Effectiveness of RHS Teacher Training Program PROGRAM EVALUATION: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE RE

Renzulli, Baum, Herbert, and McCluskey (1999) reported that it is important to accurately identify gifted students. Teachers at Kadena Elementary School (KES) are failing to accurately identify potentially gifted students. Teachers at this school have identified 25 out of the 76 Grade six students as gifted, which represents a much higher percentage than would be expected since only 2% are found in the general population. These teachers used the Renzulli Hartman Scale for Rating Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students (RHS) to identify the large number of gifted students in their classrooms. These findings point out the teacher's lack of ability to use this scale effectively. Therefore a RHS teacher-training program was implemented to enhance teacher's ability to use the RHS and the effects of the training program need to be evaluated.

The purpose of the proposed project is to evaluate the effectiveness of the RHS teacher-training program and determine its utility for helping teachers acquire RHS skills. In addition the study will assess teacher perceptions of the training program and their use of the RHS.

Background and Significance of the Problem

Teachers at KES are demonstrating their inability to utilize the RHS effectively and a larger number of students than are expected, are being identified as gifted. The training program was designed to teach sixth-grade teachers how to use the RHS an

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ted" vary and many states leave the definition up to the local school district. A lack of consistent definition leads to ongoing problems with identification of gifted students (Stephens & Karnes, 2000). In addition, use of standardized testing to identify the gifted may also be inaccurate or inadequate (Moon, Brighton, & Callahan, 2003). Thus the identification of gifted students remains a problem in education (Hunsaker, 1994; Morris, 2002). Assessment methods vary for the schools. In an assessment of 39 school districts, Hunsaker found that the most frequently used assessment includes multiple criteria. School districts report that they are not totally satisfied with results of identification procedures used or that procedures are not effective. Standardized instruments were noted to be the biggest problem in identifying gifted students. Factors related to successful identification of gifted students include educator skill. Alternatively, Morris (2002) stated that since African American students are underrepresented in gifted education, race and culture may be factors in their identification. For example, the author stated that there are enduring perceptions of presumed African American intellectual inferiority, wh

Category: Psychology - E