Ten-year longitudinal follow-up of ability-matched accelerated and unaccelerated gifted students.

Abstract

Gifted students identified by the Study of Mathematicall y Precocious Youth who underwent academic acceleration in their education were longitudinally compared across several domains with a group of equally gifted students who were never accelerated. The groups were matched for gender and for ability and were studied for 10 years. At age 23 few significant differences were found between the groups for the individual academic and psychosocial variables studied. Both the accelerates and the nonaccelerates reported impressive academic achievements, as well as high personal satisfaction with school and self. When academic variables are considered as a group, the performance of accelerates is slightly higher than that of nonaccelerate s. In both accelerated and unaccelerated groups, male students pursued mathematics/science more vigorously than did female students, but there was no differential response to acceleration on the basis of gender. The findings do not support the common concern that gifted students may be harmed by accelerative experiences. The appropriateness of academic acceleration for meeting the needs of gifted students is a controversial topic in education. A great deal of empirical research indicates that acceleration provides academic settings that are well suited to the needs of high-ability students (Benbow, 1991;Terman, 1954; VanTassel-Baska, 1989). Nevertheless, many educators and administrators resist its implementation in their schools (Feldhusen, 1989; Southern, Jones, & Fiscus, 1989). Daurio (1979) suggested that the continuing controversy is due, in part, to preconceived notions and irrational grounds rather than to an examination of the evidence. Perhaps, however, the controversy is sustained by a lack of data from experimental or quasi-experimental designs comparing accelerates and equally able nonaccelerates on academic and psychosocial/attitudinal variables. This study was designed to address such concerns with data obtained from a 10-year longitudinal investigation. Acceleration can take many forms. Paulus (1984), however, provided a useful overall definition: [academic] flexibility based on individual abilities without regard for age. Some common forms of acceleration are early entrance to school; grade skipping; advanced placement in certain subject areas;, college course enrollment while in high school; and special, fast-paced classes (Copley, 1961; Gold, 1982). Regardless of the type of acceleration used, positive benefits have been noted for students (Benbow, 1991).