Abstract
High ability students have differential cognitive characteristics that require a specific educational response to develop their full potential. Cluster ability grouping is one of the available approaches to respond to their training. One of the main criticisms of this teaching method, also supported by the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), is that high ability students may show a decrease in their self-concept. The aim of this research is to present the evaluation carried out by parents of primary school high ability students on the effect of an educational cluster grouping program on their personal and social adjustment, comparing these variables before the beginning of the school year and at the end of it. Approximately 100 students’ parents of the Educational Centre for Highly Ability Pupils participated in the evaluation. The instrument used for the evaluation was the Socialization Battery (BAS-2) for parents. The results showed that parents observed some improvements, either due to an increase in the scales measuring positive socialization variables or a decrease in the scales measuring negative socialization variables. The most substantial improvements are found in the second and third grades. We conclude that the results do not support the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE).
Highlights
High ability students have differential cognitive characteristics that require a specific educational response to develop their full potential [1,2]
Cluster grouping can be defined as an intervention for high ability or high achieving students which places together, in small groups or classrooms, a small number of students according to the initial assessments of their readiness, knowledge, interests, and abilities [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]
Many studies have investigated the effects of within-class ability grouping on the academic achievement of high ability students [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]
Summary
High ability students have differential cognitive characteristics that require a specific educational response to develop their full potential [1,2]. To support their educational needs, specific approaches have been adopted, such as in-school programs, which focus on the enrichment, acceleration, and cluster grouping, or after-school programs [3,4] and out-of-school [5]. According to [29], negative and non-significant results on academic performance in high ability children by using cluster grouping intervention might show that this approach on its own is not sufficient. What is more relevant is the so called “optimal match”, which appears when high ability students are offered a differentiated curriculum, full of challenges and in line with their interests and abilities, together with an educational environment that promotes their talents [18,30]
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