The Journal of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children
Last but not least, two Swiss studies by Bähr (1998, 2001) investigated how teachers,
parents, and grade skippers themselves viewed their decision to skip a grade. The first study
included a sample of 31 grade skippers from the years 1994-1996 at the primary school level. The
students, their parents, and their teachers were questioned as to how they viewed their decision to
skip a grade a year after they had done so. The results indicated that the great majority assessed
their decision to skip a grade as positive and would do it again (Bähr, 1998). As a consequence, the
process of grade skipping in the canton of Zurich was facilitated: it was decided that a psychological
examination would no longer be mandatory in every case, and it became legal to skip the first grade
of primary school, and not only the subsequent grades. A subsequent study with the grade skippers
from the years 1999-2001, supplemented by 30 interviews, showed similar results, with positive
opinions about grade skipping from students, parents, and teachers. Bähr does point out, however,
that skipping the first grade in primary school can be socially challenging for children.
Part-time early attendance of university
Another acceleration program that has been scientifically evaluated is part-time university
attendance. A German study by Solzbacher (2008) investigated the 331 participating students’
background, their motivation, the selection process, the course and effects of their university
studies, and the students’ satisfaction, by means of an online survey and interviews with several of
the students. The results indicate that most of the students who attend university early have parents
with an academic background and had already demonstrated their talent in other contexts with
excellent grades, successful participation in competitions etc. Their main motives to attend
university early were "to deepen my interests”, "to learn new content”, "occupational orientation”,
"to shorten the duration of university study”, and "prestige”. The students were usually selected by
their school; and excellent grades and apparent motivation were a precondition. Most students took
an average of three courses at the university each semester for one to three semesters. Both the
students and the universities assessed their "early studies" as having a positive influence on their
work and study behavior. Over all, the students were very satisfied with their experience and
succeeded in their courses. Solzbacher critically points out that the students’ socio-economic
background is very decisive in whether they will take part, that the equalization of giftedness and
high achievement excludes certain gifted students who have talents not easily detectable by
applying purely scholastic criteria, and that most schools do not sufficiently inform students of the
possibility of part-time early university attendance (Solzbacher, 2008).
In Switzerland, early part-time attendance of university has been studied as well: the aforementioned
project at the Swiss Hofwil-Gymnasium, allowing gifted students in art, music, or sports
to begin to pursue a university degree during their last four years of secondary school, has been
evaluated by the directorate of education in the canton of Bern in a study by Maurer and Grimm
(2005). The authors wanted to assess the student’s success in the "Matur”, the final exam leading up
to a graduation certificate, and their preparation for it, their success in their art and music training,
the challenges and problems the students encountered, the program’s effects on the students’
attitudes. Methods of data collection included standardized questionnaires, distributed at the
beginning, the end, and one-and-a-half years after the program, grades, and student essays. The
student sample comprised 55 students in the program. There was a comparison group consisting of
students who went to the same school, but did not participate in the program. Furthermore,
questionnaires with open and closed questions were distributed to the higher education teachers in
the art and music program.
The results showed that the participants achieved higher grades in the Matur than the nonparticipants.
Their estimates concerning their own knowledge were more optimistic than the nonparticipants’
estimates. Even though the participants have to cope with a greater workload, they are
less stressed. Their "double-training" helped them learn how to cope with a great workload.
Similarly, an analysis of the students’ essays indicated that the students in the program had to cope
with more problems, enabling them to improve their problem-solving skills. The students were also
successful in their higher education studies. The students’ career goals corresponded with the
nature of their respective programs in art, music, or sports. Most of them continued their studies
after graduating from Gymnasium. The students viewed their decision to participate in the program
very positively, shortly before their graduation as well as in retrospect one and a half years later, and
would recommend the program to others (Maurer & Grimm, 2005).
54 Gifted and Talented International – 26(1), August, 2011; and 26(2), December, 2011.