The New Jersey Model Teacher Training Project
Phase I
was the selection and training of thirty
Gifted Child Society (GCS) Fellows selected by the Gifted Child Society based on
professional excellence, leadership, and regional representation throughout New
Jersey. The “Fellows” spent one week in July 1999 at Confratute at the
University of Connecticut. Confratute is one of the nation’s leading
institutes for teaching the gifted.
Phase II: On October 2, 1999, the GCS offered a
statewide tuition-free Saturday Conference in Princeton, New Jersey, which was
attended by 350 educators from across the state. Well-known keynote speakers
addressed the entire group, there were breakout sessions on specific aspects of
giftedness, and a networking session.
Phase III was the implementation of the GCS Teacher’s Forum.
This Forum is intended to enhance the training started at
Confratute ‘99 and strengthened by our October 1999 statewide conference.
Phase IV of the project will be a book that documents and evaluates the entire Project. It will include participants’ findings and anecdotes. This book will serve as a blueprint for other states to use in training their teachers in education of the gifted.