ERIC CALVERT joined CTD in 2012 as a NUMATS Coordinator, but has been involved with high-ability students for many years. A former Assistant Director for gifted education at the Ohio Department of Education, Dr. Calvert also worked with CTD’s advisory board before coming to Northwestern University. Now one of CTD’s Associate Directors, Calvert is an active advocate for students at CTD and beyond, exploring new learning models and developing innovative policy at the state level. As a co-chair of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) Policy and Advocacy Committee, he helped pass new legislation to give students greater access to acceleration opportunities in schools.
“Working on policy development and policy advocacy is always a powerful learning opportunity,” Calvert says, explaining the challenges of effecting wide-scale educational reform. For example, state policies must work within certain federal parameters; if national laws are focused on maintaining grade-level proficiency, states may struggle to institute new pathways to academic growth. And once legislation is passed, school districts must know how to interpret it. Still, Calvert is encouraged by increased opportunities for inclusivity and diversity in accelerated learning, as well as “a growing policy trend supporting academic acceleration here in the Midwest”: he notes CTD’s role in key legislation in Illinois and Ohio, with hope for similar progress in Michigan. “It’s also immensely rewarding when you hear from families and educators that the policy you helped develop and advocate for helped open doors that were previously closed,” Calvert reflects.
Calvert brings this innovative thinking to changes within CTD, and he looks forward to creating opportunities with its unique courses. “One thing CTD is always doing is experimenting with the forms education can take,” he says, explaining that “hybrid programs that blend classroom, online, field- based, and informal learning” are on the horizon. He’s drawn to ways students can learn from their peers, as well as their instructors, explaining that “academic and creative domains aren’t just static canons of knowledge, but living communities of human beings.” CTD’s learning communities are not only beneficial to its students and families, Calvert says he most enjoys working with colleagues who are “so bright and creative and so dedicated” in their efforts to advance the mission of CTD. Outlining the interconnectedness of the center’s efforts with research, program design, and advocacy, Calvert admits “we work at every level and in every mode where we think we can contribute.”
Center for Talent Development
ctd.northwestern.edu
ctd.northwestern.edu
29
29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
