CTY shares with its parent organization, the Johns Hopkins University, a three-part mission of teaching, research, and service. More specifically, CTY:
- Seeks students of the highest academic abilities through its talent search and offers them challenging educational opportunities that develop the intellect, encourage achievement, and nurture social development
- Conducts research and evaluation studies that advance knowledge about gifted education; develops best practices in educating highly able children; and disseminates its findings to parents, the education community, and policymakers
- Supports educators in their efforts to meet the needs of highly able students, assists parents in advocating for their gifted children, and participates actively in community service.
In 1972, Dr. Julian Stanley, a psychology professor at The Johns Hopkins University, first used above-grade-level aptitude tests to try to assess the abilities of highly gifted students--students who "hit the ceiling" on in-grade-level tests and so whose abilities could not be accurately assessed by in-grade-level tests. During the 1970’s, he experimented with assessment and accelerated educational programs that would identify, challenge, and reward academically able young people. Dr. Stanley used the term "talent search" to refer to the use of above-grade-level testing to identify exceptionally gifted students, and the approach has flourished. In 1979, CTY was established as an outgrowth of Dr. Stanley’s efforts. Since then, over one million students have been served through CTY’s talent searches, and CTY has expanded to offer a wide range of academic programs for highly gifted students and to conduct research, disseminate information, consult with educational organizations, advocate public policies, and offer diagnostic and counseling services. CTY’s work with educators around the world has led to the establishment of affiliated programs in Ireland, Spain, Bermuda, England and Thailand.
CTY’s programs include:
- Talent Searches for students in grades 2-8
- Academic Summer Programs for students in grades 2-12
- Distance Education for students in grades K-12
- Family Academic Conferences for students in grades 2-12 and their families
- Diagnostic and Counseling Center that serves all students in need of personalized assessment and academic advising
- Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent (SET) for students who score 700 or above on SAT-M or SAT-V before age 13.
The staff of the Study of Exceptional Talent (SET) has taken the lead in developing Cogito as an outgrowth of its efforts to serve students who exhibit exceptionally advanced academic abilities. Through SET’s award-winning magazine Imagine, newsletters, mentoring and networking opportunities, and individual and group counseling, SET helps students: identify challenging educational opportunities and resources, be exposed to mentors and role models, and find ways to interact with intellectual peers who share their interests and abilities. Cogito embodies all of these goals and elements.