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The Advanced Placement (AP) program, offered by the College Board, allows students to enroll in AP courses offered through their high school and/or take AP tests. High scores on AP exams may earn students advanced credit.

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International Baccalaureate (IB) is a specialized educational program offered at authorized schools. Students who participate in this program, complete an IB high school diploma, and perform well on IB exams may receive advanced standing at selected universities.

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Students are awarded advanced credit for successfully completing some form of mastery test or activity.

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Students graduate from high school or college in three-and-a-half years or less. Generally, this is accomplished by increasing the amount of coursework undertaken each year, but it may also be accomplished through dual/concurrent enrollment, distance learning, or extracurricular programs.

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Students begin kindergarten before they are school age. Or, students begin 1st grade in their first year in school.

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Students are placed in a grade level ahead of their age level peers.

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Students could physically move to a higher-level class for instruction, or they could use higher-level curricular materials within their original classroom.

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Decisions to skip grades should be made by a group of professionals and based on data.

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Can be used in conjunction with other acceleration methods and gifted programming.

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Multiple grades are taught in the same classroom (i.e., fourth and fifth grades are combined into one class)

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Provide younger students opportunities to interact and learn material with older peers.

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The curriculum is adapted to include fewer introductory activities and less repetition.

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Adaptations should be made based on pre-assessment of content knowledge. The time saved may be used for more advanced content instruction or to participate in enrichment activities.

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Students elect to enroll in after school or summer programs or courses that confer advanced instruction and/or credit.

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https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/talent_search.htm

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The Acceleration Institute is dedicated to the study of curricular acceleration for academically talented students. Academic acceleration is one of the most effective educational interventions for gifted students.

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In this form of acceleration, students take a course at one level and receive concurrent credit for a parallel course at a higher level.

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The student takes a higher level course and earns credit that covers both the one being taken and a lower level course.

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Use of parent advocacy as well as input from professionals is advised to ensure the child is ready. Students who are ready academically, may not be ready for a full day of school physically.

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This excerpt from A Nation Empowered lists 20 different types of acceleration.

Publication: Excerpt from A Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses Holding Back America's Brightest Students
Publisher: University of Iowa College of Education Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development
Year: 2015

Twenty different types of acceleration were identified in A Nation Empowered. These forms are defined below. Additional information about relevant resources is included.
Early admission to kindergarten
In this form of acceleration, students enter kindergarten before they reach the minimum school entry age (which varies widely across states and districts). For more information, see the Early Entrance to Kindergarten page, as well as the chapter on Whole-Grade Acceleration and Early Entrance to Kindergarten in the 2015 report, A Nation Empowered.
Early admission to first grade
Students participating in this accelerative option attend first grade in their first year of school, either by skipping kindergarten entirely or by moving from kindergarten to first grade within the student's first school year.
Grade-skipping (or whole-grade acceleration)
Students are placed in a grade level ahead of chronological age peers. Decisions to grade-skip a student must be made by a team of professionals using a wide range of data. The Iowa Acceleration Scale was created to provide an objective analysis of the data to assist in the decision-making process. The 2015 report, A Nation Empowered, contains chapters on both grade-skipping and radical acceleration.
Continuous progress
Students engaging in this option are given new content as prior content is completed and mastered. The practice is considered accelerative when the student's progress outpaces that of chronological peers in rate and level.
Self-paced instruction
In self-paced instruction, students proceed through learning and instructional activities at a self-selected pace. It is distinguishable from continuous progress in that the student has control over all pacing decisions.
Subject-matter acceleration/partial acceleration (Or content-based acceleration)
Students are placed in classes with older peers for a part of the day in one or more content areas. Students could physically move to a higher-level class for instruction, or they could use higher-level curricular materials within their original classroom. Subject-matter acceleration can also be used in tandem with a number of other accelerative options, including extracurricular programs, and whole-grade acceleration. Information about subject-matter acceleration decisions in STEM subjects can be found in IDEALSolutions. Also see Developing Math Talent and other books for details about accelerating in mathematics. The chapter about Talent Searches and another chapter on Acceleration and STEM Education in A Nation Empowered provide additional details about content acceleration. The chapter about Content Acceleration in A Nation Empowered includes a special focus on adapting the Core Curriculum while accelerating gifted students.
Combined classes
Multiple grades are taught in the same classroom (i.e., fourth and fifth grades are combined into one class).Though not an accelerative option in itself, in some instances this practice may provide opportunities for younger students to engage academically and socially with older peers. It may or may not result in advanced grade placements for those younger students.
Curriculum compacting
The curriculum is adapted to include fewer introductory activities and less repetition. Adaptations should be made based on pre-assessment of content knowledge. The time saved may be used for more advanced content instruction or to participate in enrichment activities. This practice does not necessarily result in advanced grade placement.
Telescoping curriculum
Students are provided instruction in less time than is typical (e.g., completing a one-year course in a semester or completing 3 years of middle school in two years). The time saved always results in advanced grade placement.
Mentoring
Students are paired with mentors who provide advanced or faster-paced instruction. Ideally, mentorship would be used in a studentâ€™s area(s) of interest, providing them opportunities to work with professionals in a field they could see themselves entering.
Extracurricular programs
Students elect to enroll in after school or summer programs or courses that confer advanced instruction and/or credit. Talent Search programs, for example, offer accelerated classes during the summer, many of which are content-based and employ fast-paced learning. See the chapter about Talent Searches in A Nation Empowered for more information. Other extracurricular programs at the Belin-Blank Center include WINGS, Blast, and Challenge Saturdays.

Distance learning or online learning courses

Students enroll in courses offered by an organization outside of their school, through community colleges, 4-year colleges or universities, or other organizations. These courses are commonly offered online, and students can work during school hours, after school, and/or at home. Parents often pay for these courses, and one frequent goal is for the student to earn advanced credit for the work completed. The Belin-Blank Center offers the Iowa Online Advanced Placement Academy (IOAPA). There are many other online or distance learning opportunities included in the appendices in A Nation Empowered. Others are listed at:

Concurrent/Dual enrollment

In this form of acceleration, students take a course at one level and receive concurrent credit for a parallel course at a higher level. For example, a student may take algebra at the middle school, and earn credit at both the middle school and high school level. Another example of this practice is a "College in High School" program in which high school students take college-level courses taught by specially trained high school teachers. Those students commonly earn college credit upon successful completion of the course.

Advanced Placement

The Advanced Placement (AP) program, offered by the College Board, allows students to enroll in AP courses offered through their high school and/or take AP tests. High scores on AP exams may earn students advanced credit.

International Baccalaureate program

International Baccalaureate (IB) is a specialized educational program offered at authorized schools. Students who participate in this program, complete an IB high school diploma, and perform well on IB exams may receive advanced standing at selected universities.

Accelerated/honors high school or residential high school on a college campus

Students attend a selective high school program designed specifically for gifted students. Day schools and residential schools of this type offer advanced coursework, as well as opportunities for mentorships and internships, and students at these schools often complete high school graduation requirements in tandem with college coursework. The State Residential STEM schools chapter in A Nation Empowered provides examples of these types of schools.

Credit by examination

Students are awarded advanced credit for successfully completing some form of mastery test or activity. Students who earn this type of credit have often mastered material through independent study or internship experiences.

Early entrance into middle school, high school, or college

Students enter the next level of school at least one year earlier than expected. This may be achieved with the employment of other accelerative techniques. More information about early entrance to college programs can be found on the Acceleration Institute website. A Nation Empowered includes a chapter on Early Entrance to College.

Acceleration in college

Students who are accelerated in college complete two or more majors in a total of four years, and/or earn advanced degree(s) along with or in lieu of a bachelor's degree.

Early graduation from high school or college

Students graduate from high school or college in three-and-a-half years or less. Generally, this is accomplished by increasing the amount of coursework undertaken each year, but it may also be accomplished through dual/concurrent enrollment, distance learning, or extracurricular programs.

Additional Information

Additional information and resources about the various types of acceleration can be found on the Acceleration Institute website, the Hoagies Gifted website, and the Davidson Institute website.

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Types of Acceleration - Davidson Institute

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This excerpt from A Nation Empowered lists 20 different types of acceleration. Publication: Excerpt from A Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses Holding Back America's Brightest Students Publisher: University of Iowa College of Education Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development Year: 2015 Twenty different types of acceleration were identified in A Nation Empowered .

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Students can jumpstart their education, and may allow them other opportunities like early graduation or dual enrollment in the future. Requires less differentiation for teachers.

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A 3 or 4 year old may not have the stamina or physical abilities for full day kindergarten.

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Students who are academically advanced are often socially also advanced. Students who qualify for grade skipping often find themselves in a better suited class environment and community. Studies show people who received acceleration in school earn more as adults. Requires less differentiation for teachers.

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Students may feel nervous at first. Relationships among peers can change. Student will have to make new friends in their grade level.

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This can usually be offered without the student moving grades or even schools. Students get a more customized education- acceleration where they need and regular classes where they are performing on grade level. Requires less differentiation for teachers.

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Difficulties in logistics can arise for the school. Staffing alternative programs can be challenging.

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Larger pool of students with differing abilities allows more peers for both high flyers and students needing extra support.

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Lots of professional development is required so that teachers can know and teach two curriculums, work effectively as co-teachers, and have enough planning time.

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Data is used to determine what students are ready to learn. Students are not bored learning old material and things they already know. Requires less differentiation for teachers.

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Certain topics can be skipped. Students may miss something important.

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Students can focus on subjects that interest them. Sometimes these courses and programs can lead to additional credit and early graduation. This can also be an aspect of dual enrollment.

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Extracurriculars are often not as accessible to students from low SES communities. They may require transportation or even cost money.

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Students can complete advanced credits simultaneously which can lead to early graduation.

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Scheduling can be challenging. Student will need transportation between campuses.

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The following bus routes will experience service disruptions on July 28. LB104, S2422, S2502, S2110 and S2311. For more information visit the MCPS Department of Transportation website.

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Grade skipping is not advertised as in option within MCPS

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Focus magnet programs:

Focus: Global Ecology; Humanities and Communication; Science, Mathematics Computer Science; and Independent Studies A Whole School Magnet: (Poolesville HS)

Focus: Math, Science, Computer Science Magnet Program: Montgomery Blair HS

Focus: Biomedical Magnet Program: Wheaton HS (*)

Focus: Engineering Magnet Program: Wheaton HS (*)

Focus: Leadership Training Institute: John F. Kennedy HS (*)

Focus: Technology: Thomas Edison High School of Technology

Focus: Visual Arts and Performing Arts: Albert Einstein HS

Focus: Humanities and Communication Magnet Program: Eastern MS, Martin Luther King MS (6th and 7th grade), Roberto Clemente MS (8th grade for 2019-2020 school year)

Focus: Math, Science, Computer Science Magnet Program: Takoma Park MS, Roberto Clemente MS

Focus: Digital Design and Development: Argyle Ms

Focus: Creative and Performing Arts: A. Mario Loiederman MS

Focus: Aerospace Technology: Parkland MS

Chinese: Herbert Hoover MS

French: Gaithersburg MS, Silver Spring International MS

Spanish: Silver Spring International MS, Westland MS

Enriched Literacy Curriculum in Grades 4 and 5 for identified students in centrally identified schools

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No evidence of this practice within MCPS

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Compacted Math 4/5 and Math 5/6 (Grades 4-5):

The content of 12 marking periods (Math 4, 5, 6) is kept in sequence and compacted into the eight marking periods across Grades 4 and 5.

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The following bus routes will experience service disruptions on July 28. LB104, S2422, S2502, S2110 and S2311. For more information visit the MCPS Department of Transportation website.

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Dual Enrollment - Montgomery County Public Schools

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More than 60 years ago, Lewis Terman said, "It seems that the schools are more opposed to acceleration now than they were thirty years ago. The lockstep seems to have become more and more the fashion, notwithstanding the fact that practically everyone who has investigated the subject is against it." Terman's words reflect today's disconnect between research on and practice of academic acceleration.

Gifted education experts have been advocates of academic acceleration for decades-It is a strategy that works. Early pioneers in the field promoted grade skipping and early college entrance. Contemporary scholars study a variety of academic acceleration, ranging from widespread interventions like Advanced Placement classes to less common procedures such as allowing a child to advance through a year of curriculum in just one semester.

Many studies have shown benefits during childhood for accelerated individuals, but few studies have examined outcomes of acceleration in adulthood. Two recent studies compared adult income for accelerated and similar non-accelerated individuals. The first study (Warne, R. & Liu, J., 2016) used the Terman dataset, a famous study that collected data on over 1,500 gifted children over the course of 7 decades. The second study (Warne, R., 2017) used more modern data from five U.S. federal government studies, ranging from the 1970's to 21st century. Combined, the two studies used data from over 2,600 accelerated people and over 68,000 similar non-accelerated people. Because accelerated and non-accelerated students can vary in important ways, potential confounding variables were controlled in both studies, including test scores, race, gender, and personality characteristics.

The results of both studies indicated an average of an annual income difference of about 5%, with accelerated individuals earning more money than non-accelerated individuals. That 5% isn't enough to be rich, but over the course of a lifetime that could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The fact that both studies produced broadly similar results is a strong indication that there likely is a real income difference between the two groups.

There are two caveats: neither study can prove a cause-and-effect relationship, so no one knows whether full-grade acceleration causes people to earn more money as adults. Additionally, one important detail of the two studies is contradictory: in the study using the Terman data, accelerated males had an income advantage compared to non-accelerated males, while there was almost no difference between female groups. In the latter study, accelerated females did show an income advantage and accelerated males continued to show an advantage, albeit much smaller. It's not clear why these studies produce different results for men and women.

The results should still be heartening to advocates for gifted children. Both studies show that the potential benefits of full-grade acceleration could last much longer into adulthood than anyone previously suspected. The studies also indicate that most children who experience full-grade acceleration do not have long-term negative effects and are usually economically productive adults.

What does this mean for parents and teachers? While it is not recommended that anyone skip their child a grade solely so that they will grow up to earn more money, the research is one more piece of information supporting acceleration. These studies add to the decades of research and the massive amount of evidence in support of full-grade acceleration, a strategy that works.

For more information, both studies are available online. The Terman data study was published in Learning and Instruction, and the modern datasets appeared in the Journal of School Psychology.
Russell T. Warne is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Department of Behavioral Science, at Utah Valley University.

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Recent studies look at the potential benefits of full-grade acceleration

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More than 60 years ago, Lewis Terman said, "It seems that the schools are more opposed to acceleration now than they were thirty years ago. The lockstep seems to have become more and more the fashion, notwithstanding the fact that practically everyone who has investigated the subject is against it."

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Nearly all aspects of America's schools are built upon age-based grade levels and corresponding grade-level expectations: standards, instruction, curriculum, and assessment, among others. This reinforces the implicit message that performing on grade level is the primary purpose of schooling. Yet it also ignores an important question: How many students already perform one or more years above grade level on their first day of school?

The answer to this question has profound implications for American education policy and for the organization of schools. If a mere 2 percent of students perform above grade level, for example, the present obsession with grade-level proficiency might make sense. But what if it were a far larger proportion? If one in every five students has surpassed that criterion before the school year even starts, policymakers would need to re-think the merits of an age-based, grade-level focus.

In a recent policy brief, four colleagues addressed this question and found that very large percentages of students (between 15 percent and 45 percent) are performing above grade level-and that these percentages represent staggeringly large numbers of students. In California alone, for example, this group comprises more than 1.4 million pupils.

To reach these conclusions, we examined five assessment data sets. We selected data from the Common Core-aligned but nonadaptive version of the Smarter Balanced assessment from Wisconsin; a computer-adaptive version of the Smarter Balanced assessment from California; the partially Common Core-aligned Florida Standards Assessment; multistate data from the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress; and nationally representative data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This gave us data for three states-California, Wisconsin, and Florida-as well as information on a nationally representative sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12.

Five different data sets from five distinct assessment administrations provide consistent evidence that very large percentages of students perform above grade level. Based on the Wisconsin and California Smarter Balanced, Florida FSA, and multistate MAP data, we estimate that 20-40 percent of elementary and middle school students perform at least one grade level above their current grade in reading, with 11-30 percent scoring at least one grade level above in math.

Moreover, we also found large percentages of students performing well above grade level-more than one grade level ahead. Using MAP data, we estimate that 8-10 percent of Grade 4 students perform at the Grade 8 level in reading/English/language arts, with 2-5 percent scoring at similar levels in math. Relying specifically on the MAP data, one out of every ten fifth-graders is performing at the high school level in reading, and nearly one child in forty at this age is performing at the high school level in mathematics. Because of the MAP test's computer-adaptive format and high measurement ceiling, these results cannot be explained away by the correction that commonly applies to pencil-and-paper grade-level achievement tests. On the latter tests, a fifth-grader with a ninth-grade-level equivalent score amounts to a ninth-grader's completing a fifth-grade test. By contrast, a MAP test score that is equivalent to ninth-grade performance is in fact based on ninth-grade content knowledge and skills.

Converting these percentages to numbers of children provides a sobering picture of the number of students who are not well served under the current grade-based educational paradigm. In Wisconsin alone, somewhere between 278,000 and 330,000 public-school students are performing more than a full grade above where they are placed in school. And as mentioned above, in the much larger state of California, that number is between 1.4 million and 2 million students.

Federal and state education policies are largely irrelevant for this huge number of students. Getting kids to grade-level proficiency has been a focus of U.S. education policy and practice for well over a decade. Yet the U.S. likely wastes tens of billions of dollars each year in efforts to teach students content they already know.

This structure centered on age-based grade levels, therefore, needs serious rethinking. One option is whole-grade or single-subject acceleration. Indeed, this is consistent with the literature, which has documented uniformly positive benefits when academic acceleration is implemented thoughtfully. Academic acceleration is particularly beneficial for students pursuing professional careers that require substantial academic preparation and credentialing, a point that has been recognized for more than eighty years. Acceleration would also reduce the difficulty of differentiated instruction because students within a given classroom are selected to be far more homogeneous in ability and prior knowledge than they are in the traditional system.

Based on all of this, our initial question-How many students are learning above grade level?-needs to be extended. The more important questions may be:

1. How should we reorganize our schools, now that we know that large numbers of these students exist?

2. How can we best meet these students' learning needs, if they already have mastered much of the year's content before the year has even started?

3. How can schools balance the potential for excellence against the need to achieve basic proficiency, when the variation in student achievement within classrooms and schools is so vast?

The current K-12 education system essentially ignores the learning needs of a huge percentage of its students. Knowing this, twenty years from now we may look back and wonder why we kept using age-based grade levels to organize K-12 education for so long.
Jonathan Plucker is Julian C. Stanley Professor of Talent Development at Johns Hopkins University, Matthew Makel is Director of Research at the Duke University Talent Identification Program, Karen Rambo-Hernandez is Assistant Professor at West Virginia University, Michael Matthews is Professor of Education at University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and Scott Peters is Associate Professor of Education at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

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Stop wasting money teaching millions of students content they already know

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Nearly all aspects of America's schools are built upon age-based grade levels and corresponding grade-level expectations: standards, instruction, curriculum, and assessment, among others. This reinforces the implicit message that performing on grade level is the primary purpose of schooling.