1. Washington Association of Educators of the Talented & Gifted holds an annual conference that provides sessions on an array of topics relevant to educating highly capable students. https://www.waetag.com/events.html

2. Robinson Center for Young Scholars at the University of Washington holds periodic professional development opportunities for educators, often in the January and again in July. (Seattle, WA) https://robinsoncenter.uw.edu/programs/professional-development/ 

3. Gifted Education Institutes at Whitworth University are usually held in late June. The purpose is typically to provide teachers and administrators with the knowledge and skills to design and use high-quality curriculum within effective programs for advanced learners. The focus will be on identifying and developing strengths and interests of students, using cluster grouping and designing high-quality differentiation in the content areas to promote continuous growth in our students. (Spokane, WA) https://www.whitworth.edu/cms/academics/graduate-studies-in-education/center-for-gifted-education/professional-development/

4. Pacific Northwest AP Institute provides pre-AP sessions in the subjects of language arts, math, and science. These sessions held in late June provide practical approached to increasing rigor that prepares students to benefit from Advanced Placement classes in high school (Bellevue, WA) http://www.bsd405.org/api/ 

5. Edufestis the Northwest’s premier summer conference on gifted and talented education. Keynotes, Institutes, Strands, and Special Topic presentations are by internationally and nationally recognized experts in the field of gifted and talented education.  Topics focus on the 21st Century Learning, Common Core, Differentiation, STEM and Creativity. Along with learning about gifted children’s unique characteristics and ways to address their distinct educational, social and emotional needs, participants will also discover many meaningful, energizing, and fun ways to differentiate for children of all ability levels. There are sessions about learning and teaching strategies for implementing the Core Subjects and the Essential Skills, including assessment, curriculum and instruction, professional development and learning environments for gifted and advanced students. (Held in July in Boise, ID) https://sites.google.com/site/edufestbeta/

Auburn Educators interested in attending should contact Tom McDermott, Assistant Director for College & Career Readiness at (253) 931 4950 or tmcdermott@auburn.wednet.edu