This spring semester marks the launch of a new program at Duke that will provide free training to teachers in Durham Public Schools to instruct academically and intellectually gifted students in the state.
Fourteen middle school teachers will obtain their licensure to teach AIG children upon completion of the program.
The curriculum includes four courses to be taken at the University, including a practicum during Duke Talent Identification Program's summer session.
The program, which is being funded by Durham Public Schools, Duke's Program in Education, TIP and the North Carolina Model Teacher Education Consortium, is innovative in a number of ways, said Jan Rigsbee, the program's co-developer.
"Only 2 percent of the colleges in the nation offer such a program," said Rigsbee, who is also associate professor of the practice in the Program in Education. "The AIG program represents a true collaboration between departments at Duke.
TIP, which offers gifted high school students across the country the opportunity to participate in summer study, was a natural partner for the program, said Kristen Stephens, co-developer and a TIP gifted educational specialist.
Both co-developers of the program said its creation was in response to a new mandate made by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction requiring teachers to take a minimum of 12 hours of coursework at the college level before they can be certified to work with gifted students.
"When it became evident that the state was going to change the way teachers obtain gifted licensure.... We knew that we wanted to become involved with that," Stephens said.
The program is also helping to satisfy a high demand for gifted teachers by Durham Public Schools for the benefit of the student population as a whole as well as the 4,631 children identified as AIG in the district, according to the Durham Public Schools' web site.
"Teachers, principals and administrators know that strategies that work for gifted children are also great for everyone else," said Beth Cross, the district AIG lead teacher.
"[Superintendent] Dr. [Carl] Harris really wants everyone in Durham Public Schools to be challenged and to be pushed," she added.
In a press release last week, Harris lauded the University for its efforts.
"Duke University is demonstrating an unparalleled level of support for public education by offering the licensure program," Harris said.
"This, along with the similar program at North Carolina Central University, is making it easier than ever for our teachers to receive training that will support our efforts in boosting academic rigor for our students," he added.
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