Michigan’s Talent Search Students Encounter Academic Intensity During the School Day

by Carol R. McCarthy

After high school graduation, Maria planned to work alongside her migrant parents harvesting fruit so her eight younger siblings could stay in school and graduate. Instead, she earned her Ph.D. in mathematical graph theory at age 26. George explored and bypassed the security of Microsoft’s Xbox game system as part of his Ph.D. dissertation at age 27. Marilyn attended an advanced summer writing seminar in Oxford, England as a high school junior, and earned 30 university credits in English by the time she graduated from high school. Sam was editor of his university’s prestigious student newspaper while pursuing a math major. Sarah attained her first AP score of 5 as an eighth grader, and now, as a high school senior, has completed 3 years of Russian and 45 university credits. Tina, enrolled in a district with high poverty, earned high AP scores and completed multiple university courses during high school. As a high school senior, and first generation college entrant, she anticipates entering a prestigious university’s engineering program.

Each of these students (whose name, but not the achievement, has been changed) was enrolled in a different school district, representing city, suburban, rural, and poor districts. In socio-economic terms, their families represented both the “at-risk” and professionally employed. All of these students, however, had three experiences in common: First, the Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search uncovered the depth of their academic potential during middle school. Second, they were all enrolled in districts that recognized their potential and matched this need with above-grade level curricula and fast-paced instruction as school day options. Third, they live in a state with laws that support their access to curriculum beyond their grade level during high school. These laws support their testing out of high school courses when they can exhibit basic mastery of the content, and during 11th and 12th grade, allows them to enroll simultaneously in both high school and university courses.

In Kalamazoo, Michigan, and 9 surrounding counties, Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search students like those profiled above have the opportunity to enroll in classes designed to match their advanced math and verbal ability. These classes are offered to every qualifying student as a part of their school day schedule, rather than as an often unconnected, and sometimes expensive, summer course experience.
Is it really this easy to serve extreme academic potential in school settings? This program’s long experience indicates it is “easy” – when schools engage the “magic bullet” of cross-district cooperation and flexibility.

Begun in 1981, ATYP – Academically Talented Youth Programs – is a K-12/higher education collaborative model that works cooperatively with over 60 public and private school districts. Seventh through ninth graders, their extreme math and verbal potential initially identified through the Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search (MTS), attend ATYP’s weekly 2.5 hour class. Students’ SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) scores, rather than their grade level, indicate their readiness for our classes. Qualifying scores, set at levels similar to Talent Search’ summer programs, use the SAT verbal score to indicate readiness for our writing/literature class. The SAT math score, and a combined math plus verbal score, qualify students for our math class. Because the program focuses on serving extreme levels of potential, only about 10% of these students have scores that qualify them for both classes. The students’ motivation to work hard and genuine commitment to the program’s rigor contribute to their ultimate success. Independent and small group work helps students complete the 6-8 hour weekly homework assignment. Housed on the campus of Western Michigan University; ATYP provides fast-paced classes during the school year, and in conjunction with the student’s school schedule. ATYP’s first two years cover pre-AP content; the third year focuses on AP-English (Language and Composition) and AP-Calculus-BC level.

The teachers are critical to the students’ learning. Without exception, the teachers who can challenge these students have an absolute, unabashed passion for their subject, and an ability to develop the students’ “habits of mind.” They want to develop a student’s critical thinking skills rather than producing mathematicians or writers. They understand the sequence of curricular ideas, and the importance of struggling, in great depth, with critical concepts; they dismiss preconceived notions of instructional time required for student understanding, using instead active classroom discussion, meaty homework assignments, and periodic, rigorous tests to assess their comprehension. Often, math faculty have earned doctorates or are doctoral candidates in mathematics; writing faculty are often faculty, doctoral candidates, professional writers and experienced teachers, often with advanced degrees. Teachers are also found in high schools. These educators teach what they love and prefer to teach part time.
Districts cooperate at all levels of the process: identifying students for MTS, coordinating the student’s class schedule, utilizing ATYP’s evaluation of content mastery for future course placement and credit decisions, and providing financial support. The University contributes office and classroom space, student access to library and computer labs, and business office services. Parents help by paying for the MTS process, and organizing carpools to transport students to ATYP classes.

This cost-effective school-day model seems unique to Michigan. It works because of the voluntary cooperation of multiple districts and families: students remain enrolled in, and connected with, their school, thus avoiding the creation – and costs – of a separate, administrative organization. Some districts do provide transportation; in other districts, transportation costs (for only 1-3 students/school) are alleviated when students sign out of school early, and parents help organize carpools.

This model also works because it successfully integrates needs of both districts and advanced students: content acceleration occurs as a part of the school day; delivery is cost-effective, and student progress, often extraordinary, is documented annually (both a federal and statewide education goal). Students routinely achieve top scores on nationally standardized tests in pre-AP content areas, and since AP testing was started 7 years ago, 98% of ATYP students receive AP test scores that earn them college credit. This is particularly noteworthy because the majority of ATYP’s students earn these AP scores as 9th and 10th graders.

In the mid-1980s, several other Michigan colleges and universities replicated the ATYP model, and offer services adapted to their local needs: Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Hope College in Holland; Michigan State University in East Lansing. Recently, three Intermediate School Districts –Kent, Newaygo, and St. Joseph – also adapted the ATYP model to meet their county’s needs: These counties differ from urban and suburban to small and rural. Talent Search students, demonstrating a range of content acceleration needs, were found in all of them.

In 1982, the Michigan State Board of Education approved support of the Talent Search process, but statewide adaptation for this uniquely Michigan model has yet to be developed. In combination, current “ATYP adaptation” programs together likely enroll about 500 students each year, some only for math. Yet, Northwestern University's Midwest Academic Talent Search currently identifies approximately 8000 Michigan students each year who could learn more if they had access to accelerated classes; it’s estimated another 8000 Michigan students remain unidentified each year.
Years after finishing ATYP, Katrina – now a Michigan graduate student majoring in astrophysics – reflected on her middle school years: “If I hadn’t had the experience of ATYP, I might have waited until college to find others with more advanced ideas than mine. It also gave me some valuable social interaction with people I could really relate to. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so isolated, and I experienced an academic intensity then that I haven’t experienced since.”

Carol R. McCarthy is a former Midwest Academic Talend Search (MATS) liaison for Michigan.