Blending Research-Based Practices and Practice-Embedded Research: Project Excite Closes Achievement and Excellence Gaps for Underrepresented Gifted Minority Students. (July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Olszewski-Kubilius, Paula; Steenbergen-Hu, Saiying
• Other Names: Stoeger Heidrun guest-editor.; Olszewski-Kubilius Paula guest-editor.; Subotnik Rena F. guest-editor.; Assouline Susan G. guest-editor.; Ziegler Albert guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Gifted child quarterly. Volume 61:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 202
• Page End: 209
• Publication Date: 2017-07
• Subjects: achievement gap -- minority students -- front-loading strategy -- research-based practice -- practice-embedded research; Gifted children -- Education -- Periodicals; Gifted children -- Periodicals; 371.9505
• DOI: 10.1177/0016986217701836
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-9862

Abstract

In this article, we advocate for a new movement in education, particularly an approach emphasizing blending research-based practice with practice-embedded research. We do so by describing and discussing Project Excite, a working example that demonstrates such a model in the context of gifted education. We first trace the history, the impetus, and key design elements of Project Excite, a front-loading intervention aiming to develop the potential of underrepresented students for advanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning from early grades. We review a line of past research and key findings on Project Excite over its 14-year journey. We then discuss the implication of Project Excite for gifted programming in gifted education. Last, we pinpoint some questions to inspire future research and practice.