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A signal event in the life of ATDP is taking place...

The book on ATDP--Every Child's Right: Academic Talent Development by Choice, not Chance--by Lauren A. Sosniak and ATDP Director Nina Hersch Gabelko, is being published by Teacher's College Press (and may be purchased online at Barnes & Noble).

No child should have to be identified as "gifted" in order to benefit from a rich, challenging learning experience. This book tells the story of the Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) at UC Berkeley, an example of a long-standing, self-supporting summer program that shifted from "mining" to "growing" talent. The authors provide an insider's view of the teachers, students, curriculum, and school culture as a model for creating academic enrichments programs in and out of school. Advocating for a more inclusive view of talent and its development, this lively book:

• Examines a well-respected talent development program that serves children and youth beyond the more typical group identified as"gifted."

• Describes practices that have been successful with elementary students as well as high school students preparing to enter college.

• Offers compelling portraits of real children delighting in intellectually demanding and engaging learning.

• Identifies what is required of society and schools to offer an ATDP-type of education to all children in all classrooms.

Read what others have had to say about Every Child's Right:

"A brilliant and eye-opening account of a university-style education for primary and secondary students. The writing is rich, the examples are evocative, and the voices of children and their teachers inspire! Here, talent is nurtured in all students, with powerful consequences. This is truly Ôgifted education' in action, not education for the gifted. Gabelko and Sosniak make an important contribution to the debate about gifted education and education in general."
--Rhona S. Weinstein, author, Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling


"Sosniak and Gabelko, two masterful storytellers, share Berkeley's best kept secret - the incredible success of the Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP). They make a powerful and compelling case for focusing more attention and resources on developing talent among youth from all socioeconomic backgrounds. ATDP, with its K-12 partners, has prepared a new generation of leaders, including many from rural and urban communities with historically low college-going rates. This book provides renewed hope and inspiration for educators, policymakers and others who are working to eliminate the achievement gap that exists in too many K-12 schools."
--Joseph I. Castro, Ph.D., Associate Vice Chancellor, Student Academic Affairs, University of California, San Francisco


"Nina Gabelko has always demonstrated how education at its very best motivates and inspires. I know this because she was my teacher 30 years ago! In Every Child's Right, Nina and Lauren Sosniak provide convincing examples of how educational privilege can cross longstanding racial and economic boundaries. I hope that every parent, teacher, and educational policymaker concerned with educational excellence will read this powerful and affecting book."
--Brian Copeland, author, Not a Genuine Black Man


"As a former student of Flossie Lewis's, I read this dynamic and comprehensive book with one eye on my lucky past and one on a better future. I hope every educator reads it, as Mrs. Lewis is apparently too lazy to teach every single child in America herself."
--Daniel Handler, author and screenwriter, best known for his work under his pen name, Lemony Snicket.

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