Ben Morrison, Skylar Ramsey, Yash Patel and Jonathan Tadlock, four seventh graders from Rockingham Middle School, participated in the Duke University Talent Identification Program.
Duke TIP is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. Through identification, recognition, challenging educational programs, information, advocacy and research. Duke TIP provides resources to gifted students, their parents, educators and schools and help students reach their highest potential.
“Traditional testing often fails to measure the academic capability of our country’s brightest students, so Duke TIP uses an above-level testing model to do this,” said Duke TIP Executive Director Martha Putallaz, PhD. “Testing above a student’s grade level offers families a better understanding of their student’s academic potential and of the academic support that he or she may need outside of a traditional classroom setting.”
Nikki Covington, the academically and intellectually gifted teacher for both Rockingham Middle and Ellerbe Middle schools, said those students who score 95 percent or higher on the previous years End of Grade, EOG, test have the opportunity to take the SAT or ACT.
It is not mandatory for students to take the test, but “… it gives them testing experience and lets them know what to expect,” she said.
The program provides all Talent Search participants with a comparative results summary to help interpret their scores, as well as educational materials and publications to help them use their ability more effectively. These publications include an online directory of educational opportunities and resources for the college admissions process. They also help students learn more about available academic opportunities and about the needs and interests of academically gifted children like themselves.
In addition to the talent search, TIP also has summer and year-round academic programs available to students who meet the eligibility requirements, including the Summer Studies programs that take place at Duke University and other U.S. colleges and universities.
The Duke TIP program was founded in 1980 through a grant from the Duke Endowment and has since helped more than two million academically talented students through Duke TIP’s services, resources and programs.
— Staff Writer Laura Edington can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 18, or by email at ledington@civitasmedia.com.
Post a Comment
