From Brazil to Bulgaria, Hungary to Hong Kong and in more than 50 countries, Dorothy Sisk has traveled the world on behalf of gifted children. She has spoken in venues from the little red schoolhouse to the White House. She has shared projects with heads of state and 9-year-olds alike.
On Monday, Nov. 2, she will share her depth and breadth of knowledge with an audience at Lamar University, presenting the 23rd annual Distinguished Faculty Lecture, sponsored by ExxonMobil. “Making Great Kids Greater: Easing the Burden of Being Gifted” will be the topic of Sisk’s lecture, to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theatre. A reception in her honor is scheduled after the lecture in the Dishman Art Museum. Both events are open to the public without charge.
Sisk holds the Conn Chair for Gifted Education. A faculty member since 1989, she is a professor of professional pedagogy in the College of Education and Human Development. Her lecture topic parallels that of her 2009 book, “Making Great Kids Greater: Easing the Burden of Being Gifted.” She is the author and co-author of nine other books and the author of chapters in two-dozen others.
“Gifted education is a passion for me because I am convinced that gifted young people and adults have a great deal to offer to our troubled world, and they need assistance in believing in their gifts and talents to do so,” Sisk said. “I have experienced that when the gifted are empowered to lives of service, they enrich not only their lives, but the lives of their families, their communities and, in many cases, the nation and the world.”
As a teacher, she said, one never knows whether “an Emily Dickinson, a Cesar Chavez, a Nicola Tesla, an Amy Tan, a Martin Luther King Jr. or a Barbara Jordan may be sitting right there in front of you.”
Sisk is an accomplished researcher and a prolific author who has spoken all over the world. She has been project director for significant educational initiatives, receiving federal and state grants totaling more than $10 million from 1990 to 2009. These grants have supported programs and research with gifted and talented students and their teachers.
“Educators tend to focus on the intellectual needs of gifted students and provide little time or consideration to their socio-emotional needs,” Sisk said. “The gifted have a unique perception of themselves and their world. The gifted are sensitive, perfectionistic and intense; consequently, moral issues affect gifted students more deeply and at an earlier age than their peers. Gifted students may appear to be great kids and well-adjusted, receiving good grades in school, but they may suffer from feelings of inadequacy because their successes fall short of their ideals.”
When she accepted the Conn Chair in 1989, Sisk brought a wealth of experience in education for gifted and talented students, ranging from teaching in public schools to service in Washington, D.C., as director of the Office of Gifted and Talented Education and as professor of special education and coordinator of teacher training in gifted education at the University of South Florida.
Sisk earned her doctorate in education from the University of California at Los Angeles, with emphasis on educational psychology, curriculum and instruction and special education; master of arts from California State University, Long Beach, Calif., in educational leadership/psychology; and bachelor of science from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, in psychology/education.
Recalling her years in Washington, she has fond memories of involvement with President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who took a special interest in gifted education because of their daughter, Amy. “Mrs. Carter would call on a regular basis,” Sisk said. “We arranged for Amy to have intellectual tests and, because I identified school programs for her, I found myself in audience with the first lady.”
George H.W. Bush was vice president during Sisk’s earlier years in Washington, and she credits him with advances in gifted education. On one occasion, he hosted a reception for senators and representatives to spotlight gifted education. She arranged for a group of gifted children to attend, promoting one-on-one exchanges with the congressional guests.
“I looked around, and everyone had a child talking to them,” said Sisk. “Then Vice Presideent George Bush jumped up on a table and began talking about gifted education. It was absolutely amazing. He had done his homework, and the support we received for the Javits bill was a direct result of that.”
The Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Act, passed in 1988, is the only federal program dedicated specifically to gifted and talented students.
On the state level, Sisk got to know another future president, George W. Bush, when he was governor. Working with Laura Bush and her efforts to promote reading, Sisk wrote a grant for a program called “100 Mothers Read.” Tests revealed children participating in the project began reading at well above their age levels. “The achievements of the students were phenomenal, and the involvement of their parents was super too,” Sisk said.
Her international speaking destinations have included Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Netherlands, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey. She is a frequent speaker at local schools. Sisk is a charter member of the World Council for Gifted and Talented, which organized in 1975. The president of the organization, Iraj Bromand, was from Iran, which led to Sisk’s involvement in starting a school for the gifted in Tehran. When the revolution broke out in the country, the World Council president was put in prison, and Sisk, who was vice president, became its president.
She considers her work in Bulgaria a “life highlight,” originating with a World Council of Gifted and Talented colleague, Levcho Dravchev, who was his country’s chief of gifted people. Sisk conducted training with psychologists and educators in Plovdiv, a city that had maintained architecture and ambience of the 1800s. She became friends with the mayor, as well as with the president of Bulgaria, Todor Zhikov, whose daughter had a special interest in gifted education and creativity. In 1979, she took 30 gifted children from the United States to Bulgaria for a “Banner of Peace” convention.
“The kids brought their art, they brought their poetry and we had this unbelievable exhibit, so when I came back, I thought, ‘We need to do something Americans can see.’” The result was an exhibition in Washington, D.C., where “you could view art from Egypt, France and all of the different countries. We had 55 countries involved.”
While Sisk finds it difficult to single one highlight of her career at Lamar, she cites her collaboration with Jim Westgate, professor of earth and space sciences, and the Texas Governor’s Program among the most meaningful.
She and Westgate recently received a $190,000 Teacher Quality Program grant from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Their Scientist-in-the Schools project brought teachers together with high-potential students on the Lamar campus for special seminars.
“The student achievement level increased dramatically,” Sisk said. “We found that of the 600 kids we worked with over a five-year period, 52 percent were able to qualify for the gifted program. In this program, both teachers and students maximized their talents.”
During the Texas Governor’s Program, Sisk said, “I live in the dorm for three weeks with the students. They’re 16-year-olds – high-achieving, high-ability kids from all over the state – and their enthusiasm and passion for learning are phenomenal.”
Looking to the future, Sisk points to a grant she has written to establish a Virtual Center that will address critical issues: English-language learners, special education and gifted education.
A large part of Sisk’s Lamar experience was her beloved home on the beach at Gilchrist – not only her sanctuary but also the setting for classes and seminars. Hurricane Ike leveled the house, destroying a lifetime of books, art from all over the world and cherished mementoes. “I lost everything,” she said. After more than a year, she hopes to be settled soon in a new home.
Sisk has dozens of international and national honors to her credit, including the International Research Council Commendation Award, Creative Education Foundation Hall of Fame, Australian Environment Education Association Council Award and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the American Creativity Association and the World Council for Gifted and Talented. She has served on editorial boards of the Journal of Creative Behavior, Gifted Education International (guest editor, 2007-2009), Understanding Our Gifts, Illinois Journal of Education and Gifted and Talented International.
Dianna Rivers, associate professor of nursing, was the 2008 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer. Other honorees have been Donna Birdwell, anthropology; Christine Bridges-Esser, Spanish; Keith Carter and Jerry Newman, art; Richard Harrel, biology; Jean Andrews, deaf studies/deaf education; Sam Parigi, economics; R.S. “Sam” Gwynn and Jim Sanderson, English; Kenneth Rivers, French; Jim Jordan, William Pampe and Jim Westgate, geology; John Carroll, Ronald Fritze, John Storey, J. Lee Thompson and Naaman Woodland, history; Joe Pizzo, physics; Terri Davis, political science; and James Esser, psychology.
