Gifted and Talent Education: An Innovative and Collaborative Effort in the Catholic Schools in the City of Norfolk, Va       

The Mid-Atlantic Catholic Schools Consortium is supporting a special pilot project for four schools in the Diocese of Richmond. The project is designed to provide instruction for all children enrolled in the Catholic schools in the City of Norfolk, VA using the principles of gifted and talented instruction as all children can benefit from this pedagogical approach.

The program is designed to build an innovative model of collaboration among the diocesan and private schools in the City of Norfolk, VA with the purpose of strengthening and advancing each of the Catholic schools by enabling every child to benefit from the principles associated with gifted and talented instruction and curriculum. 

Project Purposes and Goals:

• Develop a collaborative program to enhance and deliver gifted and talented instruction for all students in the four Catholic schools in the City of Norfolk, VA
• Demonstrate city-wide collaboration of diocesan and independent Catholic schools
• Strengthen the educational experiences for all children in the Catholic schools through instruction based on the principles of gifted and talented education, with emphasis on the principles, strategies, techniques and models utilized in differentiation.
• Increase the awareness and enhance the reputation of the four Catholic schools in Norfolk
• Continue to benefit from this initial pilot program and expand the opportunities for application and integration of principles, strategies and models utilized in gifted and talented education and enable future collaboration in a variety of projects and topics.

The City of Norfolk was selected as the location for this pilot project due to the commitment of the four principals of the diocesan and independent schools to fully participate.  The City of Norfolk is also typical of southern cities as regards the availability, visibility and expectations for Catholic schools.

A team of eight teachers (two from each of the four schools) will attend the Summer Institute at College of William and Mary for teachers in late June. These teachers will become the founding members of a city-wide network of gifted and talented teachers in the Norfolk Catholic schools and will serve as resource personnel for their own schools and all of the Catholic schools in Norfolk.

A special training session will be held for all of the Catholic school teachers in early August 2008 to introduce all of the classroom teachers and other administrators to this project and to prepare them for implementation in their schools.  Each principal will also schedule a special session and follow-up activities during the In-service week scheduled before the start of classes in each school.

The goals for the first year include increasing awareness of principles, models, and strategies utilized in gifted education instruction and curriculum with the expectation that benchmarks will be set for the teachers to demonstrate the implementation of the newly acquired teaching strategies.  In addition, each school will benefit from the experience of the Network, the Advisor and the school Principals.   The evaluation of the first year will inform the progress and plans for subsequent years including program design, funding and evaluation.

The project will be incorporated within the social studies curriculum in the pilot year.  Year two will address science education while concurrently developing a unique opportunity to strengthen the teaching of religion through the application to instruction and curriculum of the principles of gifted and talented education.

Information about the design and launch of this project will be shared with the local public and Catholic media to raise the awareness of the strength and availability of the four Catholic schools.

For more information, contact Kay Kane, MACSC Program Associate, midatlanticcsc@gmail.com or call the Consortium office at 410-2800142