A retrospective survey on evaluating an enrichment program for socioeconomically disadvantaged gifted students

Abstract

The Bright Mind Project, sponsored by Morgan Stanley Taiwan and Chinese Association of Gifted Education, was launched in 2004 and ended in 2018. With scholarships, living subsidies, enrichment courses, and counseling provided, this project was tailored for gifted senior high students of socioeconomically disadvantaged families in Taiwan. After the project ended in 2018, a retrospective tracking study was conducted to understand the students’ feedback on the project. The findings suggest that students hold a positive attitude toward the project and think it is of great help to their academic performances at school and future careers. They also believe that, with the resources obtained from the project, they have broadened their horizons, enriched their life experiences, and adopted a positive attitude toward life. Finally, students also provided suggestions for the future project like this based on their personal experiences.