Project Focus, a research project at the University of Connecticut, is seeking elementary schools for participation. We are seeking classroom teachers at grades 3-5 to participate in professional learning with follow-up data collection focused on classroom discussions. The overall purpose of the project is to examine the effects of professional learning activities on teachers’ self-efficacy around questioning and discourse, recognition of evidence of advanced potential, and instructional quality. Additionally, we seek to identify the linguistic features that characterize high-quality classroom questioning and discussion and use those to inform ongoing professional learning activities. Teachers will be compensated for participation.  

To learn more, please contact the project director, Dr. Catherine Little, at catherine.little@uconn.edu or project.focus@uconn.edu. This project is sponsored by the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program of the U.S. Department of Education.