ACADEMIC RESEARCH FAVORING EARLY ACCELERATION

 

The following are excerpts for numerous research findings.  The work is not my own.  Please refer to the references, provided. 

 

• The analytical logic of research in the Xin Ma study published in Contemporary Psychology 30 (2005) 439-460, defines the effectiveness of early acceleration of students into formal algebra at the beginning of middle school according to a comparison on rates of growth in four mathematical areas (basic skills, algebra, geometry, and quantitative literacy) during the entire middle and high school between students who were accelerated and not accelerated. Relatively, algebra and geometry represent more challenging mathematical topics and should be the focus when assessing the effectiveness of early acceleration of students into formal algebra at the beginning of middle school.

 

• Rates of growth were estimated for the four mathematical areas (basic skills, algebra, geometry, and quantitative literacy).   Students (schools) who grew faster in basic skills also grew faster in algebra, geometry, and quantitative literacy. The highest correlation was between algebra and geometry (0.96) among students and between algebra and quantitative literacy (0.98) among schools.  Overall, students who were accelerated into formal algebra, at the beginning of middle school, grew faster than students who were not accelerated in all mathematical areas, regardless of their mathematics achievement at the beginning of middle school. Early acceleration was related to consistent changes in rank in rates of growth.  

 

• Different hypotheses can be offered to explain why early acceleration of students into formal algebra is important to growth in mathematics achievement, especially for low achieving students. One hypothesis can be directly framed based on the work of Alexander (1997, 2003). The challenge of more advanced mathematical problems that students regularly encounter in early access to formal algebra prevents boredom and motivates them to invest more effort into the learning of mathematics. In particular, students’ individual interest in mathematics is likely to rise relative to problems that are matched well to their level of domain knowledge in mathematics (Alexander, 1997, 2003). As a result, ‘‘early access to algebra [may regulate] access both to advanced coursework and increased achievement in high school’’ (Smith, 1996, p. 141).  

 

• The Xin Ma study clearly indicates that there was considerable stability of growth across the four mathematical areas among both students and schools, with most correlations above 0.90. Students who grew faster in one mathematical area also grew faster in other mathematical areas. Recall that correlation as a measure of stability indicates the consistency in rank rather than amount of growth. Therefore, students’ ranks or positions in rates of growth were fairly consistent across the four mathematical areas.  

 

           References

 

• Alexander, P. A. (1997). Mapping the multidimensional nature of domain learning: The interplay of cognitive, motivational, and strategic forces. In P. R. Pintrich & M. L. Maehr (Eds.). Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 213–250). Greenwich: CT: JAI. 

 

• Alexander, P. A. (2003). The development of expertise: The journey from acclimation to proficiency. Educational Researcher, 32, 10–14. 

 

• Smith, J. B. (1996). Does an extra year make any difference? The impact of early access to algebra on long- term gains in mathematics attainment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 18, 141–153. 

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• According to Cathy Seeley, NCTM President 2004-2006 in the NCTM News Bulletin, March 2005, any system offering algebra in early middle school should seriously consider two important points.  First, how can the system ensure that students develop the skills and thinking that comprise a rich middle school program? And second, what lie ahead for students at the other end of their high school mathematics sequence.

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• To answer the first question, our two-year, A/B programming incorporates great depth and breadth of math skills, 6th grade and 7th grade fluency standards, tremendous quantitative literacy skills, extra richness in high school functions, algebra, and modeling.  The second question is addressed by nearby high schools offering AP Calculus, AP Stats and Calc 3, and little tendency of the 6th Grade Algebra A Pathway student that has been educated by our Executive Director to stop pursuing mathematics, while dominating the Calc 3 student population, in the public school district, in the immediate vicinity.

 

• The evidence in favor of acceleration for highly gifted children is unambiguous and overwhelming.  

 

• In 1984, Kulik and Kulik carried out a meta-analysis of 26 controlled studies on the effects of acceleration.  They concluded that the accelerated students surpassed the matched non-accelerates of the same age by nearly a full grade level.  "The overall message from the thirteen studies [that used same-age controls] were unequivocal: acceleration contributes to achievement."

 

• A study carried out by the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins in 1994 found that 95% of the 175 youths in the study perceived positive consequences from acceleration.  The minor negative social consequences would not apply in Montclair, where accelerated students are kept in their same age/peer cohorts.  

 

• In a summary provided for the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) clearing house of disabilities and gifted education, Sharon Lynch wrote that acceleration, either in the form of grade skipping or single subject acceleration is "appropriate for children who are intellectually and academically capable of learning at a faster pace and in greater depth than their same-age peers, and who are motivated to do so. Insisting that gifted and talented students remain with their [lesser talented classmates] at all costs may exact too high a cost.

 

• Even such authors as Robert Slavin, the leading proponent of "cooperative learning" in place of ability grouping, and David Elkind, author of The Hurried Child agree that acceleration is appropriate for very bright children. Elkind has objected to the use of the word itself as inappropriate, "the wrong term to employ when describing the promotion of gifted children," but appears to have no objections to the practice, which he calls "tailoring" and considers a "developmentally appropriate teaching practice," "which should be undertaken at all age levels."

 

• Slavin, author of the most widely cited work on the benefits of cooperative learning, has commented that "gifted programs... are most justifiable when the content of the special program represents true acceleration, or in any case a markedly different curriculum which would be inappropriate for average or low achievers.

 

• In a review provided for gifted students by Johns Hopkins in 1994, Lesley Mackay commented that: "Acceleration's potential as an escape hatch from boredom is extremely important. The lack of challenge ... in school is not only tragic, it's damaging. 

 

• Dr. Julian Stanley, Director of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth at Johns Hopkins, believes that adhering to conventional academic timetables can compromise the futures of highly able students. While the accelerants with whom Dr. Stanley works have almost all enjoyed very successful college careers, talented students who complete high school entirely in step with their age-peers may have more trouble in college. One possible explanation: academic boredom at a young age can lead to lack of motivation and less developed work habits"

 

• Halbert Robinson pointed out in 1983 that gifted children seem to be at risk for poor study habits, disorganization, and an inability to learn from oral instruction. Often these problems result from the fact that the student has never had to develop these skills because s/he has always been in undemanding classes. 

 

• Indeed, the entering 6th grade cohorts encountered by our Executive Director, almost at the 100% level, reveal that they never studied in elementary school.  They never took notes.   They finished their homework in school, while the teacher was teaching the other students in the class.  However, they have found the robust curricula of the A/B courses more than challenging.

 

• Karen Rogers in 1991 and Kulik in 1992 found that the benefits of acceleration for such children are substantially greater than those of enrichment: when high-ability students were grouped and offered a standard curriculum they outperformed matched controls by one month; with "tailored instruction" they outperformed peers by three or more months; when they were offered an enriched curriculum they exceeded peers in mixed classes by four to five months; and when they were offered an accelerated curriculum they outperformed peers by nearly a full year.

 

           References

 

• Kulik, James A., and Kulik, Chen-Lin C., "Effects of accelerated instruction on students," (1984) rpt. in CTY, Academic Acceleration, Knowing Your Options (1995), pp. 90-108

 

• Center for Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Identifying and Cultivating Talent in Preschool and Elementary School Children (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994)

 

• Lynch, Sharon, "Should gifted students be grade advanced?", (U.S. Dept of Education, Office of Educational Research, On-Line article, ERIC Digests, ERIC. http://www.cec.sped.org/gifted/gt-diges.htm

 

• "Slavin, Robert E.,"Academic Programming for the Gifted", (1988) rpt. in CTY, Ability Grouping and Cooperative Learning, (1994) pp. 123-5

 

• Slavin, Robert E. and Robinson, Ann, "Point-Counterpoint: Ability grouping, cooperative learning and the gifted" Journal for the Education of the Gifted 14, no. 1 (1990) 3-36

 

• Elkind, David,The Hurried Child, (Reading, MA, Menlo Park CA: Addison-Wesley,1981)

 

• MacKay, Lesley, "Acceleration: evaluating the Controversy over Higher-Speed Education," (1994) rpt. in Academic Acceleration, Knowing Your Options, (1995) pp. 1-6

 

• Robinson, Halbert B.,"A case for radical acceleration: programs of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington," (1983) rpt. in CTY, Acceleration, topical packet

 

• ​The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) has published four extensive longitudinal reports. Collectively, they contain evaluations of the subjective feelings and educational-vocational outcomes of thousands of participants, from five cohorts assembled over three decades (Lubinski & Benbow, 1994), who have experienced many different kinds of educational acceleration (Benbow, Lubinski, Shea, & Eftekhari-Sanjani, 2000; Bleske-Rechek, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2004; Lubinski, Benbow, Shea, Eftekhari-Sanjani, & Halvorson, 2001; Lubinski, Webb, Morelock, & Benbow, 2001). 

 

• Summary of Empirical Findings:  Overall, these four studies paint a clear picture. Being responsive to individual differences in learning rates facilitates achievement and learning, and the subjective impressions of intellectually precocious participants who experienced such opportunities view them positively well into adulthood. Intellectually precocious students who experience educational acceleration in middle school and high school view their pre-college educational experiences much more positively than their intellectual peers who were deprived of such experiences.

 

           References

 

• A Nation Deceived: How Schools Holds Back America’s Brightest Students volume II The Templeton National Report on Acceleration

 

• Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (1994). The study of mathematically precocious youth: The first three decades of a planned 50-year study of intellectual talent. In R. F. Subotnik & K. D. Arnold (Eds.), Beyond Terman: Contemporary longitudinal studies of giftedness and talent (pp. 255–281). Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing. 

 

• Benbow, C. P., Lubinski, D., Shea, D. L., & Eftekhari-Sanjani, H. (2000). Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability at age 13: Their status 20 years later. Psychological Science, 11, 474–480. 

 

• Bleske-Rechek, A., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2004). Meeting the educational needs of special populations: advanced placement’s role in developing exceptional human capital. Psychological Science, 15, 217–224. 

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• Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., Shea, D. L., Eftekhari- Sanjani, H., & Halvorson, M. B. J. (2001). Men and women at promise for scientific excel- lence: Similarity not dissimilarity. Psychological Science, 12, 309–317. 

 

• Lubinski, D.,Webb, R. M., Morelock, M. J., & Ben- bow, C. P. (2001).Top 1 in 10,000: A 10-year follow-up of the profoundly gifted. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 718–729. 

 

• Professor Miraca Gross has conducted a unique longitudinal study of 60 exceptionally and profoundly gifted children in Australia, a country whose educational system and curriculum is very similar to that of the UK, and which performs at similar levels in international comparisons such as TIMSS and PIRLS (although see note * at bottom of page). She was able to follow the children across 20 years, through their school and University careers and into adult life. Her study is unique in having such a large number of exceptionally and profoundly gifted participants for such a long time, and in being able to compare the outcomes of different educational strategies on children of equal intelligence. She writes:

 

 

• “In every case, the young people who have radically accelerated have found both outstanding academic success and the ‘sure shelter’ of a warm and supportive friendship group.”

 

• “A 20-year longitudinal study has traced the academic, social, and emotional development of 60 young Australians with IQs of 160 and above. Significant differences have been noted in the young people’s educational status and direction, life satisfaction, social relationships, and self-esteem as a function of the degree of academic acceleration their schools permitted them in childhood and adolescence. The considerable majority of young people who have been radically accelerated, or who accelerated by 2 years, report high degrees of life satisfaction, have taken research degrees at leading universities, have professional careers, and report facilitative social and love relationships. Young people of equal abilities who accelerated by only 1 year or who have not been permitted acceleration have tended to enter less academically rigorous college courses, report lower levels of life satisfaction, and in many cases, experience significant difficulties with socialization. Several did not graduate from college or high school. Without exception, these young people possess multiple talents; however, for some, the extent and direction of talent development has been dictated by their schools’ academic priorities or their teachers’ willingness or unwillingness to assist in the development of particular talent areas.”

 

• Exceptionally Gifted Children: Long-Term Outcomes of Academic Acceleration and Non-acceleration In Journal for the Education of the Gifted 2006 29, p. 404-429

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