Gifted Education102:

How to Meet GiftedStudents' Needs

MANY OPTIONSYou know from Gifted 101 that acceleration means moving through the curriculum at amore rapid pace or younger age than is typical. A student might:

EnterKindergartenor 1st gradeearly

Dual-enroll inhigh schooland college

Graduate earlyfrom highschool

Skip a grade

Receivecurriculumcompacting

Participate inextracurricularprograms

Move ahead ina specificsubject area

Enroll indistancelearning

Take AP, IB,and/or honorscourses

It's important to note that the policiesand culture of many schools may resistacceleration, despite the researchsupporting it (seenationempowered.org).

Creating an acceleration policy is acrucial first step to ensuring all studentshave access to curriculum that fits theirneeds.

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Check out the free publication,Developing Academic AccelerationPolicies, new from the Belin-BlankCenter and NAGC!

ACCELERATIONINSTITUTE.ORGVisit the Acceleration Institute website (1) for an extensive list of the various types ofacceleration.

A CLOSER LOOKLet's take a closer look at some of the many options for challenging bright students.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT(AP) COURSES

Offer college-level work tostudents before theygraduate from highschool.

Provide students withchallenging work for whichthey also may earn collegecredit.

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Students take a course atone level and receiveconcurrent credit for aparallel course at a higherlevel.

For example, a studentmay take algebra at themiddle school, and earncredit at both the middleschool and high schoollevel. 

INTERNATIONALBACCALAUREATE (IB)

A specialized,academically challengingeducational programoffered at authorizedschools. 

Students participating inthis program may receiveadvanced standing atselected universities.  

COMPETITIONS

Many academiccompetitions are availableto academically talentedstudents. Some do notrequire travel.

They allow students topolish their skills in aspecific area, meet otherlike-minded students, andreceive recognition.

Visit the AccelerationInstitute website     for alist of competitions.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Students receiveinstruction in a mannerthat does not requirethem to be on-site in atraditional classroom.

Courses may take placeonline or by mail and offeropportunities not availablein the local school.

Visit the AccelerationInstitute website     for alist of these opportunities.

GRADE-SKIPPING

Want to learn more about acceleration and meeting the needs of high-ability students? Visit accelerationinstitute.org

Or become qualified to teach AP courses (and others!) at the AP Teacher Training Institute.Visit belinblank.org/aptti

Students may move aheadto a higher grade or enterkindergarten, 1st grade, orcollege early.

Sources and Useful Links:

1. http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/acceleration_types.aspx 2. http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Empowered/NE_Vol2_AppendixE.pdf 3. https://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Resources/IAS.aspx 4. http://www.ibo.org/

One of the tools used tohelp make an informeddecision about gradeskipping is the IowaAcceleration Scale (IAS).

The IAS assists educatorsand parents in makingdecisions about a gradeskip or early entrance tokindergarten or first grade.

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