Acceleration

Acceleration occurs when students move through traditional curriculum at rates faster than typical. There are two broad categories of acceleration: grade-based and content-based. [1, 2] Among the many forms of acceleration are grade-skipping, early entrance to kindergarten or college, dual-credit courses such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs and subject-based acceleration (e.g., when a fifth-grade student takes a middle school math course). Many researchers consider acceleration to be “appropriate educational planning. It means matching the level and complexity of the curriculum with the readiness and motivation of the student” (p. 66). [3]

Research Supports Academic Acceleration

• In a 35-year longitudinal study of gifted, highly gifted, and profoundly gifted students, implementing best practices of presenting students with an educational curriculum at a depth and pace commensurate with their assimilation of new knowledge (acceleration), neither social nor emotional development is compromised. Literature suggests those students who were accelerated had few regrets, if anything, they tended to wish they had more acceleration. [4] In addition, in a series of interviews with students who were accelerated, an overwhelming majority of these students said that acceleration was an “excellent experience” for them. [5]

• Some argue that acceleration can be harmful to students’ self-concept, ability to fit in with older peers, or other social-emotional needs. However, research on acceleration has demonstrated multiple academic benefits to students and suggests that acceleration does not harm students. Social impacts differ based on the type of acceleration; however, researchers overall have seen no effect or positive effects on students’ social and psychological adjustments. [6]

• Moderate academic effects and slight positive social and psychological effects were found for early entrance to kindergarten [7]. In one study, students who were allowed early entrance to elementary school averaged 6 months ahead in achievement when compared to their age peers during the same year. Additionally, these students showed improvement in socialization and self-esteem compared to slight difficulties faced by advanced students who were not accelerated. [8]

• In another study, researchers noted that a sample of students who had participated in whole-grade acceleration were not noticeably different in their perceived interpersonal competence (including interacting with others and their ability to form friendships) when compared to a heterogeneous group of students in the norming sample. In addition, the researchers found that the academically gifted students had higher academic self-concepts and more positive overall self-concepts than their peers in the comparison group. [9]

• Accelerated students have also been shown to outperform nonaccelerated peers academically in the long term. A longitudinal study of students highly talented in mathematics showed that students who skipped a grade were more likely to obtain graduate degrees, publish work, and receive patents in the STEM areas [10], and Researchers summarized acceleration research findings to be that overall, acceleration influences high-ability students’ academic achievement in positive ways, and that these students outperform peers in other areas, including scores on standardized tests, grades in college, and the status of the universities they attend and their later career paths [11, 12]. Accelerated students outperformed comparable nonaccelerated peers in standardized tests (mathematics sections of PSAT/NMQT, SAT, and most ACT sections) and earned higher grades in high school and in college. [13]

• Acceleration is a cost-effective intervention. Grade-based forms cost little to implement, and yield societal benefits in that students complete schooling ahead of schedule and become productive adults earlier in their lives. Costs of subject-based forms may be slightly higher, but still less prohibitive than other forms of gifted programming. [14]