Center Mission Statement
The Center
for Rural Gifted Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania is
designed to support schools, families, and communities in rural areas
in their education and guidance of high achieving/talented/gifted
children and youth. The goals of the Center are to:
·
Serve as an information and referral service
-Gather
information regarding programs and services available to gifted
children such as criteria for admission to the
Governor’s School and the
Johns Hopkins
Talent Search, summer programs, and scholarship
opportunities
for enrichment programs
-Develop lists of
internet sites, teacher training programs, and recent publications
-Utilize technological
supports to disseminate information and facilitate communication
regarding gifted education in rural PA
·
Offer and facilitate educator training
-Support development of
IUP programs leading to endorsement in gifted education, master’s in
educational psychology with emphasis in gifted education, and
certification in gifted education (if this becomes a state
requirement)
-Offer educator training
conferences on the IUP campus and in rural districts
-Provide opportunities for
gifted teachers to meet and share ideas and to
support one
another
·
Offer programs that increase parent
understanding of the needs and strengths of gifted children and youth
-Partner with the PA
Association for Gifted Education, school districts, and intermediate
units to offer parent education sessions
-Facilitate parent
support groups
·
Provide easy access to relevant educational
materials for parents and educators
-Develop a lending
library of books, videos, pamphlets, and curricula
·
Offer a full range of psychoeducational
services to gifted children, their families, and their schools through
the IUP Child Study Center
·
Enhance community awareness of the needs of
gifted children and youth
-Contribute articles to
local newspapers and magazines
-Present to community
groups on ways to enhance development of able learners
·
Facilitate the training of pre service
students regarding gifted education
-Make Center services
and facilities available to undergraduate students in training to
become teachers who would like to enhance their awareness of gifted
education
-Facilitate observations
and volunteer experiences in rural gifted education classes
·
Contribute to the body of scholarly
literature related to the educational, social, and emotional strengths
and needs of rural gifted children/youth, their families, their
teachers, and their schools
Correlation with the Mission of
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
The goals of
the Center for Rural Gifted Education correlate with the mission
statement of Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Specifically,
the Center contributes to the economic strength of the region by
improving the educational environment for our ablest learners.
The Center also addresses the goal that students become “lifelong
learners” by offering training opportunities to practicing educators.
Finally, the Center fosters “collaborative educational ventures”
through work with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, local
school districts, and the business and professional communities.
In addition, the Center staff and organization provide a model of
collaboration within the University since different departments
contribute to the development of the Center and participate in Center
activities.
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