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National Office Report
July 2014
Nancy Green
Executive Director
As our thoughts turn to hot summer days and vacation time, (for working 30 minutes more each day, staff
receives every other Friday off in June through August) the amount of work described in these next eight
pages seems that much more improbable!
As you will note, front and center has been and continues to be the launch of the new NAGC website and
the database that powers our member records behind the scenes. While painful, the staff worked really
hard to make it all come together—enduring lots of meetings, doing a lot of writing, and making a big
push for member and customer centered content. While the new website is a work in progress, we still
see a vast improvement in our systems, reports and the end product.
In June, I was able to visit both Orlando and Phoenix to attend planning meetings and hotel visits related
to making some convention decisions. Our local arrangements committee in Phoenix is very excited to
host the 2015 event, and they have some great ideas. Orlando is now the strong favorite for the 2016
event, pending some outreach to our partners in the state.
The Board and Network Elections process has gone smoothly this year, and we have been encouraging
committee participation along with voting. Hopefully, some fresh faces will appear on committee rosters
this year! The Awards Committee also made its final selections recently, with winners being notified this
week.
Andrew Bassett
Director of Finance and Administration
New Association Management System (AMS) is live
On June 26, NAGC activated our new database, Avectra netForum Pro. (Databases are also known as
Association Management Systems or (AMS) in the association world.) netForum Pro is licensed webbased software that replaces “NOAH,” our eight year old in-house database.
NetForum is fully integrated with our new website. Members and visitors to NAGC’s website will now
find it much easier to login. Members can now change personal information on-line as well as view their
transactions and print receipts. The bookstore and other e-commerce purchases (events, memberships,
donations, etc.) occur in netForum, which has a more Amazon.com-like shopping feel.
NetForum also gives NAGC staff the added capabilities such as e-marketing, a vast number of reports and
the ability to run queries.
Information technology Upgrades
In June:
 Introduced an all new website
 Activated a new web-based database (AMS) – see details above
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In April, NAGC completed our planned in-house information technology upgrades:
 All staff now has new Windows 7 desktops, replacing 5-7 year old Windows XP models.
 NAGC’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) replaced a flawed internet circuit and doubled our
internet speed to 10 MB.
Over the past year NAGC has:
 Hired a new IT vendor to provide better support at a lower cost
 Transferred our email and program files to “The Cloud”, allowing staff to access and modify our
email/files wherever there is an internet connection.
 Replaced eight computer servers with one new state-of-the-art file server (website and database
were moved to the cloud as well)
Near-term plans:
 Provide staff additional training that will allow them to take full advantage of the new
capabilities, features, and enhancements available in our new systems.
End of School year Publication Sales
Each May and June NAGC’s publication sales increase as school districts spend their remaining end-ofyear funds. This year, 40% or $25,000 of NAGC’s publication sales occurred during May and June.
Below are the best-selling titles for these two months:
Qty
Amount
1.
10 Myths About Gifted Education Poster
5,000 $4,050
2.
Teachers Guide to Using Common Core-ELA
306
$6,197
3.
Teachers Guide to Using Common Core-Mathematics
237
$4,810
4.
Using the Next Generation Science Standards
82
$1,733
Jane Clarenbach
Director of Public Education
Thanks to the dedication of numerous volunteers, there are a number of new developments since March:
Standards
As you know, the NAGC-CEC teacher preparation standards were approved by CAEP in
December. Susan Johnsen and Cheryll Adams have been leading the follow-up required documentation,
which includes guidance for reviewers as well as sample rubrics for programs. Final versions of these
documents will be posted on both the CAEP and NAGC websites. Cheryll and Susan are also making
plans for training on the newly approved standards.
Alicia Cotabish is leading a small workgroup in response to the board’s call for a K-12 standards selfstudy product. The group is preparing a checklist and supporting materials for both individual teachers as
well as for the gifted education coordinator. The group is planning to have a final product available for
the convention.
Publications
We have published NAGC’s first three e-books with amazon.com. Recall that these are the first in what
has been dubbed the “NAGC Select Series.” Bertie Kingore, Alex Pagnani, and Erin Morris Miller have
all donated their expertise so far. Tracy Missett’s e-book on social and emotional characteristics of gifted
students should be published within the next few weeks. The manuscripts receive the regular book
manuscript review process (managed by Cheryll Adams); the e-books are then formatted and finalized by
NAGC staff. A few more e-books are in the pipeline but may not be completed before the end of 2014.
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As Chris Nobbe’s committee moves along on new and revised position statements, remember that the
effort also includes review and feedback on the draft documents that is coordinated by the publications
committee. These papers are another example of the involvement of NAGC volunteers working behind
the scenes.
Legislation
As the Congress makes its way through the annual appropriations process, the key Senate subcommittee
allocated $7 million for the Javits program in fiscal year 2015, an increase of $2 million over the 2014
funding level. In addition to support from Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) (who will receive the
2014 David Belin Award from NAGC), Senator Grassley and others signed a “dear colleague” letter to
the appropriators urging continued funding for the Javits program. No action yet in the House. Education
funding levels likely will go down to the wire – October 1 is the first day of the new fiscal year.
NAGC and CEC staff met with Tom Brock, Commissioner of the National Center for Education Research
and several of his staff on the National Research Center for the Gifted and Talented grant
announcement. We sought clarification on the first phase of the grant (the Exploratory Study), including
possible lack of distinction between students with high ability compared to high achievement. Although
we cannot point to any specific changes in their views, we had a good conversation, likely raised their
awareness of NAGC and its goals, and we were able to lay the groundwork for future meetings. We also
had the opportunity to emphasize the need for at least one grant reviewer to have a background in gifted
and talented education.
Media
Partnering NAGC president Tracy Cross with his state association counterparts on op-ed pieces to
promote both the NAGC and state advocacy agendas continues to be successful. Pieces targeting
Members of Congress from Alabama and Kentucky who are on the Appropriations Committees were
published in the Birmingham News (June 2, 2014;
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/06/our_state_and_nation_must_stop.html ) and the Lexington
Herald-Journal (June 29, 2014; http://www.kentucky.com/2014/06/29/3314850/recommit-to-giftededucation.html ).
Jeff Danielian
Teacher Resource Specialist
It has been an exciting and productive spring and start to summer.
Significant Content Contributions to the new NAGC Website
First and foremost, the collaborative work done in preparation for the launch of the new and improved
NAGC website was both a challenge and a pleasure to work on! From virtual meetings and trainings, to
copying, editing, testing and posting content, there was quite the “to-do” list. It is always fun to learn a
new system and the amount of work that went into the edited and revised pages is at times too much to
explain.
Most of the responsibilities fell into the THP landing page, associated pages, and issue libraries and
article tables. Work on the Educators and Administrator landing pages, The Teacher’s Corner, STEM, and
a variety of other areas were worked on. Plans for the future include new blog posts, adding images and
accompanying text and pages, as well as work on callouts. It will be sometime before everything on the
back end is where it should be, and there is still much to learn. It was great to see the recent launch, and
everyone at NAGC has a reason to feel proud.
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Regular Duties
There were continued questions from member and non-members with respect to many items relating to
gifted ed practices, research and the family/home connection. Most, if not all questions were answered in
a period of less than 24 hours. Non-members, as always, were solicited for membership.
Each month saw with it the publication of a new Teacher’s Corner in the on-line newsletter Compass
Points. New issues of the quarterly Connecting for High Potential, which has been on hiatus for a few
months, co-authored with Susan Dulong Langley, are in the works.
Regular web updates included news pages and updates that including the Teaching for High Potential
webpage, The Teacher’s Corner, ED pages, and the J/F pages and links. Promotion on social media has
also increased. As always, Jeff had regular calls and e-mail check-ins to the office and virtual staff
meetings were attended.
Teaching for High Potential
New Associate Editor
Matt Fugate, fresh from earning his doctorate from Purdue, will be the new THP Associate Editor. He
will be officially announced when the Fall Issue comes out and begin his 3 year term starting with the
Winter 2015 issue. The process by which Matt was selected required careful and detailed preparation
and organization (new roles and responsibilities document), the selection of a review board, an
extensive application process, and sample work submission. Jane’s guidance and direction was quite
helpful. The reviewers were detailed in their review and opinions/ comments and all agreed that the
candidate was the best suited for the position. Matt is very excited to join the THP family.
Special Issue Fall 2014 and Beyond
Jeff has been working closely with Tarek Grantham and others on the creation of the Fall 2014 Issue
of THP, which will focus on Diversity. It will feature 4 solicited and reviewed articles and have
columns that relate to the issue. Guest columnists were also invited for the National Office and
Special Populations. It will be disseminated at the Convention in 2014. Plans are in the works for a
special issue for Summer 2015. M. Gail Hickey is leading the charge for a collaboration with NCSS.
Convention Planning
Jeff participated as part of the Program Committee for the 2014 Convention, and worked with accepted
sessions to identify those for audience specific one-pagers. He will work on the sessions for recording in
the future.
Committee Work
Apart from the THP committee, work with the Diversity and Equity continued, with an emphasis on the
J/F program. Jeff also reviewed materials (book/proposals/position statements) for the Publications
committee.
Javits-Frasier Scholar Program
Work with the J/F program is in full swing. Rebecca at NAGC sorted, scanned, and organized upwards of
60 completed applications for the 2014 candidate list. She did a fantastic job! A total of 10 reviewers
were secured for the process and a conference call was conducted regarding the process. Pairs of
reviewers have until August 1st, 2014 to complete their review and scoring and add them, along with
comments, to a master spreadsheet on Google Docs. A follow-up call will be had during the first week of
August and based on funding, a total number of finalists and alternates will be selected and announced.
Work will then begin on the mentorship and convention program/onsite coordination.
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Other
Jeff was the Keynote at a recent Minds in Motion event in Plainfield, CT. He will travel to Confratute at
UCONN for a few days in mid-July and to Edufest at Boise State during the last week of July. He will
also visit the office as part of an all staff visit/meeting in late August.
With hope, he will be able to get away to the mountains or the shore somewhere in between.
Robin Feldman
Director of Professional Development and Meetings
WOWs become FREE to Members
The January 29-May 14, 2014 WOW series, Conversations about Diversity & Equity (6 webinars) plus
the 4 free to members webinars on national issues, attracted nearly 400 total participants. Based on the
fact that the lowest number of attendees were and have consistently been for the paid webinars, we are
planning to make most webinars a member benefit. Not only would attendance be higher but it would
help increase the value of the events for both speakers and participants. The webinar platform has been
upgraded to now include the use of webcams and videos and the ability to upload multiple PowerPoints
for one presentation.
Convention Proposals and Planning
Nearly 350 proposals out of 900 submissions were accepted to be presented at Convention. The number
of total speakers is close to 600 and they and the sessions they are attached to are all happily included in
our database and on our Convention website. Other speakers who have been secured since the preliminary
program are Deborah Phelps, Director of the Education Foundation of the Baltimore County Public
Schools and mother of Olympian Michael Phelps for a mini-keynote and Sean McComb, National
Teacher of the Year, for the closing session.
Common Core Online Course
Planning and development of the online course on CCSS & NGSS is well underway. However, there is
still a substantial amount of work ahead. Our goal is to field test the site in September, market it at
Convention, and launch it in early 2015. Currently the six-week course consists of 4 modules for each
strand—ELA, Math, Science—and each include webinars, assignments, grade-level discussions and
curriculum idea sharing. Once enrolled in the course, participants will be able to continue their learning
by engaging in ongoing discussions and materials sharing with their classmates while a new group of
students begin their learning in a separate “classroom.” The site is very robust. For example, students can
create profiles and chat with one another privately or with the group. Teachers can monitor the
conversations and share new information accordingly.
Kathleen Nilles
Parent Services & Communications Manager
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Continue to adapt, create, and publish quality content targeted to parents and caregivers through
Parenting for High Potential, Compass Points, social media, and the new NAGC website
Publish PHP in March, April, and June/July 2014. Summer issues combined due to staffing
adjustments (departure of Jen Robins), budget, web launch focus, and production schedule needs.
Initiate PHP cost and process analysis for future strategic planning discussions to ensure delivery
of greatest ROI to both NAGC and parent/caregiver audience.
Research, write, and edit various pages for new NAGC web site and contribute to launch efforts,
either directly or via Parent Editorial Content & Advisory Board (PECAB) web initiative.
(Facilitated PECAB member evaluation and input of current vs. new web content.)
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Ensure solid establishment of PECAB, which includes facilitating monthly meetings, managing
subcommittees (Social media, Spanish-speaking materials, PHP social-emotional column), and
serving as ongoing staff liaison for chair and members
Provide leadership and/or input for special projects including: SENG 2014 Annual Conference,
2014 Toy List (liaison with school to establish process/rubric/systems), Hispanic parent outreach
planning.
Lyndi Schrecengost
Director of Development
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Since March, Nancy and I have submitted approximately 10 grant proposals, with several more in
the works. Most of these are related to the Javits-Frasier program and the 2015 Talent
Development Summit. In addition, several profiles have been created for online giving portals—
Guidestar, Great Nonprofits, and Razoo.com.
Our Corporate Advisory Council Chair, Norm Augustine, sent out his first set of letters to CAC
member prospects. Corporations represented include Xerox, Procter & Gamble, Stanley Black &
Decker, Intel, Northrop Grumman, ConcocoPhillips, Merck & Co; FedEx, Dupont, and Hormel.
A media kit to 15 potential talent development summit funders was mailed on July 9. This kit
included a 4-page Prospectus on Talent Development, the Year in Review, and several fact sheets
and impact stories.
Nancy, along with Nick Manetto, has been working on developing our Convention Pre-Summit
event, as well as refining the framework for a Full Summit slated for the first quarter of 2015.
The criteria for selecting ESPs was finalized, and 8 of the 10 speakers who were invited to join
have submitted materials. We have received $2,500 from ESP speaking engagements so far in
2014, and have started to advertise the program in magazines and in Compass Points.
A third direct mail appeal letter related to Javits-Frasier mailed on June 9th. Results from this
appeal were positive, including a $1,000 donation. This was followed by a June 30th appeal from
the Professional Development network.
Our Honor a Teacher/Mentor appeal (Part One) also garnered strong results, with 7 donations so
far, generating approximately $500.
On June 22nd, Nancy met with the Local Arrangements Committee in Phoenix. She presented a
short list of family and community foundations that we might consider approaching for JavitsFrasier next year. Several members of the LAC had personal contacts at some of these
foundations, which look promising. Nancy and Lyndi are preparing a strategy for how and when
to approach these foundations in the fall.
Several pages of content related to fundraising were developed for the new web site, and a
number of IMPACT success stories tied to various fundraising programs will begin to appear on
the site, including on the NAGC blog.
Annual Fund appeals were sent to the Board and Development Committee.
We’re nearly at $7,000 in the Annual Fund. $35,000 is the goal for 2014.
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Karen Yoho
Senior Director of Marketing and Member Services
Membership Recruitment Efforts
This past spring two targeted direct mail campaigns went out to prospect lists. We had 43 individuals
respond from a mailing to 9,000 lapsed members. The second mailing targeted 10,000 district level GT
coordinators and teachers. We have 34 new members as a result of that campaign. We are now reaching
out to these new and renewing members with communications to help them utilize their member benefits.
We will meet with our consultant on the project later this month to discuss back-to-school efforts.
Membership Changes
Within the next several weeks, NAGC staff will develop a two-tiered state affiliate organization
membership package. Basic will be $150 annually and Premium will be $550. We presented this to
affiliates last March, and we are hopeful that several affiliates will see the value and take advantage of the
benefits offered in the premium level.
Membership rates will increase in December and plans will be developed to communicate those changes.
In addition, visitors to the website will be offered a $15 “E-Access” package that would provide enhanced
content access plus the twice-monthly Compass Points e-newsletter. This will only be offered to nonNAGC members.
Member Snapshot
MEMBER TYPE
Total Parent Members
June-11
791
June-12
582
June-13
516
June-14
423
Total Individual Members
Graduate Student
Individual Domestic
Individual Foreign
Individual Lifetime
3822
459
3108
145
110
3647
401
2995
139
112
4155
329
3620
91
115
3802
313
3270
94
125
Total Organization Members
Total State Affiliate Members
GRAND TOTAL
61
34
4708
54
28
4311
36
35
4742
21
41
4287
Website Redesign and AMS Implementation
The greatest bulk of the efforts over the last few months have been focused on website content and
database integration. NAGC staff and volunteers wrote fresh content, researched new subjects, edited
existing content, and placed it in the new site. Efforts continue in adding content and resources, as well as
looking for ways to improve functionality for our website visitors. We have received rave reviews on the
appearance of the site and are already seeing increased visibility in search engine results.
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What’s so great about the new website/AMS integration?
 More user-friendly online registration and purchasing
 Save staff time in completing day-to-day tasks and requests from members
 More automated and accurate renewal mailings
 Targeted content and resources displayed by audience (Administrator/Educator/Parent)
 Members-only access to PDF copies of THP and PHP, etc.
 Ability to service a member more effectively by sharing items in their record (such as copies of
invoices) via email without leaving the database
 Relevant reports allow staff to track member counts and registration figures
 More complete donate area
 Improved navigation
 My NAGC sections gives members access to open orders, copies of invoices, etc.
 Easier login with members using their primary email address and self-selected password for all
areas of the site
 Event calendar
 New – Blog!
Convention Marketing News
In June we had a former gifted coordinator in Maryland reach out to private and independent schools
throughout Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. She also called larger systems encouraging group registrations.
She will pick up the outreach again in August and September.
Online registration is open as is the Convention website, including the itinerary planner. Karen will begin
working with neighboring state affiliates to further promote the Baltimore convention.
Exhibit and Advertising Sales
Jennifer Kerhin and her team at Sponsorship Boost continue to reach out to new exhibitors and advertisers
for the Convention and beyond. To date we have 60 exhibitors and 75 10x10 exhibit booths sold.
As of July 1, we have close to $40,000 in sponsorship support for the Convention and have several strong
leads for more support!
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