About the Belin-Blank Center
Welcome to The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at The University of Iowa.
The mission of the Belin-Blank Center is to empower and serve the international gifted community through exemplary leadership in programs, research, and advocacy.
The Belin-Blank Center:
- Identifies gifted, talented, and artistic learners;
- Offers specialized educational opportunities for students;
- Increases awareness and use of acceleration to enhance learning;
- Provides assessment, counseling, and consultation services;
- Develops curriculum resources and materials;
- Facilitates the professional development of educators;
- Disseminates information through conferences and publications;
- Leads in local, national, and international policy formation;
- Enhances educational opportunities through technology;
- Collaborates with the worldwide gifted community;
- Promotes access, diversity, and equity in developing talent.
Founded in 1988, the Belin-Blank Center has established a national and international reputation for its research, training, and service. The Center offers professional development opportunities, academic-year and summer programs for students, summer programs for international students, diversity initiatives to support minority students, the Belin-Blank Exceptional Student Talent Search (BESTS) program to identify exceptional academic talent, an early-entrance to college program (the National Academy of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering), a comprehensive clinic that offers assessment and counseling services, and an institute dedicated to academic acceleration (Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration). Information on these programs is available in English at www.education.uiowa.edu/belinblank/.
The Belin-Blank Center supports the development of gifted education programs throughout the world. Our international efforts include the Templeton International Fellows program, a professional development program for South Korean educators, and summer programs for high-ability Mexican students (Mexican Scholars Program) and Chinese students (China BESTS Program). Additionally, we have partnerships with gifted education institutions in Australia, Canada, Chile, and Israel.
Acceleration of gifted students
The Belin-Blank Center is the international leader in research and advocacy on academic acceleration. Academic acceleration has been empirically validated as the most effective academic intervention for gifted students. The publication of A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students made acceleration for gifted students a topic of national discussion.
We are pleased to make A Nation Deceived (Volume I) available for free download in 8 languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Our hope is that you can use this report to advocate on behalf of the most able students in your country. Every student deserves an education that is appropriate to the student's abilities.
Please visit the site for the Belin-Blank Center's Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) for information on academic acceleration and to download a free copy of A Nation Deceived (Volume I).
Sincerely,
Nicholas Colangelo
Director and
Myron and Jacqueline Blank Professor of Gifted Education