live
In a report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, Lynn and Glynn (2019) identified challenges for educating academically talented students in rural areas. They made 15 recommendations in the areas of identifying promising rural students (e.g., qualitative and quantitative assessments), providing academic services to promising rural students (e.g., within and outside of school and professional development), and meeting the social and emotional needs of promising rural students (e.g., cultivate peer community, work closely with families, encourage investment in the community). For a full description of all of the recommendations, visit https://www.jkcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Small-Town-Big-Talent-Jack-Kent-Cooke-Foundation-Jan-2020-edit.pdf
References
Lynn, R., & Glynn, J. (2019). Small town, big talent: Identifying and supporting academically promising students in rural areas. Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. https://www.jkcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Small-Town-Big-Talent-Jack-Kent-Cooke-Foundation-Jan-2020-edit.pdf
Winters, J. V. (2020). What you make depends on where you live: College earnings across state and metropolitan areas. Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Identification of English Learners for Gifted and Talented Programs
The United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, indicated that only 2% of English learners (ELs) are enrolled in gifted and talented programs as compared to 7% of non-EL students. To examine this problem, researchers from the National Center for Research on Gifted Education (NCRGE) visited 14 elementary and 2 middle schools in three states where ELs were proportionally represented in gifted and talented programs to examine their exemplary practices (Gubbins et al., 2018). They spent one day at each school to collect data and conduct group and individual interviews with key persons who were most knowledgeable about identification practices. The researchers recommended that schools (a) adopt a policy of universal screening of all students in one or more grade levels for the identification process, selecting instruments that are culturally sensitive and account for language differences; (b) create alternative pathways, such as using alternative assessment and establishing a talent pool, to identification and apply flexible criteria to ensure that students’ talents and abilities are recognized; (c) establish a web of communication among all stakeholders within and across specializations and with the community so that they are aware of the entire identification system and interact with one another throughout the process; and (d) view professional development as a lever for change, providing information on identifying giftedness in multiple ways and creating a school climate with the goal of identifying students’ strengths rather than weaknesses.
Access to Gifted and Talented Programs
Did you know that 42% of schools in 2015-2016 did not identify a single student with gifts and talents? Did you know that students who attend Title I schools are underrepresented in gifted programs? Researchers at Purdue and Vanderbilt examined laws, access, equity, and missingness to examined the underrepresentation of students in gifted education across Title I and non-Title I schools, by locale, and by race in each state in the United States (Gentry et al., 2019). They found that while most states have laws concerning gifted education (N=38), only four, which lead in access of equity, fully mandate for identification and services (Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and Oklahoma), which lead in access of equity. Access was defined as attending a school that identifies youth with gifts and talents. The researchers found that while more Title I Schools had programs in gifted education than non-Title I Schools, fewer students in Title I Schools were identified (7.86% vs. 13.46%). In terms of equity—the percent of a group that is identified with gifts and talents divided by the percent of that group in the general population—students from all racial groups, except for Black youth, are more equitably identified in Title I than in Non-Title I schools. Missing students, defined as those students who could or should have been identified, came from two sources: schools with no access to identification and schools were some groups of students are under-identified. The researchers concluded that these factors influenced access: attendance at a school that identifies students; attendance at a Non-Title I school or wealthier school; and race with Whites or Asians more likely to be identified. Other variables that influenced access included identification tests, use of multiple measures, opportunity to learn, teacher referral as the first step in the identification process, diversity of the teaching force, and using gifted education as a tool for segregation.