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Public Service Activities
Early Outreach: Access Built through Leadership and Academics: The ABLA Community Scholars Program
The ABLA Community Scholars Program established a partnership between Early Outreach and the Thomas Jefferson and Jacob Riis Elementary Schools. These schools serve the ABLA public housing developments. Students at these schools generally perform poorly on standardized tests. Only 7.4% to 22.5% scored above the norm in reading comprehension and only 10.2% to 28.5% scored above it in mathematics. The ABLA Program is an initiative designed to (1) early identify the talent and giftedness in students who attend near west side schools and significantly improve their reading and math scores; (2) increase their ability to compete for spaces at Whitney Young Magnet High School and other schools for gifted and talented children (the principal at Whitney Young High School provided a letter of support for this initiative); (3) cultivate student leaders who positively impact the development of an intellectual community within their school and community; (4) positively impact the community through the development of parent leaders; and (5) expand teachers' abilities to select the most effective teaching strategy, thereby improving student achievement. Staff began adjusting the program design in July, 1998. The program was implemented in the partnership schools in October, 1998 and will continue
through the end of the school year. The three-part program provides continuing education instruction for teachers and training for students
and their parents in Reuven Feuerstein's Instrumental Enrichment with Mediated Learning Experience (IE/MLE) and Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Teachers, children and their parents all become students of this method which provides the concepts, skills, strategies, and operations necessary to correct cognitive dysfunctions, increase metacognition, diagnose and correct deficiencies in thinking skills, and help individuals 'learn to learn' thus extending their intellectual powers. Bridging activities assist all students in translating their metacognitive capablities into applications in reading and mathematics. The method assists students in increasing time "on task" while decreasing time "off task," thereby increasing the learning curve. It increases intrinsic motivation. It improves a student's ability to articulate relevant knowledge using the correct terminology. It promotes cooperative learning. It engages students intellectually and dramatically increases scores on standardized tests.
 For Further Information
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Home Page: http://www.uic.edu/educ/outreach/
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Deborah C. Umrani Director, Center for Urban Educational Research and Development
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m/c 969
1101 W. Taylor St., 3rd Fl.
Chicago, IL
60612
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Notes
Geographic Areas Served:
- Chicago Suburbs
- City of Chicago
Program Activity Types: Program Duration: Other
Program Frequency: On-going
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University of Illinois
Chicago Campus - Springfield Campus - Urbana-Champaign Campus
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