A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students

1. A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students by Nicholas Colangelo Susan G. Assouline The University of Iowa Miraca U.M. Gross University of New South Wales

2. A Nation Deceivedhttp://www.nationdeceived.org The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

3. Time Magazine Education Week New York Times Boston Globe Radio Keynotes Evaluation in Progress A Nation Deceived The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

4. Website • www.NationDeceived.org • VISITS – 1,500,000 • DOWNLOADS – 63,000 • PRINT COPIES – 42,000 The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

5. “We must not be content with any system of universal education that provides identical treatment for all pupils.” Leona E. Tyler (1974) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

6. “Help students learn only what they don’t already know.” Julian C. Stanley “Acceleration is about children, not statistics.” Templeton Report The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

7. Definitions “Progress through an educational program at rates faster or at ages younger than conventional.”(Pressey, 1949) “… to provide an appropriate level of challenge, and to reduce the time period necessary for students to complete traditional schooling.” National Association for Gifted Children Position Paper 11/92 The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

8. 18 Types of Acceleration Examples: • Early entrance to school • Grade-skipping (whole-grade acceleration) • Subject matter acceleration • Self-paced instruction • Curriculum compacting • Mentoring • Advanced Placement / Post-secondary courses • Early entrance to college The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

9. Subject-Based Acceleration Provides student advanced content, skills and understandings before expected age or grade level • Early entrance to kindergarten or first grade • Single-subject acceleration • Compacted curriculum • Distance learning • Talent search programs • Independent study/Mentoring The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

10. Grade-Based Acceleration Shortens the number of years a student remains in the K-12 school system • Grade skipping • Multi-grade classrooms • Grade telescoping (2 years in one) • Early admission to college The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

11. Types of Acceleration Group Individual Student Single-Subject Acceleration Grade-Skipping Early Entrance Mentoring AP The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

12. “No paradox is more striking than the inconsistency between research findings on acceleration and the failure of our society to reduce the time spent by superior students in formal education” M.J. Gold Education of the Intellectually Gifted (1965) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

13. “Acceleration is one of the most curious phenomena in the field of education. I can think of no other issue in which there is such a gulf between what research has revealed and what most practitioners believe. The research on acceleration is so uniformly positive, the benefits of appropriate acceleration so unequivocal, that it is difficult to see how our educators could oppose it.” James H. Borland Professor Teachers College, Columbia University (1989) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

14. Meta-Analytic Studies of Acceleration “Meta-analytic reviews have consistently concluded that educational acceleration helps students academically without shortchanging them socially and emotionally.” James A. Kulik The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

15. Meta-Analytic Studies of Acceleration “Meta-analytic studies also show that other provisions for the gifted are less effective than acceleration.” “No other arrangement for gifted children works as well as acceleration.” James A. Kulik The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

16. Academic Effects “The studies reported here provide educational decision-makers with a large, research-supported menu of accelerative options that may result in significant academic achievement for gifted learners.” Karen B. Rogers The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

17. Social-Emotional Effects “None of the options has been shown to do psychosocial damage to gifted students as a group; when effects are noted, they are usually (but not invariably) in a positive direction.” Nancy M. Robinson The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

18. Long-Term Effects “Adult surveys of gifted individuals reveal that they do not regret their acceleration. Rather, they regret not having accelerated more.” (Lubinski, Webb, et al., 2001) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

19. Radical Acceleration “[Radical accelerants] achieve high, sometimes extraordinary, levels of academic success at college and university.” “Radical accelerants socialize well with their older classmates.” Miraca U.M. Gross The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

20. Early Entrance to School “Practically every reviewer of this literature [early entrance to school] has weighed in favorably about the practice of permitting early entrance, but invariably with caveats.” Nancy M. Robinson The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

21. Early Entrance to School “As our results show clearly, early entrants are definitely not the students most at risk for adjustment problems.” Gagné & Gagnier, 2004 The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

22. Grade-Skipping “Not only was academic achievement more positive for the grade skipped learners, but also their social adjustment and academic self-esteem were more positive.” Karen B. Rogers The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

23. Grade-Skipping “The Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) has been found to be a highly effective decision-making instrument.” Nicholas Colangelo, Susan G. Assouline, & Ann E. Lupkowski-Shoplik The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

24. Iowa Acceleration Scale (IAS) • Instrument to help schools make effective decision regarding a grade-skip. • The IAS and manual (2nd edition) are available from Great Potential Press • http://www.giftedbooks.com The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

25. Advanced Placement (AP) “AP is viewed as the best large-scale option currently available for challenging academically prepared youth while they are still in high school.” (Benbow & Stanley, 1983; National Research Council, 2002) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

26. Advanced Placement (AP) “Those who did participate [in AP] more frequently expressed satisfaction with the intellectual caliber of their high school experience, compared with those who did not.” (Bleske-Recheck, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2004) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

27. Early Entrance to College “Clearly, the research on groups of early entrants … strongly suggests that many of [the students] were highly successful academically without experiencing concomitant social or emotional difficulties.” Linda E. Brody, Michelle C. Muratori, & Julian C. Stanley The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

28. 3 Most Difficult Decisions • Early entrance to school • Grade-skipping • Early entrance to college Lower in Difficulty • Subject-matter acceleration • AP/IBP • Dual enrolled in college courses The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

29. Decision-Making Factors:Policies on Acceleration • Cost  Minimal • Needed Personnel  None • Research Evidence  Highly Positive • Public Beliefs  Generally Negative • Educator Views  Strongly Negative James J. Gallagher The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

30. Equity “Acceleration levels the playing field of opportunity because any cost to the family or school is minimal” Nation Deceived (2004) The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

31. Cost Effectiveness of Acceleration • To the student/family • To the school system • To the community The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

32. Why Do Schools Hold Back Our Brightest Students? • Not aware of the research • Aware of the research but dismiss it • Does not fit with personal preferences / philosophy • Does not fit with political agenda • Colleges of Education The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

33. Why Do Schools Hold Back Our Brightest Students? • Gaps in knowledge • Social/emotional adjustments • Long-term effects • Hurrying or pressuring children • Status quo causes no harm • Unfair to other students The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

34. Goal of the Templeton National Report on Acceleration Change conversations in schools about acceleration and gifted students. The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

35. Goal of the Templeton National Report on Acceleration Educators would ask three questions: • Is the student ready? • Which type of acceleration? • What can we do as a school to ensure that acceleration will work for this student? The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

36. What to Do • Know the research • Consider types of acceleration • Personal attitudes/System policies • Build an effective relationship with parents of high ability students The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development

37. Open your minds… Thank You! The Connie Belin & Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development