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

Paula Olszewski-Kubilius*, Saiying Steenbergen-Hu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)202-209
Number of pages8
JournalGifted Child Quarterly
Volume61
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2017

Keywords

  • achievement gap
  • front-loading strategy
  • minority students
  • practice-embedded research
  • research-based practice

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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