The skills reinforcement project (SRP): an academic program for high potential minority youth

Abstract

had scored in the 80-96 percentiles on the California Achevement Test (CAT) participated in a Skills Reinforcement Project (SRP) designed to increase achievement in mathematics and language arts. A matched Com-parison Group also participated in t h s study. The subjects ’ ethnic, racial and socioeconomic composition minored the overall population of the Pasadena Unified School District which has a high proportion of blacks and Hispanics, as well as socioeconomically dsadvantaged children. The SRP had three phases of academic instruction-classes on Saturdays in the spring and fall and a two-week summer residential component. Both the SRP and Comparison Groups were pretested and posttested with the CAT, with the SRP Group making significantly greater gains in mathematics, but not in reading. A s a result, many SRP students qualified for screening into Pasadena Public Schools ’ program for the gifted without recourse to a f i r m ative action measures. When considering special programs for gifted and talented students where egalitarian concerns are often ardently expressed, it is espe-cially important that all students be able to compete equitably for the limited number of program slots available. It seems a moral as well as pragmatic imperative that entrance criteria be as “color-blind ” and “culture-fair ” as possible if a program is to be acceptable to individuals within the immediate educational setting as well as to the community at large. Problems often arise for programs hav-ing entrance criteria weighted heavily by standardized test scores