Program Models and Curricular Options

To Group or Not to Group . . . (cont.)

Many people are under the impression that “ability grouping” and “tracking” are synonymous. Tracking often has racist overtones and labels the children low, average, or high. The curriculum is delivered to the entire class based on the educational level of the middle (mid-low, mid-average, mid-high) and there is very little opportunity to move up. Most research shows that this model is not very productive and does not show growth or progress.  However, when we consider grouping students who are identified as being gifted we are talking about something entirely different. We are not just putting them in one classroom, closing the door, and teaching one way – there are multiple components involved including curriculum compacting, acceleration, and differentiation.

Curricular Options

So far this week, we have studied different program models that best suit the educational needs of our gifted students. In the process we briefly touched upon the fact that the environment isn’t the “be all, end all” – we also must consider alternative methods to deliver curriculum. Research has shown that gifted students have potential to grasp and retain information differently, possibly at a more rapid pace. In addition, gifted students do not always have equal strengths across the board. As educators, we must find a way to successfully educate our students – assuring that they have mastered the foundation so they can build upon it and they can soar to the top!

To do this we rely on differentiation.

Differentiation Strategies

Differentiation is not a recipe for teaching.   It is not an instructional strategy.  It is not what a teacher does when he or she has time.  It is a way about teaching and learning.  It is a philosophy.

When we connect differentiation to gifted we focus on several educational options. This week we will explore several of these options: acceleration, continuous progress, curriculum compacting, self-pacing, and enrichment. Each takes on a life of its own, each has its advantages and lesser advantages. As we have discovered throughout this course – the decision is not which is the best option, it is which option is best for the student.

Acceleration

Research has shown that gifted students have potential to grasp and retain information differently.

A publication entitled Iowa Acceleration Scale: A Guide for Whole-Grade Acceleration (K-8) was published in 1999. It described four ways students could be accelerated:

  1. enter kindergarten early
  2. skip a grade in elementary or high school
  3. completing two grades in one year
  4. working ahead in a specific subject.

In a more recent report, A Nation Deceived: How Schools Hold Back America’s Brightest Students (Colangelo, Assouline, Gross, 2004), eighteen different types of acceleration were identified. Most of them require movement and occur outside of the student’s homeroom. However, there are several that allow the students to remain with their age-level peers within their classroom. Four of these strategies are explored below.

Continuous Progress

In this situation, as a student demonstrates mastery of the grade level requirements, rather than expanding horizontally and building on the concepts, he or she progresses to the curriculum of the next grade level. This requires the teacher to have that curriculum available in her classroom and to develop a set of lessons so the child can work independently (or with small groups) while the teacher presents the main lesson to the remainder of the class.