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Acceleration
Ann Lupkowski Shoplik
Reprinted from C-MITES News, Fall 2000
Much has been said and written about acceleration for
gifted children. It is an emotional topic, about which many
people have incorrect assumptions. The large research base
clearly shows that acceleration works out very well for most
students who skip a grade or advance in a subject.
There are many forms of acceleration.
Grade-skipping, subject matter acceleration (where a student advances in
only one subject), and early entrance to kindergarten, high
school, or college are the major forms of acceleration.
Grade-skipping is perhaps the most “radical” form of acceleration,
where a student actually skips over one or more grade levels.
What should you think about if your student is
considering a grade skip? Here are a number of points for you to discuss:
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First, is the student ready for the advanced material?
Will the pace, depth, and level of the new material be appropriate?
Students who have already done well in their current
grade and have demonstrated mastery of topics offered in the
grade they intend to skip are good candidates for acceleration. It
is also helpful if those students have already scored in the
95th percentile or above on grade-level achievement and
aptitude tests and have an IQ of 130 or above.
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Students who are socially and emotionally mature tend
to be better candidates for acceleration. This is especially
an issue of concern for younger students. Five-year-olds
who already have six- and seven-year old playmates are better
candidates for acceleration than those who do not.
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Physical development is also an issue. Students who
are big for their age won’t look as “different” in a group of
older students. Children who are likely to be active in sports
may regret skipping a grade, and families need to think
carefully about the ramifications of their decision if they expect
the student to be involved in sports in the future.
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The “receiving teacher” is an important person in
this discussion. It is imperative that the person who will teach
the young student is accepting of the idea. Especially if a
grade-skip occurs in the middle of the school year, it is important
for the teacher to prepare the other students in the class for
the younger student. This teacher may also need to make
accommodations for the younger student. For example, a
6-year-old in a 3rd grade classroom might be able to comprehend
the material and perform well in class, but that student’s
handwriting skills might be less well-developed than grademates.
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The time to accelerate should also be considered. It’s
easier to skip a grade at the beginning of the school year than in
the middle of the school year. It’s easier to skip a grade at natural
transition points, such as when a student moves into a
new building or to a new district. It’s easier for the student
to form friendships and less likely that he or she will stand out.
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Grade-skipping vs. subject matter acceleration: If a
student has equally well-developed skills in all academic
areas, it is possible to consider a total grade skip. However,
some students aren’t ready for this, and subject-matter
acceleration might be the best alternative for that student. If a
student accelerates in one subject, the major concerns seem to
be: transportation (if the student needs to go to another
building for the more advanced subject) and scheduling (will I
miss any of my fourth grade classes if I take science with the
fifth graders?).
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The long-term ramifications of this decision are
important. An early entrant to kindergarten may be the last in
the class to get a driver’s license, the last one to be allowed
to date, etc. Also, this student will be ready for college one
or more years earlier than originally anticipated. Has the
family made adequate plans for financing the students’ college
education a year earlier?
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When a student is going to skip a grade in school, one
of the concerns is that the student might have “gaps” in his
or her academic background. Sometimes, this concern
about gaps is the reason that school personnel decide not to
accelerate a student at all. We recommend that potential
accelerants be given a curriculum-based assessment. These students
would be tested using the curriculum that is offered in
their school for the grade that they are planning to skip. The
purpose of this testing is to determine what a student knows
and doesn’t know. Say, for example, “Polly” is going to skip
6th grade. She takes the 6th grade math final exam and
correctly answers 95% of the material. Then, she works on the
material she missed before starting the 7th grade. Sometimes,
filling in the “gaps” takes as little as an hour of instructional time.
This insures that the student begins the new grade with
the same knowledge base as the other students in the grade.
Please note that, on the curriculum-based assessment, we don’t
expect a student to earn a perfect score. When a student
correctly answers 85% of the material or more, he or she
has demonstrated mastery of the material.
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Generally, we recommend that students skip only one
grade at a time. Students may need to skip another grade at a
later date, however.
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Sometimes, simple acceleration isn’t the answer.
For example, an exceptionally talented student who
accelerates one year in mathematics may find that the material in the
older grade is still presented at the same pace (too slow) as in
the regular grade. That student might need a teacher/mentor
to work with him individually, to insure that the material is
presented at the right pace and depth for this student.
Resources concerning acceleration:
The Iowa Acceleration
Scale (IAS) by Susan G. Assouline, Nicholas Colangelo, Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik, and
Jonathan Lipscomb. (Gifted Psychology Press, P.O. Box
5057, Scottsdale, AZ 85261. (602)954-4200.
www.giftedpsychologypress.com.
This scale was
developed for use by school personnel, for making decisions about
grade-skipping in kindergarten through 8th grades. It guides
educators through a discussion of academic factors, school
factors, developmental factors, interpersonal skills, and other
important factors.
The Academic Acceleration of Gifted
Children, by W. T. Southern and E. D. Jones. New York: Teachers College Press.
This book summarizes pertinent research on acceleration.
The
www.hoagiesgifted.com
website contains a great deal
of information on gifted education. See especially the page
on acceleration:
www.hoagiesgifted.org/acceler8.htm
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