University of Illinois at Chicago

College Support Program
Cultural Arts Camp
Educational Advisory Board
Educational Enrichment Program for 3rd, 4th, & 5th Graders
High School/College Transition Program
Health Science Enrichment Program (HSEP)
High School Fair
Hispanic Math/Science Education Initiative (HMSEI)
Parent Network
Saturday College
Science Connection (Sci-Con)
Summer Preceptors
UIC/CPS Prep 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) 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 dysfunction's, increase metacognition, diagnose and correct deficiencies in thinking skills, and help individuals 'learn how to learn' thus extending their intellectual powers. Bridging activities assist all students in translating their metacognitive capabilities 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.