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Home : 2007 : July : 3

SusanTeach
By josephineg

You wrote:

"I'm not a big fan of skipping grades. I'd love to hear from people who have had success with it, though."

I wonder why you say "you are not a big fan of skipping grades", especially when there
is so much research supporting the value and success for the gifted when it comes to acceleration.

If you don't mind my asking, where is the research that supports acceleration NOT working?

"Educational acceleration is one of the cornerstones of exemplary gifted education practices, with more research supporting this intervention than any other in the literature on

gifted individuals." (NAGC position paper, 2004).

Dr. David Elkind, president emeritus, National Association for the education of Young Children, and author of "The Hurried Child: Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon" writes in favor of acceleration, saying: "Promotion of intellectually gifted children is simply another way of attempting to match the curriculum to the child's abilities, not to accelerate those abilities." (http://hoagiesgifted.org/elkind.htm)

I'm glad your daughter found school challenging. Even with differentiated instruction done well (and most of the time it's not), most gifted children in regular classrooms are underserved (according to the research). Much of the time, I must say that I did not.

Please see: "A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America's Brightest Students" available online. It's The Templeton National Report on Acceleration, 2004.

All the best.