From the Executive Director
Welcome to The Bridge, the newsletter from the Center for Gifted Education at The College of William and Mary. The Bridge previously existed as Systems. The Directors of the Center and I agreed that the new name would be a good metaphor for the emphasis of our Center moving theory to practice. The Bridge will be produced twice a year and will serve a variety of purposes. Having served as the Executive Director of the Center for two years now, I thought it appropriate to share some information about the direction of the Center. As you may know, the Center operates from a strategic plan that has four primary functions: 1) Graduate Education, 2) Precollegiate Learner Programs, 3) Curriculum, and 4) Professional Development. These have been used to guide the direction and resource allocation of the Center for two decades. During our recent retreat we decided to affirm these four while adding a new one: Psychological Services. I am excited to note that colleagues and I within the School of Education in the School Psychology and Counselor Education program areas have agreed to partner to provide services for gifted students and their families. More specifically, we plan to offer psycho-educational evaluations, consultation and counseling services. These services will provide training opportunities for students in the two programs. We hope to arrange agreements with school districts so our psychoeducational evaluations will be utilized when they plan educational services for the student. It is my assessment that adding this fifth function to the Center will make us the most comprehensive Center in the nation.
I hope that you enjoy this edition of The Bridge: Connecting Research to Practice. Please share your feedback with us.
Tracy L. Cross, Ph. D.
Jody and Layton Smith Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education
