The Center for Gifted Education provides professional development to promote leadership and exemplary practice in gifted education. As a learning community, the Center staff seeks to strengthen the knowledge and skill base of all educators through conferences and seminars that focus on the needs of advanced learners.

A National Curriculum Network Conference, a Professional Summer Institute on Curriculum and Instruction, and an Advanced Placement summer institute are the three annual events held on the campus of The College of William and Mary for K-12 administrators, teachers, and counselors of gifted students. Other seminars and workshops offer additional opportunities in various locations, often addressing specific state or local needs.

Conferences

The Center offers annual opportunities for K-12 administrators, teachers, and counselors of gifted students.

National Curriculum Network Conference (NCNC)
2008 Dates: March 11-13

• The conference provides a forum in which educators engage in dialogue and discussion of curriculum issues for high-ability and gifted learners. The goals of the conference are:
• To provide networking opportunities for schools and teachers engaged in curriculum, instruction, and assessment for high-ability learners.
• To spotlight special materials, practices, and curriculum approaches that are responsive to the needs of high-ability learners.
• To provide training for the implementation of William and Mary units for classroom use through workshops and small group applications.

This annual conference offers sessions on curriculum, instruction, and assessment for high-ability learners. The focus audience includes administrators, gifted coordinators teachers, and other professionals in gifted education.

Pre-conference workshops take place on Wednesday, offering participants an opportunity for in-depth study of a selected topic. On Thursday and Friday morning, participants choose from a variety of break-out sessions. All sessions meet at the University Center of The College of William and Mary.

2008 Conference Program (see what happened at the conference last year!

Professional Summer Institute: Curriculum and Instruction for High-Ability Learners
2009 Dates: June 22 - 24

The purpose of this Summer Institute is to provide teachers and administrators with the knowledge and skills to design and use high quality curriculum within effective programs for advanced learners. The Institute is held each June for two and a half days. Participants select one strand of study for the entire Institute. Each strand offers intensive training in a particular area of curriculum development and implementation, incorporating the Integrated Curriculum Model that is the foundation for all Center units of study.

This Institute is designed for gifted program coordinators, other district and building-level administrators, teachers of the gifted, and all classroom teachers who want to enhance their ability to differentiate appropriately for their high ability students.

View the 2008 registration materials now.

Advanced Placement (AP) Institute
2008 Dates: July 28 - August 1

The Advanced Placement institute is co-sponsored by the College Board Southern Regional Office, the School of Education, and the Center. Teachers learn about specific course content, teaching strategies, and programmatic ideas and issues. The Institute is designed for teachers who are new to AP and/or new to particular AP courses. Fifteen different courses are offered at the Institute.

Registration materials now available.

For information about conferences and institutes, contact Dawn Benson.

Customized Professional Development

Schools, School Districts, and Agencies frequently contract with the Center to provide customized training to meet specific goals. Examples of recent professional development opportunities include:

• Workshop training in Problem Based Learning
• Workshop training in differentiated instruction
• Seminar for School Administrators on rigor in the classroom
• Presentations at state, regional, and national conferences
• On-site coaching, mentoring in advanced curriculum
• Middle school teacher training in models of teaching for gifted students
• Primary grades training in inquiry science
• Workshop training in Jacob’s Ladder – supplemental Language Arts

If you are interested in bringing Center personnel to your school or district to provide on-site professional development, please contact Dr. Janice Robbins at jirobb@wm.edu.