This program allows the school to cater to the diversity of its students, provides the opportunity for high-ability students to flourish, and faculty to develop their skills to meet the needs of all their students. 

The program objectives are as follows:

The program meets the Gifted Programming Standards (2019) of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), including the following standards:

Standard 5.5.1: Administrators demonstrate support for gifted programming and services through equitable allocation of resources and demonstrated willingness to ensure that students with gifts and talents receive consistent educational services aligned to their interests, strengths and needs. 

Standard 5.5.3: Administrators hire a diverse pool of educators with knowledge and professional learning in gifted education and the issues affecting students with gifts and talents.

Standard 5.6: Students with gifts and talents participate in general and gifted education programs guided by clear policies and procedures that provide for their advanced learning needs (e.g. early entrance, acceleration, credit in lieu of enrollment).

 

Staff involved in implementing the Gifted Program include:

Faculty Professional Development

Acceleration through grade skipping and early entry to school is provided in my region. The Gifted and Talented Guidelines of the Maryland State Department of Education include a variety of acceleration options, including whole-grade acceleration. The Guidelines require teachers to be appropriately professionally qualified, have an interest in gifted education, an awareness of the cognitive and affective needs of gifted students, and a willingness to engage in further professional development. 

Acceleration of gifted students has long been criticised, despite the wide range of supporting empirical evidence (Gross, 2006). Primary concerns relate to the psychological and social impact on students, and its effectiveness on academic achievement (Steenbergen-Hu & Moon, 2011 ). 

Research (Maher & Geeves, 2014) addresses the myths of this intervention and provides that with acceleration:

Gagné & Gagnier (2004) found that there is no evidence that accelerated students have emotional problems compared to their unaccelerated peers. Similarly, Colangelo et al., (2004) found that there is no evidence that acceleration has a negative effect on a gifted student's social-emotional well being. Interestingly, acceleration was found to have small to moderate social-emotional benefits compared to students who were not accelerated, and moderate to significant effects on long-term academic achievement (Steenbergen-Hu & Woo, 2011; Rogers, 2015; Steenbergen-Hu et al., 2016). 

Overwhelming support for acceleration through early entrance to Kindergarten and grade skipping comes from the twenty-year longitudinal study conducted by Gross (2006). The main findings of the study are:

Teacher attitudes towards acceleration will greatly influence its success or failure (Croft & Wood, 2016), therefore, an intervention program of acceleration cannot be implemented without educating faculty. Despite significant empirical evidence supporting acceleration, its underutilisation can in part be attributed to teacher beliefs that gifted students will succeed without interventions, and educators prioritising students with learning difficulties (Henderson & Jarvis, 2016). Studies have shown that despite the wealth of research pointing to positive outcomes for students through acceleration, teachers are reluctant to accept acceleration as an intervention for gifted students, and focus more on the potential negative effects, rather than the potential positive outcomes, when considering acceleration as an intervention (Rambo & McCoach, 2012). 

A gifted program with interventions through acceleration will only be successful if faculty are involved in the process, and support the process. Therefore it is paramount that they understand both the needs of gifted students, and the acceleration processes to ensure they are able to implement acceleration to enable these students to thrive. Without this knowledge, there is a risk that the intervention will fail. 

The goals of faculty professional development are to implement:

Teachers and counselors, who support the academic and social-emotional development of gifted students, will be assisted in achieving these goals through:

Key elements of the program include that acceleration is open to all students, including Kindergarten, and follow a systematic and equitable process, with open and direct communication with parents and the school community (Colangelo et al., 2004).

The benefits of acceleration through early entrance to kindergarten and first grade include less disruption socially - students have not yet had the opportunity to form close peer relationships and there are not yet any gaps in their knowledge through skipping a year of school (Lupkowski-Shoplik et al., 2015). Gross (2006) found that interventions for gifted students are more likely to be highly successful when they take place earlier in the early years of elementary school, before these students experience social rejection. The risk of rejection increases as they proceed through the upper grades.

Gagen & Gagnier (2004), found that early entrance students were better adjusted to school compared to their peers in the youngest age group, and their academic achievement was significantly higher than all their peers. They were judged to be no more at risk for adjustment issues than other students. In fact, Gagne & Gagnier (2004) found that boys, younger than average students and those with lower intelligence, are more at risk for social adjustment than early entrants. 

The dual language nature of the school requires that students are proficient in both languages before they will be accepted as a candidate for acceleration. Language coordinators will perform an assessment and advise the gifted program team of the suitability of students as candidates. 

Possible Constraints:
- availability of professional development
- counsellor availability for neuropsych evaluations

The second goal of educating faculty on the characteristics, academic and social-emotional needs of gifted students will be measured with reference to:

Evaluation of teacher attitudes toward acceleration and gifted education will take place through a survey at the end of the school year - Determining Attitudes Towards Ability. Changes in perception will be tracked and a subsequent professional development plan will be developed on the basis of the findings.

Changes in practice will be measured through a teacher self-evaluation, focus groups, observations and interviews with teachers.

Student outcomes will be assessed as outlined above - achievement, growth and wellbeing.

An anonymous questionnaire will be completed at different points through the process by parents, the community and faculty.

In February of each school year, the Gifted Program Committee will meet and discuss potential students for acceleration for the following school year (beginning August). Students may be nominated by parents or teachers. 

The Iowa Acceleration Scale (Assouline, et al, 2009) will be used by the Gifted Program Committee to evaluate a students suitability for whole grade acceleration. The IAS is a non-biased assessment tool which collects information in relation to a student’s academic ability and achievement (expertise), and appropriate aptitude (problem solving skills) and social skills for acceleration. The IAS includes:

An assessment of a student’s aptitude across different subject areas will give the team information about their capabilities in performing at a higher level. Students who perform exceptionally across subjects are more likely to be successful at whole-grade acceleration. If a student performs highly in single subjects, it may be more appropriate to consider subject-level acceleration.

Presently, students applying for entrance to the school are required to obtain a Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV) evaluation, and these results will be used to assess aptitude. Students, who are older and new to the school will obtain an evaluation through the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V).

Assessment of aptitude requires consideration of the following:

Achievement testing is used to assess whether actual skills meet potential which is identified in aptitude testing. Mastery of grade-level is an indication of performance, however underperformance may also indicate a potential for achievement. The Iowa Assessments can be used for this purpose. Academic performance from previous years can also be reviewed for assessment. 

Studies show that even if the above criteria are met, acceleration won’t be successful unless the student is willing and desires the progression (xxxx). Meetings will be held with students about acceleration and ensure they are aware of the advantages and disadvantages. Parents of course, also form an integral part of the decision-making decision. Parent support and willingness for their child to be accelerated will be an essential part of the process. 

If students are selected for early admission to Kindergarten, the following guidelines will be administered:

Colangelo, N., Assouline., S. G., & Gross, M. (2004). A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students. Iowa, IA: The University of Iowa.

Croft, L., & Wood, S. M. (2015).Professional Development for Teachers and School Counselors: Empowering a change in perception and practice of acceleration. In Assouline, S. G., Colangelo, N., VanTassel-Baska, J., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (Eds.), A nation empowered: Evidence trumps the excuses holding back America’s brightest students (pp. 87 – 98). Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

Dare, L., Smith, S., & Nowicki, E. (2016). Parents’ experience with their children’s grade based acceleration: Struggles, successes, and subsequent needs. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 25(2), 6-21.

Gagné, F. (2007). Ten commandments for academic talent development. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(2):93-118. DOI:10.1177/0016986206296660

Gagné, F., & Gagnier, N. (2004). The socio-affective and academic impact of early entrance to school. Roeper Review, 26(3), 128–139, https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190409554258

Gross, M. (2006). Exceptionally gifted children: Long-term outcomes of academic acceleration and non-acceleration. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 29(4), 404-429. https://doi.org/10.4219/jeg-2006-247

Henderson, L., & Jarvis, J. (2016). The gifted dimension of the Australian Professional Standards for teachers: Implications for professional learning. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(8), 60-83. 

Lupkowski-Shoplik, A., Assouline, S. G ., Colangelo, N. (2015). Whole-grade acceleration: Grade-skipping and early entrance to kindergarten or first grade. In Assouline, S. G., Colangelo, N., VanTassel-Baska, J., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (Eds.), A nation empowered: Evidence trumps the excuses holding back America’s brightest students (pp. 52 – 72). Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

Maher, L., & Geeves, J. (2014). Acceleration: Dispelling the myths with research and reality. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 23 (1), 39-48.

Rambo, K. E., & McCoach, D. B. (2012). Teacher attitudes toward subject-specific acceleration: Instrument development and validation. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 35, 129-152.

Rogers, K. B. (2015). The academic, socialization and psychological effects of acceleration: Research synthesis. In Assouline, S. G., Colangelo, N., VanTassel-Baska, J., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (Eds.), A nation empowered: Evidence trumps the excuses holding back America’s brightest students (pp. 19 – 30). Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development.

Siegle, D., Wilson, H. E., & Little, C. A. (2013). A sample of gifted and talented educators’ attitudes about academic acceleration. Journal of Advanced Academics, 24(1) 27–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X12472491

Steenbergen-Hu, S., & Moon, S. (2011). The effects of acceleration on high-ability learners: A Meta-Analysis. Gifted Child Quarterly, 55(1), 39-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986210383155

Szymanski, A. & Croft, L.J. (2013, November). Using DATA to improve professional development. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Gifted Children, Indianapolis, IN.