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Guides to Differentiation for Gifted Students

Resources to Help You Understand Differentiation Options for Gifted Students

Gifted children learn quickly, think deeply, and often grasp material several grade levels beyond peers their age. When the curriculum moves at the pace of the whole class, those abilities can turn into boredom, frustration, or underachievement. Differentiation is a tool teachers and parents can use to help gifted students adjust to what they learn, how they learn it, and how they show what they know, so the work stays genuinely challenging. This guide aggregates Davidson's articles on this topic to help you understand differentiation and advocate for it.

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Differentiating curriculum for gifted students

The content, process, product, and environment framework

Rigor vs. Challenge: A Different Way to Look at School Advocacy for Gifted Students

The advocacy reframe (output vs. input)

Types of Acceleration

Acceleration as one differentiation strategy

Educational Options for Gifted Learners

Acceleration and enrichment paths

Differentiated Instruction Strategies for Gifted Students With Examples

Strategies plus worked examples (Davidson Academy)

Curriculum Models for Gifted Learners

The models behind differentiation (Davidson Academy)

On Differentiation

Differentiation should deepen learning for gifted students—not just add more work. (Byrdseed)

Davidson Gifted Blog

Check out the latest expert articles from the Davidson Institute. Our blog covers everything - gifted education and support, parenting strategies for gifted children, social and emotional resources, gifted testing and identification, and more.

For Parents: Financial Aid for Early College Entrance

This article is adapted from Davidson Institute’s parent version of…

For Parents: Is My Child Ready for Early College Entrance?

This article is adapted from Davidson Institute’s parent version of…

For Students: A Suggested Timeline for Early College Entrance

This article is adapted from Davidson Institute’s student version of…

For Students: Financial Aid for Early College Entrance

This article is adapted from Davidson Institute’s student version of…

Davidson Gifted Perspectives Videos on Acceleration

This video series examines a number of different viewpoints related to acceleration.

Getting a Public School to Differentiate

In a recent virtual event, a family wondered what the best strategy was to get their Young Scholar’s school on board with differentiation. Differentiation is a classroom intervention where students receive different work than the majority of the class—both in input and in output. Here’s our Director of Family Services, to share a few tips and resources.

Differentiating Math in the Classroom without Students Feeling Punished

At a recent virtual event, a family shared a common challenge in advocating for differentiation: their principal suggested the student could do extra work only after finishing all regular assignments. The family sought resources to discuss a fairer plan that wouldn’t feel like a punishment.

Differentiation and Early Elementary

Our Director of Family Services discusses whether differentiation can be made “less obvious” and how to lessen anxiety around differentiated work for younger elementary school students.