"Accelerated Schools Plus is a national endeavor designed to transform whole school communities – especially those set apart by high poverty, low academic performance and remediation -- to enriched environments characterized by accelerated instruction and gifted and talented teaching strategies that have been traditionally reserved for only the top 5% of students. Accelerated School Project was conceived, founded, and developed by Professor Henry M. Levin at Stanford University in 1986, to address these communities and the questions and challenges presented in the 1983 report, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform (United States Department of Education, 1983)."
Project REAL addresses the unique needs of rural school districts, educators, students and their parents. Project REAL provides programs, research networking, and support to increase academic performance for gifted rural students, increase availability of professional development opportunities for educators in rural schools and increase Pennsylvania's capacity to provide effective gifted education programs for all students.
The College of DuPage offers gifted students in grades 3 - 12 the opportunity to take courses in math, science, information technology, problem solving, literature, language and writing. Located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, this talent search admits students who score in the 95th percentile or higher on a qualifying standardized test.
Academic Talent Search is sponsored by California State University Sacramento and is designed for high achieving students currently enrolled in sixth through ninth grade. The benefits of ATS include: providing students with an opportunity to accelerate their learning in traditional subjects like mathematics and to experience new topics which are not always available in regular schools; the ATS teaching staff includes University faculty, community college professors, high school instructors and industry professionals; through ATS, students have the opportunity to experience a collegiate environment. Classes are held on the University campus; ATS brings students together with intellectual peers from the Sacramento Valley region, allowing them to make new friends and improve social skills.
This is a book that discusses many factors concerning acceleration, including age, acceleration from preschool to college, current school district policies, and effects of acceleration from a social and emotional standpoint. Available options and resources are some of the topics discussed.
"A well-written, extremely useful guide for parents and educators who wish to provide gifted students an opportunity to learn at a pace and level appropriate to their abilities. Offers valuable insight on the social and emotional aspects of effective acceleration." ~Jan Davidson, President and Cofounder, Davidson Institute for Talent Development
This older book contains a series of articles on the status of both acceleration and enrichment during the last quarter of the 20th century. A variety of authors, many drawn from the early days of the talent search programs, describe the history of both models of educational service delivery, a variety of strategies for both enrichment and acceleration, and discuss early talent search findings.
The most influential works on acceleration and grouping practices for the gifted are gathered in this volume, which covers concerns about the effectiveness of such techniques, presents research on the optimal conditions and methods for the utilization of grouping and/or acceleration, and describes effective programmatic initiatives. (Source: Amazon.com)
The Iowa Acceleration Scale, developed and tested by Drs. Assouline and Colangelo, provides a systematic and thorough approach to considering and implementing academic acceleration for gifted and talented students in grades K-8. The accompanying manual provides background case examples and specific guidelines.
This annotated bibliography is by Miraca Gross and Helen van Vliet. It provides a compilation of international research on highly gifted children who graduate from high school three or more years early. This bibliography is published by the Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC) under a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. Click here to read a review of this bibliography.
Whether to admit a student into school earlier than the mandated age or advance a student ahead of his or her chronological peers remains for educators, parents, and students alike an issue of continuing concern and debate. The Academic Acceleration of Gifted Children provides a major review of the history and background issues surrounding this topic, past and present research, and the current state of the implementation of accelerative practices in American schools.
Compiled by members of a National Work Group on Acceleration representing the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA), the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), and the Council of State Directors of Programs for the Gifted, this document is meant to provide guidance and to encourage the systematic adoption and practice of acceleration in schools across the nation. The Guidelines document can assist schools in writing and modifying acceleration policy that is suited to local needs and adheres to research-based best practices.
Some of America's brightest gifted students are held back and left behind, according to The Templeton National Report on Acceleration. This easy-to-read, user-friendly report explains why many schools, parents and teachers have not yet come to terms with acceleration - despite overwhelming evidence in its favor. Teachers and parents are presented information on early-entrance, grade skipping, the AP program and early college. Comments are accepted; this report can be downloaded online.
This article, written by a parent as a background paper for a school district advisory committee, provides a look at acceleration vs. enrichment. Includes research on acceleration, the benefits and effects, appropriateness, and ability grouping as an enhancement or alternative. It addresses the concerns acceleration raises, including academic and non-academic issues.
Find gifted online courses for Middle and High School. Courses include both faculty- and computer-evaluated lessons. The University of Missouri-Columbia High School provides an accredited diploma program for students with a need for an alternative to traditional high school. There is also a Dual Enrollment program allowing qualified high school students to enroll in university-level courses offered through CDIS while paying only 50 percent of the normal University of Missouri educational fees.
The Early Experience Program is designed for high school students with exceptional academic ability who wish to enrich or accelerate their education with university-level courses. The program is offered during the traditional school year and in the summer. Eligible students take regular University of Denver courses for college credit while still in high school. Participating students have taken courses in computer science, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, statistics, physics, accounting, engineering, art, foreign languages, history, psychology, music, sociology, literature, business, and political science. The program provides course selection advising and follow-up counseling. This is a commuter only program.
This distance learning program, offered through Stanford University, is dedicated to the advancement of education among gifted students. The Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY) provides computer-based multimedia courses in Mathematics, Physics, English, Computer Programming and other subjects for high-ability students. Combining technical and instructional expertise, EPGY equips gifted and talented students of all ages with an individualized educational experience, optimized in both pace and content. EPGY also sponsors EPGY-OHS, a new online high school, as well as many summer programs.
EPGY Online High School (EPGY-OHS)
EPGY Summer Programs
"The University of Central Florida is a public, multi-campus, metropolitan research university, dedicated to serving its surrounding communities with their diverse and expanding populations, technological corridors, and international partners. The mission of the university is to offer high-quality undergraduate and graduate education, student development, and continuing education; to conduct research and creative activities; and to provide services that enhance the intellectual, cultural, environmental, and economic development of the metropolitan region, address national and international issues in key areas, establish UCF as a major presence, and contribute to the global community. "
The mission of the University of Missouri High School is to provide distance learning courses, through a variety of delivery methods, that will complement traditional high school curricula and provide an accredited diploma program for independent learners of all ages seeking an alternative to traditional high school attendance.
This GT program is charged with identifying academically gifted students and providing for the special needs of these students. Gifted students tend to learn at a remarkably rapid rate, to be extremely sensitive and intense. The characteristics of gifted students create special needs which the Fort Bend ISD/GT Program is designed to meet.
A college preparatory program for gifted students, USP is a cyber-blended gifted program within a Charter School offering specialized gifted education curriculum for grades K-12.
This Michigan State University Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program is available to students in Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, and Shiawassee Intermediate School Districts in Michigan. Mathematically gifted students are able to complete the required four years of high school math in two years through CHAMP. Students meet on Thursday afternoons each week on the MSU campus.
UMTYMP provides a challenging alternative to grade 8-12 mathematics coursework for Minnesota's talented mathematics students in grades 5-12. The highly accelerated courses are specially designed to provide these students with an intense academic environment that will stimulate their mathematical interest and abilities.
This school's campus includes three computer technology labs, an olympic-size swimming pool, a basketball court, nine full science labs, as well as classrooms specifically designed to support the visual and performing arts. Some of the programs include the Talented and Gifted program (TAG), Connected Math, weekly student banking, the National Junior Honor Society.
Course content is based on major thematic elements found in the Arizona State Standards for seventh grade and eighth grades. By featuring thematic elements, the content encompasses multiple subjects simultaneously.
The Gifted and Talented Program is available for all Edison students who qualify based on potential. Identifiable characteristics, extraordinary abilities and accomplishments and/or demonstrated needs. High acheiving students may be placed in the HGT classrooms on a space available basis as well as meeting specified criteria.
Forsyth County offers gifted-friendly programming such as the Highly Academically Gifted Program (HAG) where the most gifted students can attend a separate school. Guilford County has an Advanced Learner (AL) Program that provides 3 leves of services - Moderate Need, Strong Need, and Very Strong Need. The VSN program is available to students grades 4-8.
The Sarasota County north area Magnet Program for Gifted Students is housed at Fruitville and provides services for eligible students in an elementary school setting while preparing them to move on to other sites for the middle school years. This program is for students enrolled in grades 1-5.
Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programs promote differentiated educational programs for students in grade school, middle school and high school.
"The Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC) delivers a challenging, accelerated education in mathematics, science and technology to selected students, grades 9 thru 12 in Kalamazoo County. Students can apply to the program in the eighth grade, and if accepted, spend a half-day at KAMSC in intensive mathematics, sciences and/or computer courses."
This distance learning program is a self-paced, independent study high school. Courses can be taken by correspondence or online.
Lakewood City Schools provide an exceptional program for gifted students and encourage subject acceleration as well as artistic and creative learning.
"The Maricopa Community Colleges are decidedly distinct, serving a quarter million students annually through colleges, skill centers and multiple campuses and sites. With more than 1,000 business partnerships, charter high schools, advanced health care training, biotechnology opportunities and unique career offerings, the Maricopa Community Colleges quickly respond to the training and educational needs of our changing communities."
School City of Mishawaka offers High Ability programs for elementary, middle and high school students.
"Pine Crest is home to one of the six Centers for the Highly Gifted in Montgomery County Public Schools. Selected students from the elementary schools in the Blair, Einstein, and Kennedy Clusters attend our Center. The goal of the program is to provide exceptionally gifted and motivated 4th and 5th grade students with a full-time instructional program that is accelerated and enriched. It is designed for students who learn at a faster pace and who can handle advanced concepts of greater complexity."
This program is an excellent resource for highly gifted students seeking the educational opportunities that best fit their unique needs and abilities. Madison School District students (grades 1-8) in the REACH program participate in a number of exploration opportunities and school activities designed to teach leadership. REACH is open to students with a percentile score of 97 or higher on a state-board approved test for gifted services, or a composite score of 139 or higher on a state-board approved measure.
Described as "A Program for Highly Capable Learners," the Challenge Program is designed to meet the unique learning needs of students with demonstrated intellectual ability and/or potential in terms of cognitive capacity, academic achievement, and/or exceptional creativity. Located in three elementary and three middle schools, VANSD offers part of its public education classes (K-8 grades) wtih accelerated curriculum.
This short editorial by the then-president of the National Association for the Education of Young Children clarifies the author's position on "hurrying" (Elkind is also author of the book The Hurried Child).
This article, from the Queensland Association for Gifted and Talented Children, focues on the fact that "Acceleration is more than just grade skipping."
This background paper was created for the Portland Public School District Talented and Gifted Advisory Committee. The article includes discussion of acceleration and enrichment, research concerning the effects of acceleration, the academic effects of acceleration, book references and more.
This is a well-written, informative, article addressing the question of why acceleration is a good idea. The sources cited in the article reflect a broad range of professionals in the field -- all of whom are well-known. Additionally, it is brief and concise, making it a great article for parents to bring to educators during the advocacy process.
The purpose of this article, by Michael C. Pyryt, is to describe ways of challenging gifted students through accelerative practice.
This website was created by Lauren Betancourt, author of "You're gonna miss the prom?", an early college graduate (16), and serves as a resource for other students that are looking for resources regarding acceleration and early college.
This is a list of guidelines for acceleration that has been designed for use by schools.
The Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) is dedicated to the study of curricular acceleration for academically talented students. This is the map of the acceleration practices and policies in each of the 50 states.
This interview between Center for Talent Development director Paula Olszewski-Kubilius, Ph.D and her former student, Issac Greenspan discusses his education from elementary school to high school. Issac reviewed his experience in various programs that would accommodate his accelerated academic pace. In addition to these programs, he also describes his social growth and the importance of parent advocacy and teacher mentoring.
This is one parent's true account of how he accelerated his own child. He discusses his strategy for facilitating radical acceleration. "Last year, when M was eight, he entered high school. Because he had been so emotionally fragile in elementary school and due to his age, I would not allow the school to dictate his class schedule, nor would I allow M to take as many classes as the average high school student."
This is a true success story of a young boy who initially had an opportunity to learn at his own pace with a mentor. After he began to excel in this area, he was able to formally accelerate within the school system.
This article, by John Cloud, asks the question "Are schools leaving the most gifted children behind if they don't allow them to skip ahead?"
This article, by Sharon J. Lynch, discusses the topic of acceleration of gifted students. It answers such questions as:
- Is Educational Acceleration Harmful to the Child Academically?
- But Won't There Be Gaps in the Child's Knowledge?
- Is Educational Acceleration Harmful to the Child Emotionally or Socially?
- What Do Educators Think of the Educational Acceleration Option?
And much more...
Since 1973, outstanding young people have been attending the Governor's Schools in Virginia. Governor’s Schools provide gifted students academic and visual and performing arts opportunities beyond those normally available to them. Choice from summer residential, summer regional and academic-year programs.