A Successful Invitation for Massachusetts ’ Leaders

Chair of the Massachusetts House Calls for Special Hearing

by Rebecca D. Eckert

Recently, a two-day ground-breaking conference designed to invite school superintendents to the “gifted policy table” was held in Massachusetts . The title of the event, Beyond Proficiency, captured the intent of the summit’s organizers to help pivotal decision makers examine the pressing needs of academically advanced students and to plan a course of action in response. The event brought school leaders from 108 school districts (over 1/3 of MA’s districts) together with national experts on gifted education as well as representatives from higher education and the state legislature to create an action-plan to move gifted education policy in Massachusetts forward.

Because Massachusetts does not have a history of strong support for gifted learners, summit organizers sought to avoid the imposition of adding gifted education to the list of mandates that currently plagues superintendents. Instead, they wanted to provide an invitation to an open working session geared toward mapping out realistic gifted policy options with input from those who would ultimately be responsible for implementation. Summit goals included:

On the first day of the summit, over 300 participants learned about research-based effective practices from panels of internationally acclaimed experts and practitioners including, Joyce VanTassel-Baska, Donna Ford, Nicholas Colangelo, and Sally Reis. According to one superintendent, “the keynotes were fabulous--varied, provocative, and inspiring.” On the second day, the school leaders put their newfound knowledge of gifted education to work by forming small, facilitated working groups to create step-by-step action plans and unified policy recommendations for their districts and the state.

A Positive Response

The response to the Beyond Proficiency Summit was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, when asked if they would attend another policy summit on gifted and academically advanced students, one attendee responded, “I would arrange to come in a heart beat. The combination of g/t experts, national leaders, state policy people, representatives from the Governor's office and the expectation that the work would be followed up with action plans, made this a very powerful experience. Participants felt that their ideas would lead somewhere, and that the time was well spent.”

Hearing Scheduled to Learn More

Another key result was that the chair of the House education committee in the Massachusetts legislature announced that she would hold a hearing to learn about the outcome of the summit. This development will provide a forum for distribution of the Summit Action Plan and could substantially contribute to positive change in the state. Although the coordinators and MAGE, have worked to garner legislative support in Massachusetts , this development, along with new professional development opportunities at the U-MASS system, are unexpected outcomes that often come as a result of hard work coupled with good fortune.

Kudos to the many Massachusetts volunteers for their successful superintendents’ summit. They’ve taken an enormous step toward improving the learning environment for gifted students in their state. Not only have key decision makers learned more about gifted education, they have had the opportunity to shape policy recommendations with an eye toward the needs and resources of today’s schools. The door is now open to continue working with superintendents on crucial topics such as professional development and acceleration options– and hopefully new legislation as well. Based on the success of this program model, NAGC and the College Board will also host a forum especially for Kentucky superintendents as one of the pre-convention events in Louisville , and Wisconsin will be holding its own superintendents’ summit this fall. To learn more about the successful summit in Massachusetts , visit their website at www.medford.k12.ma.us/gifted.

Reprinted with permission

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