November 2005	Joint Committee on Education conducted "Listening Tours" in 15 locations across state. MAGE members spoke on behalf of gifted students at many of the hearings. House Chair Haddad agreed to meet with MA Partnership on GIfted Education (see Javits Grant below) in January and agreed that MA needs a state defintion. NAGC Annual Conference held in Louisville, KY. Diana Reeves, MAGE Chair Emritus, and now NAGC Board Parent Representative,, attended and presented a workshop. Gillian Overholser, "Beyond Proficiency Summit" creator, was honored at the KY Superintendent's mini-summit, an new addition to the conference following the success of the summit last April in MA. Judy Platt, MAGE Chair, attended and represented MAGE at the Affiliates Breakfast. Board meeting held in Wellesley. Next meeting planned for January 9th. Details tba. President, Susan Dulong Langley has article published in the NAGC Arts Division newsletter.
October 2005	MAGE conducted a new program designed to assist parents. Guided discussion groups, lead by two experienced facilitators, provided information and parenting strategies related to the social and emotional needs of gifted children. The program focused on what parents can do at home to improve their parenting skills as they relate to their bright children. The group met weekly for 5 weeks at the SAGE School in Foxboro. We are pleased to announce that Massachusetts has won a Javits Grant to continue the work started at the Beyond Proficiency Summit last April http://www.medford.k12.ma.us/gifted, MAGE members GIllian Overholser, Judy Platt, Susan Dulong Langley, Diana Reeves and Beverly Quilty -Dunn worked with the DOE in the creation of this proposal last spring. While this is a 3-year grant, the funds are guaranteed for only the first year. Future funding is contingent upon approval by Congress. Keep your eyes open for notices through the MAGE website and MAGEInfo on contacting your Representative and Senators to urge them to support Javits funding. Grantee: Massachusetts Department of Education, Contact: Susan Wheltle Target Grade Level: Pre K-12 Funding: $326,682 (Year One) The Massachusetts Partnership for Gifted Education is a collaboration between the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the University of Massachusetts, the College Board, and the Massachusetts Association for Gifted Education. This project will add to the research on Pre K-12 gifted education by building on existing state initiatives and research based curricula. This project will serve 200 educational leaders, 150 teachers, and 3,000 students and enhance student achievement among minority students as well as non-English speaking students. This project will convene leadership conferences on research-based services with an emphasis on serving low-income and minority students as well as English language learners. The 11th Annual New England Conference on Gifted & Talented took place on October 20-22, 2005 in Killington, VT featuring keynotes by Dr. Carol Ann Tomlinson - nationally known consultant on differentiated instruction and Past-President NAGC; Stephanie Tolan - Newberry Award winner and co-author of Guiding the Gifted Child; and Rachel McAnallen - "Ms. Math", a favorite consultant around the nation in the field of mathematics teaching. MAGE Board members, Susan Dulong Langley, Judy Platt and Diana Reeves presented workshops. Summit creator and manager, Gillian Overholser, received the MA Award for Service & Advocacy. David Connolly's September 25th article "Brockton's gift to gifted pupils" spotlighted Brockton's new Gilmore Academy public middle school for gifted and talented students. MAGE Board member Gillian Overholser wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe in response to Daniel McGinn's August 28th article "Stuck in the Middle". She addressed his assertion that Massachusetts focuses attention on students at both ends of the learning spectrum while often ignoring those in the middle.
September 2005	MA Beyond Proficiency Leadership Summit is featured in NAGC's Compass Points membership newsletter.
July 2005	MA Legislature approves $500K for Gifted & Talented , the largest amount ever, thanks to the budget requests of the DOE, the Governor, and the supoort of Representative Geri Creedon and many MAGE members. A Request for Proposals from districts will come out in the early fall. Professor advocates for the gifted (Boston Globe, 7/10/05)
June 2005	Take a moment and review the DOE report on academically advanced students at http://www.doe.mass.edu/FamComm/aae.html
April 2005	The MAGE Annual Meeting: with guest speakers, MA Representative Geraldine Creedon, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Education, and Nancy Green, NAGC Executive Director; and honoring Gillian Overholser, grant writer and manager and Paul Andrews, Director of Professional Development, MA Association for School Superintendents for work on the Summit. Nicholas Green ‘03/04 distinguished Student in MA, Pamela Weidman, is honored at the Summit. Pamela, a 3^rd grader at the Lane School in Bedford, was nominated by her teacher, Sarah Dorer, because she is “an extraordinary writer whose creative writing has already touched the lives of many people.” Beyond Proficiency: A MA Leadership Summit on Gifted and Academically Advanced Students. http://www.medford.k12.ma.us/gifted. This two-day ground-breaking conference brought school leaders from over 100 school districts in MA s well as representatives from higher education and the legislature together with local and national experts on gifted education to move MA forward in this area. The participants created action plans for the state in five areas: Identification; Curriculum & Instruction; Program Design & Delivery; Edcucator Preparation/Professional Development Evaluation MAGE member Gillian Overholser wrote and managed this grant, assisted by Judy Platt, Summit Advisor, Beverly Quilty-Dunn, Summit Coordinator, and Susan Dulong Langley, Speakers Liaison. In addition, Mark Andersen and Diana Reeves served on the Advisory Committee and several other MAGE members assisted at the Summit. Susan Wheltle, The Department of Education’s liaison for gifted education submitted a proposal for a 3 year federal Javits grant to follow the work of the Summit with regional leadership conferences, summer Content Institutes for teachers, and the development of college curriculum for pre-service training and for the specialist license. Several MAGE members assisted in the development of the proposal.
March 2005	MAGE Board and members contact their US Representatives and Senators to: support the Javits funding, the only federal money spent on the gifted; and the bill (S493 & HR 1156) to encourage pre-service teacher education in the needs of gifted children. Larry Osbourne represented the MAGE Board at the State Affiliates Conference conducted in D.C. by the NAGC. Delegates heard about state policy issues, communicating with decision-makers, the Templeton Report on acceleration. They also spent one morning meeting with their Senators and representatives on Capitol Hill.MAGE Board Chair, Diana Reeves attended the NAGC Board meeting which preceded the Affiliates Conference.
December 2004	Following the Statehouse meeting in November with MAGE leaders, Representatives Creedon, BLumer and Parente, Susan Wheltle and Commissioner Driscoll from the DOE, the Commissioner submitted his budget, proposing $1 million for gifted & talented, the highest amount ever requested in MA. Governor Romney subsequently approved the item in his budget announced in January, 2005.