Dr. Catherine Little Receives $2.5 million Five-Year Federal Grant

Dr. Catherine Little, Gifted and Talented, received a $2.5 million grant as part of the Javits program. Project SPARK (Supporting and Promoting Advanced Readiness in Kids) will scale up the Young Scholars Model, an approach developed in Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, with the aim of increasing participation of underrepresented groups in gifted and talented programs, supporting their achievement in the core subject areas, and promoting their readiness for participation in advanced coursework. The project will be conducted in several schools in southern New England with high populations of students traditionally underserved in gifted programs. Dr. Little and her research team will focus on screening students in grades K-2 for behaviors indicating high potential, and then providing services to support these students in developing their readiness for possible later identification for gifted programming.