Information session to be held in Mays Landing September 6
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Starting in January 2013, K-12 educators in South Jersey will have more convenient access to Rutgers’ Gifted Education Graduate Certificate Program, which will be offered for the first time at Rutgers’ new facility at Atlantic Cape Community College in Mays Landing.
Free information sessions about the program will be held throughout the fall at Atlantic Cape. The first is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, September 6.
New Jersey state law requires school districts to assess giftedness and provide gifted instruction in kindergarten through grade 12, but offers little guidance on program design or professional training, according to Liz Beasley, director of the program.
To fill this void, Rutgers introduced the professional development program on its New Brunswick Campus in 2010 to help New Jersey school districts meet the challenges of educating their gifted and talented students. It is designed for classroom teachers, resource specialists, counselors and administrators who work with this population, as well as parents who home school their children.
“We are very pleased that we will be able to expand access to this important program in the South Jersey region at Rutgers’ new classroom building on the Atlantic Cape campus,” Beasley said.
The five-course, 15-credit series was developed by Joyce VanTassel-Baska, an internationally renowned leader in gifted education, who also serves on its faculty. She is the author of 27 books and more than 450 articles, book chapters and reports, and has consulted in all 50 states and around the world on gifted education.
Based on the NCATE Gifted Teacher Education Standards, the program is the only graduate-level program in New Jersey designed to help educators meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of gifted students.
The program is delivered in a hybrid – part classroom, part online – format. Participants complete four required courses and a field assignment to earn a certificate. They may choose to complete one or more courses without committing to the full certificate program, but only participants who successfully complete all four courses may register for the clinical practicum placement. The full certificate program may be completed within 12 months.
In addition to Dr. VanTassel-Baska, the faculty includes Kimberly Chandler, curriculum director at the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary; Dr. Janice Robbins, director of CIVIS, a gifted curriculum, research and development project at the College of William and Mary; and Barbara Trueger, the N.J. Association for Gifted Children’s 2009 Educator of the Year.
For more information about the Rutgers Gifted Education Certificate Program or to register for a fall information session, visit gifteded.rutgers.edu, send email to beasleyliz@docs.rutgers.edu, or call 732-932-7565.
This program is offered through Rutgers' Division of Continuing Studies, which provides a wide spectrum of credit and noncredit lifelong learning opportunities, from professional development and certificate programs to degree-completion programs and courses for adult learners over 50.
Media Contact: Sandra Lanman
732-932-6998, ext. 615
E-mail: slanman@docs.rutgers.edu