The Young Scholars (YS) program is designed to find and nurture advanced academic potential in students from historically underrepresented populations in gifted education.

School Board Student Showcase: Young Scholars

The model has four essential components:

Committed Professionals	Leadership of school principals Collaboration among teachers and specialists Advocates for Young Scholars
Find/Identify	Observations/Conversations Performance Assessments Portfolios of Learning Nonverbal Ability Tests Standard Achievement Tests
Nurture, Guide, and Support	Cluster Youngs Scholars Culturally responsive teaching Challenging and engaging curricular experiences Pair with Teachers who have high expectations Flexible grouping and ongoing assessments
Essential Elements	Intersession, Summer school and/or after school programs Ongoing professional development for teachers Differentiated curriculum and instruction for advanced learners Parent/guardian involvement and support

Although Young Scholars began in Title I schools ,there are Young Scholars in every school. The intentional focus around the three As: ACCESS, AFFIRMATION & ADVOCACY guide this work with curricular interventions and ongoing opportunities with support provided through the collaboration of the classroom teacher and the Resource Teacher for the Gifted. As students’ progress through elementary and secondary school, support and opportunities for accessing gifted services and rigorous, engaging opportunities are provided by school staff. Cultural responsive teaching, equity in access and services and finding and nurturing Young Scholars work simultaneously to shift mindsets to strength based teaching rather than deficit thinking.