Unlocking Latent Potential: The Success of Latino Students in the Project Bright IDEA Gifted and Talented Education Model
Abstract
Project Bright IDEA II, a gifted and talented (GT) education model implemented in
several North Carolina elementary schools between 2004 and 2009, aimed to increase
minority group GT representation through teacher training and implementation of a
gifted curriculum for all participating kindergarten through second grade students.
This study examines the effects of Bright IDEA for Latino students. Bright IDEA’s
structure may benefit Latinos more than other racial and ethnic groups by increasing
teacher expectations and incorporating culturally-relevant materials. The program
may benefit Latinos learning English as a second language (ESL) in particular by developing
critical thinking skills, rather than focusing solely on English language development.
Through statistical analysis of program results, this paper finds only weak evidence
that Bright IDEA has different effects on improving skills for Latino students as
compared to other racial/ethnic groups. There is stronger evidence that ESL Latinos
show greater improvement as compared to non-ESL Latinos. The main predictors of improvement
among all Latino students were school-level characteristics, suggesting variation
in program implementation between schools.
Type
Honors thesisDepartment
Public Policy StudiesPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9316Citation
Congleton, Katherine (2014). Unlocking Latent Potential: The Success of Latino Students in the Project Bright IDEA
Gifted and Talented Education Model. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/9316.Collections
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Rights for Collection: Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers