The Extent, Nature and Effectiveness of Planned Approaches in ...

also add: appropriate recognition of achievement; increased time for careers, and hence, careerproductivity; the development of appropriate work and study habits; and avoidance of conflict withsame age peers who may not share or appreciate similar academic interests and abilities. They alsopoint out that acceleration has the potential to create a “closer match between the student’s level ofinstruction and level of achievement” (p. 397).When carefully planned and implemented, acceleration can build upon individual differences. It ismost important that individual students are considered in the planning and implementation ofacceleration practices (Charlton, Marolf, & Stanley, 2002; Cornell, Callahan, & Loyd, 1991; Vialle,Ashton, Carlton, & Rankin, 2001). Students should be involved in the planning process (Stanley &Benbow, 1986). The success of acceleration programmes may be attributed to four key characteristics:• planning for each student focuses on individual needs;• instructional materials closely approximates students’ instructional levels;• teachers of the gifted monitor students’ progression on a routine basis;• programme evaluation (Howley, 2002).Cases are made for students to be considered for more than one year of acceleration. Gross (1992)believes that exceptionally gifted students retained with age peers, or accelerated by only one year areat serious risk of peer rejection and social isolation. The failure to advance a precocious child mayresult in poor study habits, apathy, lack of motivation, and maladjustment (Feldhusen, Proctor &Black, 2002).The potential disadvantages of acceleration, as highlighted by the Ministry of Education (2000),include, gaps and insufficiencies in learning; social, cultural, or emotional isolation from peers;feelings of undue pressures, both real and unreal, to perform; and teacher lack of understanding andexpertise. The Ministry of Education also makes a very salient point in stating, “If acceleration simplymeans moving into a higher level with little or no adjustments made to teaching methods or materials,it may not adequately address individual strengths and interests” (2000, p. 38). Easter and Moltzen(1997) also discuss the importance of a qualitatively differentiated accelerated experience, citingresearch from overseas, which indicated that students who had been moved into a subject-based classat a higher level of school initially experienced a ‘honeymoon period,’ but eventually were dissatisfiedwith the pace of instruction. Shore and Delcourt (1996) state that though acceleration is widelyadvocated and implemented, in many cases it “… requires no actual curriculum adaptation ordifferentiation” (p. 140). In these cases, the ‘full burden’ for differentiation or adaptation rests with thestudent. Moltzen (1998/99) states, “Acceleration is not a panacea to inappropriate curriculum. If thereis no accompanying adjustment to the quality of the programme, gains will be short-lived” (p. 66).An example of this is in relation to grade skipping, an option that Feldhusen et al. (2002) suggestshould be readily available in every school system. However, acceleration in the form of gradeskipping can be viewed as a temporary solution to addressing the needs of gifted students; thesestudents should also receive a differentiated curriculum that provides a challenge (Gross, 1992; Kulik& Kulik, 1992). It is an economical way to provide for gifted students and may provide suitablechallenges but generally fails to provide a differentiated curriculum (Schiever & Maker, 2003).Therefore, when implemented in this way, grade skipping is viewed as ‘ad-hoc’ and ‘clumsy’ (Shore& Delcourt, 1996).Acceleration across all subject matters may not necessarily be the appropriate answer for all students.Some disciplines may lend themselves more than others (Lewis, 2002) and so subject skipping can beused with students with specific academic abilities. One acceleration strategy is to use verticaltimetabling allowing for accelerated progression in specific subject areas (Vialle et al., 2001). Studentsfrom Vialle’s study exposed to this strategy offered mixed views: the work was more challenging andthere were opportunities for independent work, although a few commented that it was not any differentfrom their regular class. When there is an emphasis on whole-class instruction and co-operative46