In this article, Paulus (1984) explains, as the title suggests, how acceleration is more than grade skipping. There are many types of acceleration and many ways of adapting them for each kids needs and strenghts.
Many people see acceleration as a red flag for grade skipping, that many times involves emotional and peer problems. But it's more than that. It's about flexibility, it's about adapting to the level of the kid and not focusing on his/her age alone. It's far more dangerous ignoring the innate speed of the child, because then they are at risk of losing interest in school and thereof losing their potential to learn.
Many studies show that acceleration does not imply losing social and emotional interaction with peers their age, Gallagher (1975) shows how, of 522 students who skipped a grade, only 9 had trouble adapting to the new class and making social relations, and all of the 9 were judged by the committee, prior to the grade skipping, that they would have trouble.
Acceleration should be applied to all gifted students because there are great personal benefits such as enhanced feelings of self-worth and accomplishment.
This article is interesting because, even if they don't review each method of acceleration, they highlight the necessity to apply these methods to the gifted children in order to maintain their interest in school and learning.ç
What did you think about it? Did you know that grade skipping is not as devastating as it sometimes sounds?
References: Pat Paulus (1984) Acceleration: More than grade skipping, Roeper Review, 7:2, 98-100, DOI: 10.1080/02783198409552860
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