Acceleration Stories

Quotation Mark My oldest daughter, who just turned 13 and just started 9th grade, was accelerated following her 4th grade year into 6th grade; she was the first "grade skipper" in a long time for the district and, as it came late in her elementary years, the first year was hard for her socially, but she has never looked back after that and is herself a big advocate for acceleration. The year after she skipped the state of Ohio passed some legislation encouraging schools in the state to use acceleration as a way to provide gifted kids with appropriate education, and it is now a bit more common for kids to be accelerated. Now her younger sister, who is 8, is likely to skip third and move to 4th grade in the next week.

Schools are more supportive around here of acceleration than they were a mere 5 years ago. I think "A Nation Deceived," which was given to us to read when the gifted coordinator asked us about skipping our oldest daughter, is one of the most useful tools for both parents and teachers with regard to changing opinions about the importance of addressing the needs of gifted kids and about the appropriateness of acceleration. I am hoping the continued use of acceleration will help to further shift the culture in our local schools, as it is still unfortunately dominated by feelings against acceleration and a need to hold kids back for social or even athletic reasons.

Parent in Ohio
08/27/08

Quotation Mark I accelerated twice, skipping first grade and my senior year to enter college on early admissions. My parents had to fight for both accelerations. When I started first grade, I had to have my own reading group and I can remember feeling proud of my ability even though I was a little lonely. It was very early into the year when I skipped to second grade, which I still found easy. That year I read Dibbs in Search of Self and the next year I discovered a love for the novels of Jane Austen and Herman Wouk. I also had a potential academic disadvantage in that we moved around the country frequently and I attended a new school each year, usually in different states. Even with those disruptions, acceleration was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was attending gifted pull out classes and school was easy, but I never really enjoyed it even though I loved to learn. I can't begin to imagine how much worse it would have been if I had been left with my age peer group - although I liked to play with kids my age, I didn't want to be in class with them. I missed school often because I really didn't enjoy it, but my grades did not suffer. I never studied much either and was still an honors student. I had older friends and socially and athletically never felt out of place. Skipping my senior year was actually my idea because I knew I was ready for college. I was lucky that my parents were supportive and came to my defense when the high school principal initially refused to sign my college early admissions application. I started college technically as a high school drop out!

The outcome of my acceleration was that I began college at 15, made excellent grades, and I was socially with people who were developmentally my equals. I am now a full time teacher, I'm completing my PhD dissertation, and taking a third masters degree with a full class load. Other adults think I'm crazy, but the truth it that I still need this level of mental stimulation. It is my norm. Looking back, I wish that I would have been homeschooled or had the opportunity to attend some sort of alternative school, but given the options open to my parents and me, acceleration was the best option. I didn't miss out on anything socially and I feel proud of my accomplishments.

Gifted adult in Florida
08/21/08

Quotation Mark My son is extremely gifted and learned to read at 4. Our state says you are not allowed to begin kindergarten until you are 5. Since his birthday is soon after the cut off he is not only one of the most gifted but also one of the oldest kids in the class. I took a copy of your report to the gifted teacher. Her reply was that they were studying it in her graduate class and she 'still didn't believe in acceleration' because he needed to be with kids his own age. This is so frustrating to both parent and child. This year they even eliminated the gifted program at his school. Keep up the good work. Maybe they will see the light one day.

Parent in Georgia
08/12/08

Quotation Mark I know that my parents realized that I was bright early in my life (as I was tested at two and surprised the tester and my father by showing them that I could read). However, it was recommended that I be held back a grade so that I would not be young for my class and as I had been sick as a toddler. I entered kindergarten at five and fully expected to learn more about plate tectonics, numerical sequences and series, and physics, which had occupied much of my time before entering school. Instead, my teacher had us learn the alphabet. Thus began a nightmare of age-based education. I figured out ways to sneak out of my grade school classrooms to the middle school by mid-first grade. When I started answering questions in the wrong classroom, I would be sent back to the "right" grade for me (never mind that I usually had the right answer). Eventually, I figured out other uses for my school time (a lot of skipping class and causing disruptions). Finally, in middle school, one of my mother's friends suggested that I take the ACT so that I could gain access to two-week summer programs and college courses. After receiving my scores, I assumed that I would be allowed to take advanced courses, as I had demonstrated that I had mastered most of the material taught to students several years older than me. I remained in my grade, so I snuck college textbooks (courtesy of the used book store near my home) into my classes and read genetics or statistics while the rest of my class participated in school. In eighth grade, I was reprimanded when I finished all of the problems in my text books by the end of September, as I would have nothing to do for the rest of the year. We compromised by making me redo the work when the rest of the class completed the assignments. Upon entering high school, I was allowed to take a sophomore foreign language course, as I had demonstrated my fluency in it. My school did not have many resources, so I did not have any other opportunities within my school to challenge myself (no AP courses, no foreign language after that year, and no science lab--or teachers educated in some of the science disciplines). Thankfully, my mother found outside opportunities for me, such as taking summer college courses at the local university and participating in talent programs.

However, these brief experiences did not compensate for nine months of boredom, and I soon learned that I could be at the top of my class without studying or even showing up to some of the courses. I excelled in sports and in the social scene (mostly partying with kids much older than me who also had jaded views of education), so most of my school years in high school began to focus on such. Fortunately, when I entered college, some of my professors noticed my talents and allowed me to do outside projects and take more rigorous graduate courses. This has helped me to regain some trust in education and has persuaded me to stay in school (as I had considered dropping out at various points during my formal education). However, I still do not have solid study habits (as many of my college courses have been easy for me), and I have a very jaded view of education, though this has improved with more research opportunities and advanced courses through my college. My advice to parents considering acceleration is to look into the future. If acceleration does not benefit your child, you always can move the child to a more appropriate grade. One year of bad experiences will not do as much harm as twelve or more years of bad experiences and boredom.

Staying with age-peers, with whom your child may share few common interests, may do more damage than missing a prom or having no driver’s license during high school. On the other hand, if the acceleration works, as I have witnessed through several of my friends in college who were accelerated, it can be a gift instilling a love of learning and a respect for hard work to last a lifetime. To teachers, if you suspect that you have a profoundly gifted student in your classroom, please encourage parents and administrators to consider acceleration. Although this may not be a solution for every gifted child (probably isn’t), it is an option that needs consideration. Every child should have the right to work to his or her ability, whether it is a fifth grader needing third grade math or a third grader needing algebra. For resources on such, several books have been written on education for highly and profoundly gifted children (Hollingworth, Gross, Terman…), which may be of help in assessing the need for acceleration.

Gifted adult in Wisconsin
08/08/08

Quotation Mark I taught myself to read cominc books when I was four, and in elementary school, my teachers suggested I skip a grade. My parents were afraid of the social consequences and refused. When I was in 8th grade, my school had a special interim course between reading classes and the start of a foreign language called "Phenomenon of Language" that was watered-down Latin. I was so bored after weeks of listening to the same grammar point week after week that I was spending classes listening to the boy who sat in front of me, a known troublemaker. My teacher, a sharp old German lady, saw what was happening and suggested I be accelerated to an actual foreign language class. My parents had to talk with the counseling department and school board members (this was back in the 80s), and it was agreed I could move up along with five other students in my grade. I could choose from Spanish, French or German, and I chose Spanish. So nine weeks into the school year, I moved into Spanish 1 with the 9th graders, who shared our junior high school that year. I got perfect 100% scores in Spanish for the next four years and had no trouble with my fellow students a year older. The problem only came when I finished Spanish 4 because there was no Spanish 5, so in anticipation of that program ending, I took French 1 along with Spanish 4, ending high school with French 2. I was in French with students two or three years behind me, and in French 2, my teacher hadn't noticed she had someone from a different grade there and confided in the students that older students always felt bad in classes with younger students. She was embarassed when I pointed my grade level out to her, but we got along great after that. She also studied both languages and could tell when I was slipping into Spanish. In college, I majored in Russian, took Arabic and Irish, and since then I started teaching myself Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Hebrew, achieving some fluency reading Chinese that I'm trying to pull up. Acceleration was a great experience for me and really opened up the world of foreign language to me. Reading publications like "A Nation Deceived" I realize how much I owe them now.

Gifted adult in Pennsylvania
7/22/08

Quotation Mark I am the parent of three gifted children, the oldest of whom has been accelerated in two ways. First, our public school system has a mentoring program for highly gifted students which allows one hour per day with a qualified mentor. My daughter has had a mentor in language arts beginning in second grade and it has been a terrific experience. We struggled throughout elementary school with the non-mentor hours of the day, though. Although language arts is her strongest area, she is just all-around quick so that her other subjects moved too slowly as well. She has consistently been against a full grade acceleration and I have respected her opinion about that. This year, however, she started middle school and found more of the same, particularly in math. She has been in differentiated math classes since 2nd grade but we really found that 6th grade diff math was involving a lot of repetition of material that had been covered in 5th grade. I began advocating for her to skip to 7th grade math in October. I met with considerable resistance and defensiveness from her teachers. Finally, with help from our District's Gifted Program Chair, I was able to get her tested for adequate yearly progress and then moved to 7th grade math. It is working out great for her- she's still easily the top of the class but she's learning new material and even needed to ask me for further explanation of a concept the other day! This track will have her taking Algebra next year, in 7th grade which is two years ahead of the usual schedule (the diff class she was in was already a one year acceleration of the schedule). She will take calculus in 11th grade. She has a summer birthday and started school just after turning 5 and so is currently 11 years old.

Parent in Nebraska
1/29/08

Quotation Mark Our son has accelerated six grades and loves it. It certainly takes a combination of both academic and social giftedness to accelerate so much, but in the end there is not much of an alternative. After skipping third grade, he went on to complete fifth, but then skipped ahead quite a bit. He supplemented high school with part-time community college classes for a year, but then was released from the school district and attended community college full time. He just turned 14 last month, has a 4.0 GPA in college, and he will earn his AA degree in May 2007. He has already been accepted to UC Irvine as a junior transfer student for Fall 2008, and he has applied to other top schools as well. More difficult than grade skipping has been our son's disability: severe dysgraphia. Using a laptop to take notes and written exams has alleviated much of the difficulty, but pre-calculus and honors calculus required a scribe for all in class work, quizzes, and exams which the college provided. All future math and physics classes will require the same, and learning orally without the ability to write your own work is certainly a disadvantage to overcome. Nonetheless, he has a great attitude about it and continues to thrive. While he enjoys the advanced material, he is not one to study much and does the minimum to get by. He spends most of his free time playing with friends, playing the piano, or reading. His neighborhood friends are all his same age, plus or minus a year or two. Only recently has he started to wish he could have a more same level friendship with some college buddies: primarily to work on elaborate projects too advanced for his neighborhood friends. While we have offered many alternatives to acceleration for him, including remaining at community college another year, he has turned them down. Only in college has all of his frustrations been assuaged and his passions allowed to show. It is hard to hold back gifted kids. Even though we would not pay for piano lessons, he practiced hours a day and taught himself how to play. People think that parents push gifted kids, but the kids are the ones pushing the parents to enroll them in every learning opportunity available. In a school system which ranks so poorly against other nations and is not friendly to the gifted, acceleration is the only choice. The key to success is not just high intelligence, but advanced social maturity as well.

David Ehrenberg, Parent
Irvine, CA
12/02/07

Quotation Mark My son was accelerated into First grade about halfway through Kindergarten. I identified that this might be the best path for him after reading a book recommended by his gifted teacher called Genius Denied. I received the book for Christmas and in February, my husband and I began talks with his gifted teacher about accelerating him. He attends a public school in a district with a pull-out program for exceptionally gifted children (top 1% in the testing they give them).

The school had experienced other children who had accelerated, children who perhaps should not have been, for they did not do very well. This soured the teachers and principal on acceleration since they had never seen it work out very well. In addition, my son was very young for his grade, not turning 6 until mid-May (we have an Aug 1 cut-off). I really REALLY felt that the earlier we could do this, the better it would be for my boy and our gifted teacher agreed. She had an idea and proposed it to us.

It was not unusual for gifted readers or math students to leave their classes at reading time (or math time) and attend the next grade level up for reading or math at a more accelerated level. The gifted teacher suggested that if the reading was going well in first grade after a week or so, then perhaps he could attend that class whenever reading was taking place, even if it was not his group's turn for "reading." In this way, he would be participating in the other activities that the first graders do every day, but not REALLY be in their class. After 2 weeks of that, we would meet with the principal, first grade teacher and gifted teacher and discuss how he was fitting in. If he seemed to be adjusting nicely, then at that point we could move him into first grade. If he was not, we could just continue with the accelerated reading and perhaps add math.

Well no surprise to us, he fit in nicely with the older kids and they actually enjoyed having him in class. He was still reading beyond almost all of the other kids in that class (there was one other exceptional reader), but we felt that just one level of acceleration was best in his case. We moved him into First grade and at the request of the kindergarten teacher, my son and I went into that class to explain why he was changing from Kindergarten to First Grade. We took great pains to explain that he was doing the work of a first grader and that he was in that class all the time anyway. We were sure not to emphasize "smartness" as the reason he moved. Certainly the children inferred that for themselves, but with us explaining it the way we did, no one felt dumb. He is still friends with the kids in that class today, now in Fourth Grade.

At first, our son was very upset that when birthdays would happen, classmates would be turning an age that was so much older that he was. I reminded him that even if he had stayed in his old class he would still have been youngest. Someone has to be. I also asked him to think about how weird it feels to be the child turning a year OLDER than everyone else, as one child did. We see many more kids entering Kindergarten later so that they will be more mature and will be more successful in class since they will be older. No fun to be turning 8 in first grade though, when everyone else is turning 7. My son was surprised thinking about that and ever since, age has ceased to be an issue.

We did agonize over this choice when we thought of our sweet little boy graduating High School just barely having turned 17. He will be so young when he goes off to college. Our gifted teacher pointed out to us that most of her kids end up wanting post-graduate degrees so the earlier you can get started on that, the better. Indeed, my husband, who is a surgeon, told me of his complaints when he was in his 20's that it seemed he would be all OLD by the time he finally finished medical school and residency. So, we decided it was better for him to not be bored and lose interest NOW and that we would just have to handle possible future issues as they come. IF they come.

Other children have followed this model since to success at both ends. One friend's child started attending second grade for reading and spelling but really hated it. Found it too challenging and his parents realized he was not a candidate for acceleration. But another child who came along the next year, was very much like my son and so was quickly identified as a possible candidate for acceleration. It went well for her, and she is currently thriving in third grade.

I recommend asking the school for a small step first, they way our teacher recommended, to ease your school into the idea of "breaking the rules" for your child. Schools HATE breaking rules, in general. If you can keep that in mind and kind of soothe them as you still do what is best for your child, you might have an easier time. At least it is something to TRY anyway. :)

Kappy Hodges, Mom
St. Joseph, MO
11/11/07

Quotation Mark My story isn't about a child I know, but rather about myself. I was a gifted child, but if anyone else was aware of that fact, I was never informed. I was, however, outperforming my classmates all throughout school, scoring as low as the 97th percentile and as high as the 99th percentile in standardized testing, and constantly being talked down to by teachers (and my parents) for being too sensitive emotionally.

School (elementary through high school) was hell for me. I had trouble identifying with my peers and got along better with the people who were old enough to understand me intellectually or young enough to understand me emotionally. Teachers were either frustrated by my learning the subject faster than my peers needed to go at or were so pleased by learning ability that they'd spend more time trying to challenge me than making sure my peers didn't fall behind (which further alienated me from them).

While there was a special needs teacher, the only time I was ever placed in a program that recognized I was above average, it was for seventh-grade math (my lowest scoring subject on the standardized tests) and the special needs teacher was busy trying to teach the below-average students. I was left to play games on a computer the whole period provided I finished the same math homework my peers were doing. Obviously, it did no good and no further attempts were made.

It wasn't until I hit college and was allowed to test out of most of the freshman level courses that I was finally challenged. Even then, I tended to pull easy As with minimal studying - I never did learn proper study habits. And now I'm an adult who feels like she got gyped in the long run.

Gifted adult in Greeley, CO
11/05/07

Quotation Mark I have taught high school at two larger districts in this state, and my experiences at both have been largely negative when it comes to acceleration. Among teachers, the prevailing argument is that younger students (especially girls, which is another issue), do not belong in classes with older students. It's harmful to the younger student--I guess because of the influences of the older ones--and it's demeaning to the older students.

Among administrators (and not just principals), the prevailing argument tends to fall along the lines of, "If we do this for your child, then all of the parents will want the same thing for their children, and there is no way that we can effectively deny everyone's requests." Of course this is incorrect: there are standardized tests in place to determine a child's readiness for acceleration. Any parent can certainly request to have their children take these tests; administrators simply needs to be ready to tell parents no when their children don't qualify.

It is an uphill battle to advocate for gifted children, but it is not a futile one. The trick for me is to walk the fine line between recognizing the general ed. classroom teacher's needs and recognizing the need of the child. I find that working on behalf of one child at a time has been much more beneficial, though certainly slow-going, than advocating for a group of children. One day, one child at a time, I hope that teachers and administrators will slowly break down some of their barriers.

For parents, I recommend finding a strong, sympathetic teacher, counselor, and/or administrator who will help you through. The easiest way to do this is to visit your child's school and feel out the teachers. Unfortunately for many parents, it's been my experience that the parents who expect immediate results will encounter the strongest resistance. Here's my bit of Zen-like wisdom: be like the stream flowing through rocks; you will be the stronger one in the end!

Teacher in Iowa
10/12/07

Quotation Mark My child is currently an 11 year old in 7th grade (who was accelerated one full year) who also takes Geometry Honors at the High school with 9th graders. The decision to accelerate was made by forward thinking central office administrators who were willing to look at the individual child rather than "how it would be looked at by other parents and teachers". I believe that the consideration of acceleration was made as a result of my providing a copy of "A Nation Deceived" to the School superintendent.

I constantly hear from teachers how surprised they are that my child socially copes with the Middle School (and High School) experience. They have not had this experience seeing other kids being accelerated and I hope because it has been working out positively with my child the option would be available for other children who would also benefit from acceleration either by a grade or subject-matter.

Despite my efforts, I have still not seen a new school board policy for acceleration which includes the options given to my child but I have been told these are "being worked on". I hope you can get the publicity you need to spread the word that acceleration is a viable option for kids who need the challenge to keep learning. Thank you for all your efforts on behalf of these kids.

Parent in NJ
10/11/2007

Quotation Mark We live in Canada and have a nine year old son who is on the Minister's list of gifted children, and went through the drama of having to decide whether or not to accelerate him a couple years ago. Upon our insistence, he was moved from grade 2 to grade 3 at spring break and following the completion of that school year he/we decided to continue his education in a home-based environment to try and rekindle his interest and enthusiasm for learning. It seems to have worked and he recently enrolled back into the same public school, this year in grade five. We will take one year at a time with regards to future decisions on his education, and feel fortunate to live in a jurisdiction (i.e. British Columbia as education is primarily a provincial responsibility in Canada) which allows flexibility in terms of how education is delivered. There are excellent online supports available to ensure that our home-schooled curriculum and content met government standards and prescribed learning outcomes so re-entry into public school is easily accommodated.

Good luck with your work - I have also requested a hard copy of the study and will share this with our peers in the gifted and education community.

Parent in Canada
10/11/2007

Quotation Mark I have witnessed acceleration in a few forms. First, as a fourth grader in an enriched reading group with four other children. We would be called out of class to go discuss fantastic books like Bridge to Tarabithia. We would all sit on the floor of the teacher's office (pretty cramped in there, actually) and chat about the book, and sometimes to brain puzzles.

This teacher seemed magical to me. She was so smart! She knew everything! And she cared so much about us, but she wasn't mushy and motherly like the other teachers, she was serious and professional. I liked that about her. It made me take myself more seriously and inspired me to have higher personal standards.

But acceleration wasn't always an inspiration. In fifth grade, I was put into the advanced math class. At first, I understood the concepts. But soon, it was overwhelming. I didn't ask for help from my mother, because I felt too old to do that. So, I made a C average by mid-term time and was told that I had to go back to the "normal" class. How embarrasing! Back with the normal kids? They'll all know what a failure I am!

I got over it. I kept pressing myself to do better, so I continued attempting (with no success!) advanced math courses through middle school and high school. I took AP English (but got kicked out because I didn't do the summer reading). I played the violin; I became a great painter; I was in community theater; I taught myself guitar; learned fiddle music; joined a rock band; dropped out of highschool to live with my 26 year old boyfriend!

Finally, after attempting to juggle rock n' roll with college (and failing!), then becoming first a violin repair person, a violin teacher, an arts administrator, and a mother (!), I decided to become a school teacher. I returned to college almost 10 years after my first try with greater ambition and wisdom, not to mention time-management and study skills.

I also have a passion for my mission:

Provide service to gifted students so that they feel compelled to stay in school, and make the school their second home. Be sensitive to the unique emotional issues that come with being gifted. Provide gifted kids mentors and personal inspiration. Be honest with them about how the world works and what careers they might have. Care for them as if they were your own children.

I am still inspired by this teacher, and I hope that someday we'll meet again. Gifted adults need mentors, too.

Parent and student in Maryland
10/11/2007

Quotation Mark Last year, in first grade, my daughter transferred to our local public school from an area parochial school. At the parochial school she was subject accelerated for reading and spelling. If she had stayed, we were assured that she would also be sent up to the next grade the following year for math (they did not offer this for kindergarten). Unfortunately, with our second child starting school, we could no longer afford the private school and decided to send our children to our local public school. They do not offer acceleration of any kind. We met with strong resistance from both the teacher and principal. It is just "not something they do." As a result, my daughter essentially repeated the first grade material last year and is losing interest in school.

Parent in New York
10/04/2007

Quotation Mark My son was accelerated in math a year ahead by the third grade (he'd completed third grade math in second grade.) At that time he switched districts and went to a district where we had been given great PR about their TAG program. The TAG teacher failed to screen him for math, even though we specifically asked for that. He was put back into regular grade level math, where his motivation and performance dropped significantly because he was so demoralized. In addition, he was reading at 6th grade level by the end of 2nd grade, and in the new district, all students were put into the same reading books by class, as well as spelling, etc. It required several conferences and some battling to just get him a slightly higher spelling list. This did not continue into the next grades. The reading and math issues were never addressesd. They truly thought we were just typical idiots who would tire of the school runaround.

By the fifth grade, it had come to where we were forced to schedule extra meetings with the principal, teacher, counselor, TAG teacher, etc, and it was virtually a battle zone. (In the fourth grade, we were actually told by the teacher that she could only use worksheets (8 per day for the entire class) in reading class because there were NO BOOKS AVAILABLE for the students to read. This was, of course, a complete lie.) Finally, 2 days before Christmas break in the 5th grade, we were told that only 1-2 students per grade level were ever identified for the accelerated math, and that these students were identified in the second grade, and no later than third. (Remember, our son had been there in third, but they failed to screen him for math or to place him.) So, we were told that our son was supposed to sit at the computer, navigate several different web sites independently, monitor all the benchmark objectives on lists there, and teach himself all the accelerated math he had not received in the last 2 1/2 years at this school district. IF he was able to complete the math teacher's own personal version of a qualification test after Christmas break (whatever happened to normed and standardized data?!), then and only then would he be allowed into the accelerated class. Apparently, it is not the school's job to provide the necessary instruction to cover the gaps that they themselves created. Since our son failed the section on algebraic vocabulary and equations, he was not allowed into the class. The TAG teacher made the comment, "He did fine on all the sections he'd had instruction in." DUH!

Even if it were our son's responsibility to teach himself TAG math (that the state mandates since it is part of the district's state proposal), it would not have been possible since he was not available to sit at the computer during Christmas break. We had two sets of family flying in from out of state, and our Christmas vacation was not structured to be the district's instructional make-up time.

He is now entering 7th grade. We just received his schedule which showed he was going to be in 7th grade general math. I happened to put in a call to a counselor about the completely separate issue of getting a study hall for our son and I just happened to inquire what it takes for 7th grade kids to make the 8th grade (prealgebra) math class instead. Turns out our son did qualify, but no one bothered to tell us, his parents. Essentially, we had been frozen out and no one had any intention of letting us know that he qualified for 8th grade math--all that was needed was our permission or request. But hey, if you don't tell the parents, then you don't have to give their kid any services!

There is terrible leadership for TAG in this district, and worse classroom instruction. Teachers are not held accountable for any type of differentiation whatsoever, even in regular reading or spelling classes. A couple of teachers make all decisions about TAG students, and the administrators have had no TAG training, and have never even seen a copy of "A Nation Deceived." I am mortified at the way this district has fumbled the ball for so many students. It would appear that unless you have a certain last name or letters behind your name, you children cannot receive a proper education there. This district excludes so many students that it has become systemic. Only privileged students, or those whose parents refuse to be intimidated, are ever included in proper programming.

Parent in Iowa
9/10/2007

Quotation Mark Our daughter's third grade teacher suggested that she skip fourth grade, but as parents we feared she'd be struggling to catch up. We, like our daughter, had gotten accustomed to her good grades and we worried about the social-emotional aspect also. She was already a young student with a birthday in August.

We did not know the first thing about giftedness and that struggling would be more helpful to our daughter than not being challenged at all! The teacher did not explain why "not accelerating" her could turn out to be damaging, as it would prove to be.

In Junior High, after years of perfect grades she got her first B for geometry. From then on, underachievement set in. She still did well on tests, but stopped doing meaningless, rote homework which affected her grades so much that she failed several classes because of homework not done, not because she did not understand the material.

Long story short, she quit school in tenth grade while in the IB program. She felt that IB was too much busy work instead of a real intellectual challenge. She was able to get a diploma through the Work Keys program at 16 at the community college, but did not pursue higher Ed until she was 20. Her academic self-confidence and her self-esteem were shot.

When she was failing in 9th grade, in part because of being depressed, I requested Special Education for her, hoping she'd get the differentiation she needed. It was all too late and too little, but we did find that on the WISC she had tested in the 99.9 percentile. No wonder that to her school seemed meaningless.

Now, at 23 she's graduating summa cum laude with a major in philosophy and a minor in environmental studies. If I had to do it all over again, I would have decided to homeschool her. School was mostly a waste of her time and has done a lot of damage. At least with homeschooling there would have been more opportunity for her to learn while being interested!

Conny Jensen
GT Advocate
Greeley, Colorado
9/10/2007

Quotation Mark Hi. our son was in a gifted program when we lived in Pennsylvania. Then we moved to New York state, and the district has no program for gifted and talented students. However, our son skipped two grades. We entered the district when he was in 4th grade, and he had already done 6th grade math for two years in PA, independently on the computer. As a fourth grader in NY, he was permitted to attend math class with the 6th grade class. The district suggested to us that he go into 6th grade and skip 5th . We agreed, and he had a successful year. The district then suggested that he skip 7th and go right into 8th. We agonized over this decision, but agreed. Now he is a 14 year old finishing his sophomore year in high school. Because he has an IEP, with an autism spectrum disorder, he can spend additional years in high school. We know already he will have at least 3 more years there. He can have more if he needs them.

Parent in New York
9/10/07

Quotation Mark When my daughter, B, was in kindergarten, her teacher recommended B skip to second grade. Testing was done and the skip approved just before we moved. The new school-- an international American school overseas, claimed their students were all quite advanced and denied the skip. Our daughter attended school with pull-out gifted programs in every academic subject for 1st and 2nd grade, but became more and more unhappy. By the end of 2nd grade B refused to go to school at all. I began homeschooling B at the begining of her 3rd grade year. She took a placement test for math (Saxon) and tested in the 6th grade. I was shocked, but by June B had completed 7th grade math despite another international move. Her acceleration took place at home, and was in all subjects. Her favorite author was Shakespeare. She loves his plays and memorized several sonnets. The acceleration made all the difference for her. She became happy, talkative, and interested in life. The only difficulty has been talking to others about her grade level. Many people assume B is accelerated because she is homeschooled, when in reality she is homeschooled because she needed to be accelerated.

Mother in Virginia
9/10/07

Quotation Mark When my oldest child, B., was small, we lived in New Mexico. Believing him to be bright, we briefly looked into enrolling him in Kindergarten a year early, but were told it was out of the question. He was one of When my daughter, B, was in kindergarten, her teacher recommended B skip to second grade. Testing was done and the skip approved just before we moved. The new school-- an international American school overseas, claimed their students were all quite advanced and denied the skip. Our daughter attended school with pull-out gifted programs in every academic subject for 1st and 2nd grade, but became more and more unhappy. By the end of 2nd grade B refused to go to school at all. I began homeschooling B at the begining of her 3rd grade year. She took a placement test for math (Saxon) and tested in the 6th grade. I was shocked, but by June B had completed 7th grade math despite another international move. Her acceleration took place at home, and was in all subjects. Her favorite author was Shakespeare. She loves his plays and memorized several sonnets. The acceleration made all the difference for her. She became happy, talkative, and interested in life. The only difficulty has been talking to others about her grade level. Many people assume B is accelerated because she is homeschooled, when in reality she is homeschooled because she needed to be accelerated.

Third grade passed, and fourth grade found us living in a small town in Wyoming. Following our negative experiences with public school, we didnít even try to enroll B. there. Instead, we looked into the small private Christian school in town. We wanted him to have some time with peers, especially as we were new in town. We enrolled him in fourth grade there half time, and for the subjects in which he was most accelerated we continued to homeschool.

By the end of 4th grade, B. had finished 6th grade math and was ready for pre-algebra. He was rapidly outpacing my ability to teach him. I approached the private school about his skipping 5th grade and going to 6th there full time the next year. His 4th grade teacher, the 6th grade teacher, the principal, and the school board all agreed. But when he got to 6th grade, the school still made him do 6th grade math, which he had completed the year before. He was actually the only 6th grader in a combined 5th and 6th grade class, so it seemed to us it would have been simple to allow him a 7th grade curriculum, but the principal refused. Also, B. complained of pervasive boredom. I had him tested, and the tests showed his ability was still several grades ahead of his placement. In December of 6th grade, I took him out again, and homeschooled him as best I could.

In 7th grade, at age 11, we managed to get him enrolled in one class at the nearest community college. It was an online course in music theory, and he earned a B. However, the college was highly resistant and in allowing credit for the course, said he could not enroll in any further courses there until he was 15.

Desperate, my husband and I began to think of moving again, this time to a place that might actually be able to meet his academic needs. We chose Denver, Colorado, and enrolled him for 8th grade in a public magnet program for highly gifted children (97th percentile and above). Unfortunately, the transition to a large urban middle school in the last year of their program proved difficult for B. He was bullied, and while he excelled academically, his social difficulties drew the attention of the gifted coordinator at the school. She finally looked at his paperwork, and discovered that he had been enrolled with his two grade skips intact. She was incensed and accused us of trying to deceive the schoolóshe thought we were pushy parents who had given him his grade skips on a whim when we were homeschooling. Her perspective was that since it was a gifted program, and the curriculum already three years advanced, no-one needed to skip grades. But B. did. With the grade skips and the advanced curriculum, the academic program was a great fit. He made it through the year with band class as his solace and high school lay ahead.

For 9th grade this past year, he qualified for a place in an International Baccalaureate program at the nearest high school. He is still socially wary, but is making strides. Five kids signed his yearbook this spring, and he finished out the year in the top 3% of his class. We know he could accelerate further, but we feel that he needs time to mature. As it is, he will graduate at 16. He is very sensitive about being ìyoungest,î but also proud. We have given him opportunities over the years to take back a grade skip or twoóthe middle school wanted to put him back in 7th grade when they discovered his ageóbut he wants no part of that.

This summer, at age 13, he will attend the Davidson THINK Summer Institute at the University of Nevada with kids his age. It will probably be the first time in his life that he will study with peers who are both his own age and his own ability. Weíll be interested to see what thatís like for him.

Amy Van Vranken
Parent
Denver, CO
9/10/07

Quotation Mark I completed the fifth and sixth grades during one year of public school. The grade acceleration was a positive experience for me, and I remain grateful to the teachers, principal and my parents - all of whom did their best to ensure that it was a smooth transition. I do not recall having any particular problems socially, and certainly had none with the academics. And being younger than my classmates was never much of an issue. If I had it to do over again, I would have lobbied for further acceleration and entered college much earlier.

I now homeschool my son. When I discovered he was reading at a sixth-grade level when he was five years old, I knew that it was extremely unlikely that the local school would provide him with an appropriate education (they refuse to even test for giftedness until the end of second grade).

We are now beginning our seventh year of homeschooling. We pay little attention to grade levels, and choose or adapt materials to suit his abilities and interests.

Parent in Maryland
9/10/07

Quotation Mark I have a niece who finished high school in three years. It was with a lot of negative attitudes from her teachers. Though they did allow her to do it. Many conversations were spent extolling the virtues of spending another year in High school. She has a younger sister who was tested in 6th grade, about mid-year. She was moved to 7th grade immediately, and they wanted to put her in 8th grade, but mom said no. The reason was she had 2 siblings in 8th grade and they would make life very miserable for her at home. They are being home schooled not, so it is possible that she will finish before them now, but it won't be as obvious since all classes are on-line.

Teacher in Texas
9/10/07

Quotation Mark My daughter "missed" the school entrance cut-off date in North Carolina (Oct. 16) by just one week!!!! It was quite clear, however, that she was ready to enter kindergarten with the rest of her playgroup and preschool peer group. Our child was happily socialized in a preschool setting and was even full-out reading, writing, and doing simple math problems! (Yes, she had a sister who was 8 years older than her, so that influenced her a lot!). Luckily, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system had recently implemented a you-pay-for-the-testing program which would allow children who missed the deadline to enter kindergarten if they scored at the 98th or 99th percentile of each section of a standardized psycho-educational test, such as the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, and had an interview with the principal which demonstrated the need for the child to attend school early. This was an expensive way to get her in school early, but it cost less than an additional year of private preschool and it beat the alternative, which I was considering, of moving with my daughter to my parents' state (which had a later cut-off date), enrolling her in kindergarten there while taking temporary residence there, away from my husband and other daughter, and then "moving" back to NC around Thanksgiving. The things we think of to help our children! I was SO SURE, though, that she was ready for school. I was NOT, however, so sure how she would do "taking a test," as this is certainly not an everyday activity for a 4-year-old! Luckily, we approached it like a "play date" with a grown-up (the psychologist) and it turned out relatively fun and easy for her -- and her scores proved that she was, indeed, ready to get started in kindergarten. In fact, in the first few weeks, of school, the teacher and principal approached us and asked if they could accelerate my daughter to the 2nd grade for "reading," but after much discussion, we decided that the social-emotional needs of a kindergartner are so much different than a 2nd grader, so it was better to simply enrich her reading and writing at home and let her be amongst her peers the rest of the day! We were extremely fortunate for the following year, however, when our state approved the charter for one of the country's only public charter schools specifically designed to serve highly gifted children! Our daughter attended this charter school for the next 6 1/2 years with much success and about a 2 1/2 year acceleration pattern in most subject areas. She currently attends a private school, which also meets MOST of her educational needs and, in fact, does a better job meeting her needs now with creativity, social service learning opportunities, and other things that are important for adolescents to learn and understand. All in all, we are so pleased that we were able to get our daughter into kindergarten early!!!!

Marci Mroz
Parent
Charlotte, North Carolina
9/10/07

Quotation Mark Before beginning Kindergarten, I had already learned to read, write my name, and count. I watched my siblings leave for school every day and waited for them to come home in the afternoon to hear about what they had learned. I couldn't wait to start school myself because it sounded so exciting. However, when I began kindergarten, I found myself incredibly bored. My dad tells me I often came home crying about how boring school was. I continued to read a great deal at home, and I enjoyed playing Math Blaster on our computer. My kindergarten year was the last year my home county gave Kindergarten TCAPs, and I got 90th percentile or above in all areas. My parents began talking to the school about having me tested for giftedness. By the end of my first grade year, testing was complete and I was to begin the GATE (gifted and talented education) class at my school the next year. My parents spoke to the principal and teachers about possible acceleration to the third (rather than 2nd) grade, but the principal expressed concern about my social-emotional development.Therefore, while in second grade I worked independently on the third grade curriculum (my teacher was wonderful and helped as much as she could, but she had a whole class of second-graders to teach) and attended GATE classes. At the end of this year, my parents again brought up acceleration, and while the principal continued to express reservations, the M-Team agreed to let me skip to fourth grade. I continued to attend GATE classes and received all A's in fourth grade. When I moved on to fifth grade, my father began working as librarian at two of the smaller schools in the system. He gave me the option of continuing at my current school or switching to one of his, and I decided to try the smaller schools. I went to one and encountered a teacher who really didn't know and wasn't much interested in how to best meet my needs, so I went to the other school. There I found two amazing teachers (team-teaching) who encouraged project work and whose style of teaching naturally met students at different levels. The next year my dad got a job in Kingsport City Schools; the middle school there had an excellent "advanced track" program already set up, where I made many friends and had a great educational experience; once again, I made straight A's. My family decided to return to Jefferson County the next year, and I was ready for subject material not available in JC until high school. My father had been in contact with the middle and high schools and believed things were worked out so that I'd be able to go straight into the high school when we returned - that it was just a matter of signing off at an M-Team meeting. However, when the meeting was held one of the team expressed concern that I would be sexually assaulted at the high school and that therefore I should not be allowed to go on. My parents were adamant that I receive the education I needed, and in the end I was homeschooled for a semester before going into the high school. Most of the classes even at the high school presented only minor challenges and I graduated in 2003 at the age of 14. I turned 15 that summer and began classes at the University of Tennessee in the fall. I told very few people of my age, and it was not terribly obvious. I just graduated in May with my Bachelor's in Special Education and am now a Resource Teacher in Cocke County. I would not argue that acceleration (especially in the form of grade-skipping) is right for everyone, but it can be very effective. It is a decision that the student should be involved in - my brother, who has similar abilities, had no desire to skip a grade and leave his friends. Grade-skipping should not be pushed on a student who has no interest in it, but should be available for students who are interested and who need it.

Joelene Goff
Teacher
Jefferson City, TN
9/10/07

Quotation Mark When my daughter was 3 1/2, she was reading basic books (Bob Books) that were phonetically correct and easy to sound out. By 4, she was reading books to her preschool class. I tried to get the district to let me put her in Kindergarten at 4, but they said no way (she's a March birthday). So, we went to Montessori and Preschool of the Arts for her early years. Then, in kindergarten, she was in a K/1 blend but in the K group for reading sitting on a rug saying, "C-C-C- CAT" with the rest of the class. After many meetings with the TAG coordinator and the teachers, the teachers agreed to let her do academics with 1st grade, but they said she still had to do specials with the Kindergarteners. So, it was a given to me she'd go from K to 2nd. The teacher thought it was a bad idea (socially, although she was very mature; she was also worried about gaps in learning...hmmmm). The TAG teacher said she had a lot of enrichment at home and that likely, other kids would catch up eventually. So, we had outside testing done and her IQ and achievement abilities were 2 standard deviations above the norm, and the private psychologist said, hey, accelerate her two years. We went with one, and she's done great-actually it's been a cake walk until 6th grade and she switched to a private school and realized that she had to study a bit, which she'd NEVER done. She also was accelerated two more years in math and is doing Algebra as an 11 year old 7th grader! In addition, she is really well rounded-has lots of friends since the move to private school, loves music and dance, participates in theater and has a great, happy personality! Overall, our public system put up barriers every step of the way, does little to no support for individual students and complains more about the needs of the kids with behavior challenges and closing that achievement gap. The private school has much higher expectations to begin with, and it's a given that students should be with academic peers, regardless of age.

Parent in Wisconsin
9/10/07

Quotation Mark When we moved from Chapel Hill, NC to a suburb of Memphis (Bartlett, TN), I was concerned that my son would not be challenged. The elementary school did not have a gifted program in the 2nd grade, and we had come from a district where the gifted program began in kindergarten. During 2nd grade, my son became morose with boredom and would lie on the floor and not want to go out the front door to school. He could not stand the repetition of information; he had learned it the first time he heard it and the same material was being presented over and over, as would be required for the average child.

When I saw how unhappy he was, I decided that something needed to be done. I met with the school and some attempts were made to give him more challenging work to do whenever he finished his work early. But, it wasn't enough.

Then, coincidentally, the books on acceleration were released at nationdeived.org . I ordered both and read them. Then, I got copies for my school and and asked the principal if she would be open to the Iowa Acceleration Scale. She said 'yes', and I ordered the IAS. I paid for it myself.

We met in the spring of my son's 2nd grade (principal, teachers, parents) to administer the IAS. The results came up that my son was a good candidate to skip a grade. However, the school teachers were against it because they thought my son was not socially ready. He tends to be a loner (borderline Asberger's, too). But, they did agree to subject accelerate him while he was in 3rd grade (he was already receiving 3rd grade math while in 2nd grade).

When he arrived in 3rd grade, he was therefore subject-accelerated in math and science. In the spring of his 3rd grade we had another IEP meeting. He had been happier and I was going to suggest that we add a little more challenge in reading. However, to my surprise, the teacher recommended that my son be skipped an entire grade! They also told me that they had experimented with him by putting him in both a 3rd grade and a 4th grade recess, and there was no difference in his behavior.

I do think the principal was very supportive on all of this and may have done a lot behind the scenes to effect all of this.

So, he skipped 4th grade (he'd had 4th grade math and science during 3rd grade).

During 5th grade, he made nearly straight A's. I think he was 2nd in his class. He was pretty happy. He also was on the student council and participated in soccer. He didn't make any real close friends, but he had a couple who came over the house. (This was no different than in prior years). He also was pulled out of his classroom every Friday for gifted education for 4-5 hours. He really looked forward to it.

My son's biggest complaint during 5th grade was the behavior of the children who seemed to not want to be in school in the regular classroom. They were rude and disobedient and disruptive.

This year, we moved into the city to I could send him to a public school where the children are grouped by ability. It is a homogenous group of gifted children in the 'optional' program. He is in 6th grade now. The only children in his classes had to qualify based on grades and test scores to be the cream of the cream of the crop in Memphis, TN. Basically, about 2 years ahead in every subject, on average. He is being challenged in every class and the children are all well-behaved .... they want to learn!

So, he is now in with intellectual peers, but he is a year younger than all of them due to his prior grade skip in a different school system. School has only been in session for about 3-4 weeks, but so far he has A's and high B's, and he's in a much more challenging environment. He has even received a couple of D's on various assignments (wow), but his averages are still high.

We were very fortunate to become aware of the acceleration study when we did. It was perfect timing. And, also, lucky to do a lateral move AFTER the grade skip into a program that is specifically for the gifted. I'm not sure we would want to do yet another grade skip with him unless he totally aces this year!

I am very grateful for the Nation Deceived studies and books, and the Iowa Acceleration Scale. Also, I want to thank Dr. Susan Assouline for talking with me personally and giving me advice before I met with the teachers and principal to administer the IAS.

Parent in Memphis, Tennessee
9/10/07

Quotation Mark Thank you for taking a look at this issue. My oldest son is now enrolled in Rolla, an engineering school wanting to major in astrophysics, but his senior year was abysmal as far as grades and his effort. He was bored, and was anxious to move on with his life. It was more than senior-itis, it was that he felt the instructors were wasting his time and he had what he needed to move on already. He started working and the challenge of the job became more important to him than school. He had a great accelerated program until we switched schools in the 6th grade and right off the bat he was starting middle school all over again, and repeating some classes he already had. He really could have moved faster through the curiculum, but there was no provision for that to happen. In middle school one woman led a brave crusade to offer a challenging extra curicular accelerated studies for students like my son. After middle school at the 2nd school any hint of an actual program dissapeared. He did find some challenge through First Robotics and that was a blessing.

My 2nd son is having a totally different set of problems. He shows a higher IQ in tests than can be determined by his language skills. We went to the University of Iowa and had a full diagnostic done and the consensus was that he had a language based learning dissorder and perhaps attention deficit issues. He showed strenghths in math and problem solving. I've seen strengths in art, music and visual arts. There is no help to explore his strengths at the school. His freshman year they put him in self-contained classroom, I agreed to it because of the strong recomendations from his middle school staff. I realize now it might have been a mistake, he had other options, but I was never told of them and didn't understand the types of programs they offer. I feel very frustrated to find out he missed a whole year of regular, but modified classroom curiculum. It would be wonderful to have help getting Information on how a parent can force issues to get their child the best help and insure they succeed.

Parent in Missouri
7/20/07

Quotation Mark As a parent currently dealing with a very uncooperative school system, my story is not one to warm the heart. My teenage daughter just finished her sophmore year in highschool. She has been in the most advanced classes that my husband and I could put her in (however, we aren't able to afford private schools), but she is still suffering from boredom in all of her classes. Her grades have dropped over the years as she fails to do homework that is assigned only as "busy work" to help reinforce material that she has mastered. However, we have yet to see a test she has gotten below an A on; even when she took the PSATs a year early she made it into the 85th percentile. When she took placement tests earlier this year when we finally managed to get her into a college math course, her scores four out of the five tests were perfect, and had the fifth score been perfect as well the community college would not have been able to teach her, because she would have tested out of all of their classes. The school refuses to look at this record, and instead points out that she her gpa is only tenth out of her sixty person class, and as the nine people above her have yet to complain, why should she? She is becoming depressed from boredom with life, because she centers herself on learning and learning has stopped. This is, ironically, the same girl whose grandmother was one of the pioneers in stopping homogeneous grouping, and so the school takes a firm stand against it to the point of not offering honors classes and not allowing students to test out of classes. Next year, the AP history class (which is one of the few honors classes that students at her school are offered), the harder two out of three possible science classes offered to juniors, and the foreign language class that she would take all conflict, disallowing any student from taking all of the difficult classes. we're hoping to work out an arrangement with the school guidance counselours, but who knows? I'm sorry for the long rant, but this story is to remind those who say that acceleration or skipping grades is bad that that may be true for some, but it needs to be an option. My husband and I never pushed my daughter, in fact, we are guilty of holding her back so that she could stay with her peer group. Her friends are still mostly in grades higher than her, she would fit in socially much better if she skipped. There is no reason to hold this girl back except for the school's stubbornness, and this is what I hope to change.

Parent in Massachusetts
7/17/07

Quotation Mark When I was 4, my mother approached the school board in our town about allowing me to begin school early. The cut-off date for turning 5 was later than it is now, and my birthday was just a few days afterward. I could already read well above my age level and was driving my preschool teachers crazy. The school board refused to even consider allowing me to start kindergarten the year I was 4, even though at least 1/3 of my classmates would also have been 4. I spent another boring year in preschool.

By the beginning of 1st grade, it had became apparent that I was so far ahead of my classmates that my speed and accuracy was making te rest of the class so demoralized that they just gave up rather than try to keep up with me. The principal contacted my parents and suggested acceleration. After a couple of months of testing, both academic and psychological, and observation, the recommendation was made to move to 3rd grade at the semester break. My parents objected on socioemotional grounds, feeling that such a large leap at that age would be a mistake. The decision was presented to me as a chance to join the grade I should have been in anyway. I wish I had known at the time that I could have gone to 3rd grade, because I would have leapt at the chance.

From that moment, I was something of a celebrity at my school. Until the day I graduated high school, I had total strangers coming up to me at odd moments and saying, "Are you that girl who got 'highered up'?" I eventually found two other students who had also been accelerated--we knew who we were, but we rarely associated so as to throw others off the scent that we were somehow different. It was kind of like having a secret handshake.

Socially, I had trouble dating in high school because once the boys knew I was both younger AND smarter than they were, they were intimidated. Most of the boys I dated came from other schools. Academically, my worst experience was my 3rd grade math teacher. She apparently thought I would get a swelled head from being accelerated, so she went out of her way to humiliate me in front of the class for every little error. (Interestingly, the principal sent me to the 2nd grade classroom before the acceleration so I could learn to write cursive, which was required in 2nd grade--but no one thought to let me in on the math steps I was missing.) I quickly learned to avoid her and spent years struggling to recover the math skills I should have learned with her.

However--both of those issues were minor in comparison to the overall positive experience of being accelerated. I would do it again in a heartbeat, because I know how desperately I needed the additional academic stimulus. If I had ever again been offered the chance to accelerate later in my school career, I would have taken that, too.

Parent, teacher, and accelerated students in Illinois
7/11/07

Quotation Mark My personal story of acceleration begins with my own grade skipping between 1st and 2nd grade in a co-educational private school. I remember being somewhat confused as to why my "visit" to the second grade along with a 1st grade friend ended in me staying there while she was allowed to return to the 1st grade class! In other words, no one ever told me I was an accelerated learner and what the move was all about. The work was not difficult; the school was mainly concerned about social and emotional "fitting in." This proved not to be too much of a stumbling block until I took a French course at the University level while I was in 7th grade. This caused significant cognitive dissonance and I did not care to repeat the experience due to the "feelings" of animosity I sensed there.

I did not think too much about acceleration issues again until I had my own children and my "young male Kindergartner" began to go through public school. There he experienced significant obstacles to "moving ahead", i.e. the principal noted that if he were subject accelerated, "what would the middle school have to teach him?" Finding this response rather bizarre, we began to seek out accelerated experiences on our own for him.

After my second child was ID's as a twice exceptional, and also received more individualized attention as a result, I began to consider the results of non-acceleration on my first child. He had become a significant underachiever, finding little of "value" in the school setting.

These experiences eventually led me to the doctoral program in educational psychology at the University of Virginia. Coursework and research have reinforced my own conclusions relating to the importance of affective education and the effectiveness of acceleration within the population of accelerated learners.

Thank you for all the work you are doing at the Belin-Blank center in this field. I look forward to reading your continuing research.

Jane Englund
Doctoral Candidate, University of Virginia
Arlington, VA
7/11/07

Quotation Mark At the grade 7-12 charter school where I began my teaching career, there were parents who sought us out because charter schools were known for their flexibility in student placement. Each year, particularly in the seventh grade, there were several parents who wished for their child to skip a grade or be offered the chance to take higher-level classes. The appeal of a middle school student taking high school math classes in the same building was particularly important for some parents.

All students who were accelerated faced some kind of struggles, mostly social in nature. There were always some peers in their new classes that did not accept the accelerated students. The accelerated students usually struggled with building friendships and in boy-girl issues. Those who faced the most trouble were the students who skipped sixth grade, going from the elementary fifth grade straight to the junior high seventh grade. This is a significant social and behavioral transition. Others who faced difficulty were home-schooled children, again for the lack of social experience with their new peers in an older group.

Academically, some struggled a great deal as a result of the social challenges swirling about them. The more they cared about their social standing, the more they seemed to struggle. Also, students who were used to claiming the top grades with minimal effort sometimes became frustrated after having to work harder for almost-class-leading grades. The most successful students were those who found little meaning in occupying an important niche in the schools social structure, preferring to focus themselves on their learning.

The conclusions we drew from these experiences are few but significant. We did not feel that we should stop offering the chance to accelerate. If a student showed academic ability at a higher grade level, we would consider acceleration. However, we then focused on the childs emotional development and ability to cope with the challenges of being in the classroom, not of comprehending or completing the coursework. Once parents understood that we were looking for coping skills and not suggesting that the studentís academic skills were too weak to move ahead, and the challenges other students had faced before, we easily came to an agreement whether acceleration was best for that student.

Further, we felt that it would be best for the students if the acceleration took place in the earlier grades, where the social impact would be less pronounced than at seventh grade, which is a tumultuous time on its own. Unfortunately, early identification and action was largely out of our hands, since our school began with seventh grade students.

Lee Reay
Teacher
Peoria, IL
6/26/07

Quotation Mark When my son, Scott, was 3, he figured out his own finger-math using place value which seemed to come innately to him. He could do math operations faster than I could put them into a calculator. He attended a college lab school that was used for two text companies as a place to try out their new materials. By the time we moved from PA to FL, he was in the 3rd grade and had completed the entire elementary math curriculum. By 6th grade, he had finished all middle school math, and by 9th grade he had taken all the high school math - including accounting and bookkeeping. The school district took him in a taxi from the middle school to the high school for those courses. For 9th and 10th grade, the district taxied him to the local junior college, and he completed their math courses by the end of 10th grade. So, his last two years in high school were spent working the last period of the day, and all afternoon, at an H&R Block office where he assisted with corporate tax preparations. They assigned him his math grade for two years. He worked at a more average level in other courses, and I thought it was wonderful that the district met his needs by accelerating him only in math. He has been a high school math teacher for the last 19 years.

Parent in Indiana
6/25/07

Quotation Mark My son was very fortunate to go to a Headstart program. He had a wonderful teacher who could tell when he grasped a concept and then knew when to move on to challenge him. He just finished the 2nd grade and it has been a struggle sincer kindergarten. His first half of kindergarten was a joke - the teacher was doing more babysitting than she was teaching, and she was having him do things he already knew how to do (I thought the point of Headstart sending the packet with him was so that he wouldn't have to repeat things). When I approached her about this, she was not very happy and said he had to stay with the rest of the class. I fought to have him moved to another class, and finally the principal moved him. His second half was a miracle! His new teacher said that if he had been with her the whole year, he would have been a lot farther as he is smart. The first grade year he finally got to go to what I call ELP. I'm not sure if that is what it's called, but I had to fight to get him there. He gets one hour a week to go with another teacher and work on logic problems and math problems. His first grade teacher was not very cooperative and would not listen when I would tell her that he was bored. He just finished his second grade year, and [name withheld to protect individual's privacy], was somewhat helpful, but in regards to math (his strongest subject), he would prefer to keep him with the rest of the class since he was doing 3rd grade spelling already and going out of the class once a week. I continue to fight and to try to find teachers that are willing to challenge him and understand that when he gets bored, he talks. I definitely think that if all kids were tested, they would find that some of the "troubled" kids are probably just bored because they're smart. I would like to see teachers more accepting of the smart kids and try to find ways to enrich them.

Parent in Iowa
6/15/07

Quotation Mark I had experience with grade-skipping in my own youth, and thus entered college at a younger than usual age. I don't think my own grade skip was a good idea, and in general I don't think grade-skipping in age-segregated schools is a very helpful educational intervention. Much better would be to serve up a more challenging curriculum to all learners. As it is, even most "accelerated" learners in the United States are behind below-average learners in some countries in some subjects, notably math, and low general curriculum expectations rather than limited opportunities to skip out of lockstep age-grading are the most severe problem in United States education today. But I do heartily agree with the idea that an able learner ought to be allowed to work on learning tasks that are challenging to that learner, and thus more enjoyable and developmental. On my own part, I homeschool my children, with considerable help from distance learning programs for gifted learners, so that they can go off to college at a more typical age, but meanwhile learn much challenging material that I never saw in high school.

Karl Bunday
Parent
Minnetonka, MN
6/12/07

Quotation Mark I have 5 children, all of them gifted. We knew quite early on with these kids that there was going to be trouble. When the first one was capable of multiplication, on her own, at 4, we realized we would need a plan B. We tried to start her early in Kindergarten and were refused. Mid-year, we asked for her to go to 1st grade for Math and reading, and after a week they told us she wasn't adjusting well and refused to let her stay. For 2nd-4th grade, we placed her in private school for gifted children. It was during 2nd grade that her talents became obvious, and I spoke with the administrator about getting her out of 2nd grade and into their 3/4 combo class, which was home to all of her friends. Considering she had been doing another girl's homework and getting all A's (she had no idea she had been cheating!), we thought it would be an easy switch to make. Suddenly, we were met with concerns about her social life- she was already hanging out with these kids. She thought her class was full of babies! We were told if she skipped 2nd grade, she would have gaps in her education. We were told she would be at a disadvantage for sports teams later on. That a gifted school would tell me these things was appaling. After she took the PSATs and scored 10th grade or higher in every area besides grammar, they skipped her. She is now 12 and will start highschool next year. She was recently- and quite pleasantly-accelerated from 7th grade with her homeschool group.

Our 2nd son was clearly a math whiz, but both her and the last child, while obviously gifted in all areas of learning, also have difficulty with speech, handwriting, maturity, attention, and hyperactivity. We tried to find any solution for the 2nd child and no one would help us. The teacher put him in the "thinking" chair every day for poor behavior. Finally, we discussed it as a family, and when the original school wouldn't accelerate him, we moved to a new school district and enrolled him before his previous records had a chance to arrive. He still complains that the work is not hard enough, but he has a group of peers he can interact with.

Our 3rd child started reading early and at the beginning of K, knew hoe to read the word "thouroughly". That combined with math skills, and they sent her on to 1st grade with no problems whatsoever. It was refreshing. She is just finishing 5th and while slightly less mature in some areas, she loves school. I can't imagine the battles we would be having if she were doing 4th grade this year.

The 4th child is the one we have had the most trouble with. He too is gifted, reading at 4, memorizing the bones in the bod at 5 (not all, but most!), etc. Also a very strong number sense, and genuinely a well-rounded kid emotionally and maturity-wise as well. We thought we would get him accelerated out of 1st grade and let him move along like the others. Instead, the principle refused to place him with his intellectual peers (or at least a grade up) and told us how disadvantaged he would be due to his short stature. We fought every direction we knew how, by any means possible. We were denied for 2 years. Finally, this year, when he was accidentally given the 3rd grade tests and aced them without ever seeing the material, they grudgingly moved him up a grade. He's thrilled.

Like our 2nd, the 5th one will be a huge struggle. Unfortunately, we don't have the option of moving to a new school district. He is probably the smartest of them all, but he can't make his body do everything it needs to in order to show that knowledge. We will still put in the effort to get him accelerated at least one grade, since he is already showing off 3rd grade knowledge in many areas, but I will be surprised if we get anywhere. At least this time the administrator knows me and knows how adamant I am about these kids getting an education.

I have always felt that if you allow them to figure out that they don't have to do any work to pass their classes, you have lost them as students. Acceleration was always a means to keep them striving and not beign lazy.

Melissa
Parent in Temecula, California
6/11/07

Quotation Mark Our son was accelerated this year into a second grade classroom. We were the ones who went to the teacher early in the school year and asked for him to be given work that would challenge him. His first grade teacher worked hard to try to challenge our son; however, it became increasingly difficult to do this within the classroom setting. At this point, we asked for a meeting with his 1st grade teacher and the principal. We wanted to ask that he be allowed to accelerate into 2nd grade math. During this meeting, it became apparent that it was going to be difficult due to scheduling purposes for this to happen. Then my husband asked if we could just place our son in the second grade class for the entire day. Wow! Heads definitely turned when he requested this. He did not have to say the word "whole grade acceleration, but we all knew what he meant. At that point, the principal asked the 1st grade teacher if she thought our son could do 2nd grade work. She agreed that he could! Wow! The first step, to this plan was actually working. The biggest concern was for our son emotionally. What if he didn't do well in 2nd grade? What would be "plan B"?

The end result was that our son would "test" out second grade by going to 2nd grade math for one hour per day. He would be missing 1st grade language arts, which meant that he may have work to bring home that the other students were doing in class. If our son did well in 2nd grade math, then we would have a discussion at the end of the grading period about full-grade acceleration. Well, our son did well. His behavior was BETTER in 2nd grade math than in his 1st grade classroom. And he had an "A" at the end of the grading period.

We called the principal towards the end of the grading period and asked for our son to be allowed to go into second grade beginning 2nd semester. The principal agreed that our son could do this. At the beginning of the 2nd semester our son became a 2nd grade student. He was SO excited!! He wanted to be challenged in the school work that he was doing. The biggest difference that we noticed was that our son was bringing home a lot more homework. This didn't even seem to bother him.

He just finished 2nd grade and the school year. We feel fortunate that he was allowed to accelerate into 2nd grade. We would like to thank his first grade teacher, [name withheld to protect invidual's privacy]; his second grade teacher, [name withheld to protect invidual's privacy]; and his principal, [name withheld to protect invidual's privacy] for giving our son, Jonathan, a chance to learn in school. To me, that is what school is for.....learning. Why go to school if you know the majority of what they are teaching every day? We just wanted our son to go to school to do what every student there should be doing daily....LEARNING!!

There were days when his behavior in 2nd grade was not good. These were the days that I questioned our decision to accelerate him. My husband was always unwavering about our decision, however, and he got me through these days. We believe that in the entire school year, our son was the happiest once he got into second grade & was learning at a more appropriate level.

Sure, we got the questions from other parents about why he was accelerated. I would always answer with "this is what we thought Jonathan needed in order to continue to learn in school." It has been a good experience and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again or suggest this to another parent who was in a similar situation. Parents need to be allowed to do what they think is right for their child. Parental advocating for a gifted child is undoubtedly the hardest job that I have had to face. It is not something easily understood by many people. It is also something that is hard to put into words. Many people are against whole grade acceleration for various reasons. But I will again say that all we want for our children is to be given the chance to continue to learn as the other students in school do on a daily basis.

Jill Mao
Parent in Indiana
6/11/07

Quotation Mark Kathryn is the stereotype of the gifted child. She read early, was a teacher pleaser, and was passionate and driven. We tried to get her admitted early to Kindergarten, but were told that she tires too easily (Kindergarten was still only half day). By third grade she came home crying almost every day. We pleaded for help. They claimed not to understand. We thought they were the experts. Her fourth grade teacher was wonderful and differentiated. By the end of the year they were talking about her skipping a grade. Only then did we learn that her CogAT scores were 150-150-150. We didn't understand why they hadn't ever looked at them before. Though it was an extremely difficult decision, she skipped fifth grade. She was 1-2 years younger than most of the other students. It went well, with a few drawbacks. In seventh grade, at age 11, her ACT was 90th percentile overall, 99th in Reading. By eighth grade she was bored but administration refused to accelerate her again. We sent her to Central Academy and she thrived and graduated first in her class at Valley. This weekend she graduates from Dartmouth with a double major. She placed second for 2 yrs on a row in one of the national debate tournaments and was voted fifth best debator in the country!

Molly is not your stereotypical gifted child. As a child Molly never asked "why" though she often had "science experiments" going on in her closet. We thought she didn't read much until we discovered that she was a natural speed reader and had read most of the books in the house. Being extremely introverted, most of the reading took place under the bedcovers or in the closet. In third grade she snuck "Gone With the Wind" into school and read it -- and understood it. In fifth grade we were asking for math compacting, but teacher and principal refused. So we asked that she be accelerated. After a meeting with extraordinarily nasty and angry teachers and administrators (who thought that perhaps we were pushing her or not providing her with enough hobbies), they reluctantly agreed to do it. After 1/2 a year of fifth grade math and 1/2 of sixth, she was put into pre-algebra. After algebra, she went to Central Academy where she took 3 years of math in 2 years, and started Calculus in 10th grade. She has so far gotten all 5's on all of her AP tests, including Calculus. She still is not a model student, doesn't get straight A's, and doesn't put effort into things she does not find worthwhile. However, she has had an appropriate education for her talents and really hasn't had to work all that hard. And wouldn't she have had that same personality no matter what level she studied at? Last week she graduated in the top 20 percent of her class at Valley (and Central Academy) and will attend Tuft's University in Boston in the fall. I can't see any drawbacks to her acceleration.

Eileen has always been a perfectionist, smart and funny as can be. Although Eileen's test scores have always been high, Eileen has never loved school or reading the way that her sister's did. However, she is a deep thinker and her humor would impress Robin Williams! She is also my only social butterfly. Eileen never wanted to stand out (though you would never know it by her clowning behavior!), and hated everyone looking at her when she left for gifted pullout classes. Though she took pre-algebra early, she had never accelerated in any other way before high school. Since her sisters had such great experiences at Central Academy, we talked Eileen into trying it for one year in 9th grade. She hated it! She struggled with the study skills, perfectionism and advanced work. She worked like a dog, though, and started with C's and ended with A's that first year. Somehow she decided to go for one more year. Again she has struggled and received C's and even some F's. At the end of the year, all B's and C's. Again, claimed to hate it, but still signed up again for one more year. We are extremely proud of how much she has learned and how she has risen to the challenge. Did we push her? I don't know. She obviously is not as "school smart" as her siblings, but seems to have learned an incredible amount about what it means to study and work hard and suceed. I can't help but think that this will be incredibly helpful in college. What would have happened if she had never had to try hard? In the meantime, she has discovered photography and movie-making, and is incredible at it. I don't regret pushing her a little because she seems to have learned a lot in the process. But it might have been a disaster if she had not been willing to work so hard. I think I learned a lot also about listening to the student - she knew herself that she was not the typical Central Academy type. I think I learned that it is important to listen to the student.

Kristin M. Clark
Teacher and parent
West Des Moines, IA
6/08/07

Quotation Mark My son was accelerated from the sixth grade to the eighth grade in most of his courses four years ago. It has been a positive experience for him and for our family. He was studying material that was new to him. The grade acceleration did not address the problem of the classes moving too slowly for him however. He moved out of the public school which accelerated him and returned to homeschooling. The following year he attended a private school which was more rigorous and he completed the eighth grade there with some subject acceleration to ninth grade. This worked well for him. He always related more to the older students that his age peers. Now he is entering his junior year just one year accerlerated but is taking classes more common for seniors. This combination of whole-grade acceleration combined with subject acceleration has been very smooth for him and has met his social needs in addition to his academic ones. He is socially mature and respectful but has been able to navigate through the antics of his grade peers without it bothering him too much. He is very grateful for his grade and subject acceleration. We can't imagine him in any younger grade.

Heidi Molbak
Parent
New Orleans, LA
6/04/07

Quotation Mark My son attends a K-8 Parochial school. He was initially subject accelerated 3 years in mathematics (as a 3rd grader he attended math classes with the 6th grade) and then several months later moved up again (to 8th grade). When he was in 5th grade an English acceleration was added to 7th grade. So he is currently finishing 10th grade honors math at a local parochial HS, 8th grade English, and 5th grade for all else. He is 10 years old. We did not wish to whole-grade accelerate because of possible missed athletic opportunities and a sibling in the next grade. The current situation has worked well, the only problem being scheduling difficulties. All teachers/administrators involved have been extremely cooperative and my son is very happy.

Parent in New York
6/04/07

Quotation Mark I was accelerated at a fairly young age--I skipped first grade. The school district was very resistant to this move, but luckily my mother lobbied hard on my behalf. I'm grateful that it turned out that way, because it was a much better fit for me both intellectually and socially. It was a lot easier to feel comfortable being myself in the classroom when I was around kids that were more like me. I've always believed, looking back on my schooling, that if I hadn't skipped first grade I would have spent most of my time at school staring out the window, having already finished my work. As a teacher it's important to me that I meet each student's needs no matter what their ability level, and that is partly because I am thankful someone stepped up to meet my particular needs many years ago.

Libby
Teacher in Cedar Rapids, IA
5/31/07

Quotation Mark Our two girls were accelerated almost at the same time in the same elementary school during spring 2005.

Our oldest daughter was in 3rd grade then moved into 4th grade in Feb 2005. She was a classic example as stated in the 'A Nation Deceived' report. Academically, she was happy (for a little while), but needed some social adjustment period.

When our second daughter entered Kindergarten, she was reading at about 2nd grade level. In March 2005, she moved into 1st grade with only 2 months of school time left. Academically, a bit challenging for her in math; however, she was still far ahead in reading. Socially, she transitioned smoothly into 1st grade since she is a people person, even though physically she is relatively tiny. Now, she is 7 _ years old and very well integrated into her 3rd grade class.

Based on our experiences with our two children, we strongly believe to always individualize the acceleration process. Bottom line, our two girls are happy in their new grades respectively and they couldn't bare the thoughts if they had to stay back in their old grades.

How many acceleration would be enough to a very gifted student but who is not at Einstein level?

Before end of spring 2005, we wanted to have our oldest daughter evaluated to take 6th grade math for upcoming fall 2005 school year. But the school recommended her to settle down in 5th grade for all subjects since she was just accelerated in spring 2005. It made sense, we thought. And, in modesty we decided not to pursue further.

That summer, she completed GRASP (summer program offered by the district) for 6th grade Math and Reading with average score around 90%. Yet, when the school began in fall, she had to study 5th grade Math curriculum. Three months later, she was bored again and started to read books under the table during class. By spring 2006, she became less motivated in school. So, when she moved into middle school, we requested the school to allow her to take the 6th grade pre-Algebra test. And, she scored very well.

Currently, our oldest daughter (10 _ y.o.) is in 6th grade with 7th grade Advanced Math (ie. with 8th grade pre-Algebra curriculum). She recently described her school experience, as "I love to go to school if I have new things to learn which is nothing much beside math. I love History, Science, English BUT they move way so slow that drive me nuts." She has been reading during class since last November 2006. Spring trimester is always hard to keep her motivated in school other than reading. Not because she couldn't wait for summer, but she desperately wants to learn new things. She is maintaining A's just because of the pressure we gave her at home.

We strongly feel that grade acceleration is the most cost effective solution for the school. We are so fortunate that our school district is open to it. But sometimes we felt that grade accelerations could come at a cost to our children... like their childhood times were cut short each time they skip a grade.

At the end of the day, we'd like to raise well-rounded children. It's true that gifted children are generally more mature than their age peers. But a true, well-rounded maturity comes from life experiences; and life experiences take time. Grade acceleration cuts short this time and reduces the students' growing time & other life experience exposures.

For example, our oldest daughter wants to join the Swimming team next year. At the same time, we also discuss the possibility of another grade skipping to resolve her current academic boredom. Yet, another grade skipping would put her to face much bigger, stronger, more experienced swimmers. Well, that sounds more like "grade skipping" is a design for failures to her competitive swimming desire.

Why can't the school educational program facilitate her rapid learning pace at her current grade level so she could enjoy other extra curriculum like competitive swimming or other sports? On the other hand, if she is "held" back academically, school is dreadfully NO fun when she doesn't experience the excitement and joy of learning.

From a parent's perspective, the 'A Nation Deceived' report had made a difference in our school district. A school principal whom we admire in the district posted the 'A Nation Deceived' insert poster on his office wall. We sincerely hope that the next report would help parents like us in how to address questions such as: How to balance between academic and well-rounded growing experiences/time/maturity? What are the best choices for our children? How to see the costs and benefits of the choices we should offer to our children? What happen when she wants to compete in sports too? Which one should we encourage her - sports or academics?

We hope this information would be helpful to your research.

Parent in Minnesota
5/29/07

Quotation Mark Our son was five when he began 1st grade. He did not attend kindergarten as he was already reading at a 3rd grade level and doing 2nd grade math. To be truthful he had a few adjustment problems the first two or three weeks of school - school manners, waiting to be called upon, cutting and using bottle glue. (Simply put, things you learn in kindergarten.) Everything was corrected in a week's time once his teacher brought it to our attention. By the end of the year we found he probably should have skipped more than one grade but he had adjusted well to school and made many, many friends. His math skills could have been challenged much more but with in a year's time his reading improved by 3 grade levels. It also helped a lot that he was in a classroom that was ability grouped and that there were other boys in his class who were strong readers. Next year he will be in a gifted magnet with 3 others boys from his class this year. We are all looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that will bring! Acceleration was the best option for our son. We would do it again if needed.

Parent in Minnesota
5/29/07

Quotation Mark I noticed my son coming home with pretests in math in the second grade. A large number of pretests he had passed. When I inquired what happens to a child when they already know the material I was told that more challenging work would be sent home for homework. I found that this type of work was very rarely given to my child.

At the end of 2nd grade during my son's triennial IEP (he has autism) I specifically asked for my son to be accelerated in math. He had been given the WIAT and scored 99.8 percentile in math. I was told that "the district does not approve acceleration".

The following year his classroom teacher agreed that she would accelerate him if he passed the pre-tests for a specific subject. The administration approved her request but told her she would have to personally pay for all materials and that he could not use district materials to accelerate. Instead of having the teacher pay from her own pocket I gave up and enrolled him in Stanford's EPGY math program. Within 3 months he had completed 2 grade levels. He was much happier.

Near the end of the year the teacher recommended him for gifted testing. He took the test with other kids and did not qualify. I asked for an appeal and expressed that they did not accomodate him for his autism. They asked for all his records so they can re-assess his qualification. I still have not heard back. In the mean time he qualified for CTY.

So my child is enrolled in EPGY and now qualifies for summer CTY but he does not qualify for GATE identification through the district and he is not able to accelerate. Next year will be difficult because he will be several years ahead thanks to EPGY but I have no options except to allow him to move ahead at home. I was insured that in middle school he will be able to take higher level classes. Well he is in 3rd grade now and that is a long way off. By then he will be doing high school math. We will still have no solution!

To say I am frustrated is an understatement.

Laura Kazan
Parent
Long Beach, CA
5/29/07

Quotation Mark My name is Corinne Char and I am currently a Junior at a St. Louis County Public School. After struggling with private schools, I entered the Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students (PEGS) in second grade. The PEGS Program is a full time program throughout elementary school which morphs into a part time program in Middle school and a classification and resource in High School. Its admittance is based on IQ with the minimum set at 140. Within this program, most children will skip at least one grade. I skipped 5th and one year of middle school. The PEGS program was ideal because, within the middle school and high school, students are able to freely select courses from different grade levels and typically spend1-2 years full time at the middle school and generally 1 year split between the Middle school and the high school (they are bused back and forth). This is generally ideal, but I have often found that parents can be too pushy and compermize their child's social and emmotional development. I also feel that parents push gifted kids beyond what the child should have been aloud to skip to the point of great gaps in knowledge. For example, many PEGS parents opt to place their children directly in 8th grade foreign language class without the first year of it. Although this may work out in some situations, it is stressful and unfair to the teacher who must now teach a single student what should have been learned in 2 years while managing the rest of a class. When grade skipping is considered, it is crucial to insure that the student understands it is their responsibility, not the teacher's, to catch up on any missed material. Aside from skipping grades in my younger days, I also skipped 2 years of science and a year of french in high school. I entered frenshman biology and was board to the point of mental consequences. I thoroughly appreciate my school's willingness to work with me on this problem. Although they originally tried to keep me with the freshmen, at semester they permitted me to enter the second semester of biology 1 AP/IB. I did just fine in this course. This year I compleated Bio 2 AP/IB and Chem 1 AP/IB with little reprecusions of my skip. I think this type of flexible option needs to be avaliable to all kids in similar situations, but at the same time, I have seen this type of plan fail when students become stressed out in higher level science courses because they simply do not have the information they need to enter that class. Again, the decesion to accelorate students needs to be evaluated by teachers, students, parents and administration. Skipping is not always the solution and can have serious social concequences, but, given the situation and the child, grade skipping can be a God sent.

Corinne Char
St. Louis, MO
Student
Program for Exceptionally Gifted Students
5/27/07

Quotation Mark Acceleration changed my son's life. He had a January birthday, so was older than most of his classmates in preschool and kindergarten, but got along well socially with everyone. However, in first grade, he started to put up a fight about going to school in the morning. He said it was boring. He started acting up in school. Every week there were calls from the principal over misbehavior and minor acts of vandalism. He was also leading other kids into trouble and misbehavior at the school. We had many meetings with school staff about how to impose 'consequences' on him. I had him tested and it turned out he was reading and doing math at a fourth grade level. I talked with the principal and teacher and asked them how they thought a typical fourth grader would behave if forced to sit in a first grade classroom all day. They dismissed me as an ignorant parent who didn't have their expertise. I filled out the Iowa Acceleration Scale form (my son was an excellent candidate for acceleration) and requested whole-grade acceleration. The school denied my request on the grounds that my son was immature. I transferred him to another school where the principal was more open to acceleration. The new school gave him a test and immediately placed him in the second grade with math and reading one year advanced. I was a little worried about him going from doing first grade work to doing third grade work. But he loved it. He completely changed. He had been a whiny, complaining kid who said he hated school and refused to do his homework. Now he looked forward to going to school in the morning, and would come home excitedly telling me, 'Guess what? I learned something new in math class today!' He did all his homework without asking, and at his first parent-teacher conference, all the teachers remarked on how his good attitude and maturity set an example for all the other boys. What scares me about all this is that I can see the path that a gifted child can be forced into if they are not given appropriate academic placement. My son could easily have ended up being labeled a 'bad kid,' and could have fulfilled that prophecy by becoming a juvenile delinquent or by dropping out in high school. Yet all it took to deal with his 'immaturity' and 'bad behavior' was appropriate academic stimulation. The answer was so simple, yet the administration and teachers at his first school could not see it.

Parent in California
5/26/07

Quotation Mark I learned to read at age 3. When I reached kindergarten, I was reading The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle. In first grade, I tested at eleventh-grade level in science and was admitted into the gifted program. Fast-forward past 5 years of boredom (despite a grade skip) to middle school: After getting involved in the MathCounts program, my parents managed to get the school to let me take Algebra I in seventh grade. Over the summer, I finished geometry, working on i