Engaging High-Ability Students in Literacy: A University and Elementary School Transformational Partnership

The purpose of this qualitative research was to examine how a service learning literacy course impacted preservice teacher perceptions of intermediate-aged high-ability children in a mid-high poverty school, and how the educators in the partnering school viewed the experience. Pre- and post-experience responses from preservice teachers and open-ended survey responses from participating educators at the partnering school helped evaluate service learning and measure the impact of the partnership. Results indicated that, after the service learning program, preservice teachers better understood both the developmental literacy needs of intermediate students as well as how to lead a novel study while challenging and mentoring gifted students. Using engaging, diverse books with strong themes and rich vocabulary, the school received formerly lacking literacy curriculum and instruction for gifted children that seemed to contribute to improved student test scores and building a school community of readers. Connections between the university and school were established through email, texts, face-to-face interactions, and Google Docs. This led to a university and school partnership that was mutually beneficial because the program planning was intentional, developed by leaders of both entities, and continually assessed