How Do Schools Use Talent Search?

Research Summary by Seon-Young Lee, Ph.D. & Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Ph.D.

The Midwest Talent Searches of the Center for Talent Development (CTD) of Northwestern University help students who have scored at the 95th percentile or above on nationally normed in-grade achievement tests –such as the Iowa Test of Basic Skills obtain more accurate information about their academic abilities. Students identified for Talent Search take an out-of-level test (the EXPLORE, SAT, or ACT) and receive extensive follow-up materials to help them understand their scores. Recently, Center for Talent Development (CTD) staff developed a survey to help us understand how local schools learn about Talent Search, how they implement Talent Search in their schools, and how they follow up on students’ participation in the program.

The Survey Respondents

The survey was sent out to 325 middle and high school coordinators in eight mid-western states. From May to July 2003, 214 of 325 school coordinators responded and returned the survey to the Center (response rate: 65.8%). Forty-four percent (43.5%) of the respondents were guidance counselors, 16.8% full-time gifted coordinators, 9.3% principals, 8.9% part-time gifted coordinators, and 7.5% classroom teachers. Most of the survey respondents were working at public schools (83.6%) and more than half (62.9%) used some means to identify students as gifted or talented in their schools. Most respondents’ schools offered services to their gifted students, including options to accelerate in specific subject areas such as math (78.5%), teacher training on differentiating instruction in the regular classroom (55.6%), in-class clustering of gifted students for instruction (46.7%), pull-out programs (34.1%), and options to “grade-skip” (33.6%).

How Schools Implement Talent Search

Most (71.7%) of the school coordinators responded that they identified Talent Search students for their school; 25.0% identified Talent Search students for their school district. Forty percent (40.2%) of the coordinators heard about Talent Search through mailings, 19.6% from another educator or school, 7.4% from a parent or a child who had participated in Talent Search, and 6.5% through a conference presentation. Usually, Talent Search was implemented by school coordinators: 22.2% of coordinators reported that they themselves decided to implement Talent Search at their schools, while 21.7% inherited the program from a previous coordinator.

Overwhelmingly, the school coordinators depended on achievement test scores at the 95th percentile or above (90.2%) in selecting students for Talent Search participation. Thirty percent (30.4%) of respondents used parent nomination and 9.3% used teacher nomination to select students. Other means used to select students to participate in Talent Search included: formal identification by their school as “gifted” or “talented” (7.5%) or participation in their school’s gifted and talented program or class (5.6%). The majority (74.3%) of the coordinators also sent a letter to parents written by themselves or their school to encourage students to participate in Talent Search. In addition, 31.3% responded that they sent a form letter provided to the coordinator, 27.6% used verbal contact with individual families, 17.3% held a parent meeting, and 7.0% contacted teachers in the school or school district for student nominations.

How Schools Follow Up After Testing

Local schools took various follow-up actions after students took the Talent Search tests. Sixty-six percent of the school coordinators recognized students by passing out certificates at a special ceremony, 20.1% held individual meetings to help parents and students interpret their Talent Search scores, and 16.4% provided students and their parents with a special letter or other materials that they (or someone at their school/district) developed. Other responses included holding group meeting for parents and students (6.5%), sharing scores with teachers or counselors (3.7%), recognizing Talent Search students via newsletters, certificates, or at a school assembly (3.7%), and communicating with Talent Search parents for further educational service subsequent to Talent Search (2.8%). Twenty-two percent of the survey respondents responded that “no special follow-up” was performed for the Talent Search students.

Perceived Benefits of Talent Search

The vast majority (74.3%) of the school coordinators reported that Talent Search helped their students find program options not available through their schools. Students’ Talent Search scores also helped the school coordinators to determine academic programs commensurate with students’ abilities (27.1%) and determine eligibility for special classes (17.8%). Also, 8.9% of the schools used the information to design new classes or program options for talented students or to offer students special scholarships for private high schools or further placement into academic programs such as summer programs or special classes (3.7%). Suggestions for The Future

More than half of the school coordinators proposed that CTD provide Talent Search scores on stickers that can be adhered to students’ permanent school records (54.2%). Other suggestions included that CTD make the Talent Search literature (brochures) easier for parents to understand (28.5%), provide a poster to help schools publicize the program (28.0%), provide meeting materials (26.2%) or a powerpoint presentation (6.1%) to help the school coordinator educate parents, and provide a more convenient testing location for students (6.1%).

Putting the Research to Work

Surveys like this one help CTD to stay in touch with “real-world” implementation of our programs and to improve our services. Highlights of this survey for our staff included:

• Learning that almost half (43.5%) of the respondents were guidance counselors. We will be making more efforts to reach out to other guidance counselors and educate them on the benefits of implementing MTS/MTSY in their schools.
• Finding that nearly twenty percent (19.6%) of our respondents heard about Talent Search from another educator or school. We are working on ways to encourage educators to spread the word about the program to their colleagues.
  
• Discovering that educators overwhelmingly confirmed the value of Talent Search in helping their students find program options not available through their schools. We will continue to provide as much information we can about the range of options available to Talent Search students.