Articles are listed in descending order by year (most recent first), and then by first author's last name.
Lupkowski-Shoplik, A., Hinshaw, M., Clark, T., & Roberts, J. L. (2025, In Press). Above-level testing in K-12 schools: Lessons learned from Talent Search. Gifted Child Today.
https://iro.uiowa.edu/esploro/outputs/acceptedManuscript/Above-Level-Testing-in-K-12-Schools-Lessons/9984791678202771?institution=01IOWA_INST
University-based talent searches, in which students take a challenging, above-level test, have provided rigorous outside-of-school opportunities to academically talented students for decades. Talented young students take a test that was developed for older students, and the test results help educators discover the level of challenge the student needs and develop opportunities to meet those needs. The process of above-level testing and interpretation of the results has been well-established over the past 50 years in university-based talent searches. What has been learned from these programs can be applied in schools to challenge students year-round, rather than for only a short period of time in outside-of-school programs.
Callen, I., & Stoddard, C. (2024). Putting the "A" in AP: The effect of Advanced Placement state policies on student participation and performance. Economics of Education Review, 102, 102565.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2024.102565
Advanced courses prepare high school students for college material and the associated exams provide a low cost way to earn college credit. The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) program is the most common in the United States, with about 40 percent of graduating seniors taking at least one AP exam in recent years. However, these opportunities are not equal across high school students due to variation in school offerings and potentially limiting exam fees. We examine the effects of two state-level policies designed to provide greater access to this program: the first mandates a minimum number of AP courses to be offered in each high school and the second waives exam fees for all students for at least one exam. Our event study and two-way fixed effect estimates suggest that mandating the provision of AP courses raises the percent of high school graduates taking AP exams by 4 to 5 percentage points, while exam fee waivers increase participation by about 1.5 percentage points. At the same time, pass rates fell after implementation of the two policies, indicating that marginal exam takers are less proficient on the exams. We find both policies have minimal effects on the percent of graduates who passed at least one AP exam or on the number of passing exams per high school student.
Solem, M., Vander Weil, B. P., & Choi, Y. (2024). Advanced Placement human geography: Program access and effectiveness by grade level, 2001-2020. The Professional Geographer, 76(1), 66–76.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2023.2228870
Since 2001, the Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography program has grown substantially in terms of the sheer number of students taking the course and exam. The program’s growth curve is a marker of increased exposure to complex subject matter in high schools, which is a core AP objective. Viewing AP Human Geography’s growth in the aggregate, however, masks the program’s unequal record of supporting the second fundamental goal of AP, which is to facilitate the college transition of participating students. By grade level, the highest AP Human Geography exam scores on average were earned by high school juniors and seniors. Most of the exams were primarily taken by students in ninth grade outside of New England and the Middle Atlantic. Students in Texas and Florida together accounted for 35 percent of the exams in the peak year of 2019. AP Human Geography’s unintended status as a warmup AP course places it at odds with the College Board’s AP guidance and contemporaneous reports that most students start high school lacking the knowledge and skills for advanced geography coursework. The geography education of younger students would be better served by on-level geography courses and placement tests that are predictive of AP performance later in high school.
Lackey, D., & Lowery, K. (2023). Where are the African American males? Enrollment criteria and the placement of African American males in advanced placement courses. Urban Education, 58(1), 2628–2657.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920959133
This qualitative study was a critical race analysis of Advanced Placement criteria and under-enrollment of African American males in two midwestern urban high schools. Analysis of faculty interviews and documents generated four themes. AP criteria and enrollment were implemented through formal and informal practices, and key roles of individual faculty and collaboration with faculty and families supported AP structures. However, assumptions about African American males, and color and gender-blind dialogue contributed to disproportionate African American male enrollment in AP courses.
Ellegood, W. A., Bernard Bracy, J. M., & Sweeney, D. C. (2022). The Advanced Placement Program in Texas — Local access offered by public school districts is decreasing while the breadth of differentiated courses offered is increasing. Journal of Advanced Academics, 34(1), 7–31.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X221129972
This article presents an analysis of the participation of Texas public school districts in the Advanced Placement (AP) program for academic years ending 2013 through 2019. We develop and estimate to a panel of school district data a hurdle count model composed of (1) a first stage fixed effect binomial logistic regression model of the probability that a school district opts-in to locally offer AP program courses in a given academic years and (2) a second stage fixed effect zero truncated Poisson regression model of the number of unique AP courses offered in a given year by opting-in districts. We find that the number of Texas school districts providing local access to AP courses is decreasing through time; however, we also find that districts that do provide local access to AP courses offer increasingly greater numbers of unique AP courses.
Conger, D., Kennedy, A. I., Long, M. C., & McGhee, R., Jr. (2021). The effect of Advanced Placement science on students' skills, confidence, and stress. Journal of Human Resources, 56(1), 93–124.
https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.56.1.0118-9298R3
The AP program has been widely adopted by secondary schools, yet the evidence on the impacts of taking AP courses has been entirely observational. We report results from the first experimental study of AP, focusing on whether AP endows students with greater human capital than other regular and honors courses. We find suggestive evidence that taking an AP science course increases students’ science skill and their interest in pursuing a STEM major in college. AP course-takers also have lower confidence in their ability to succeed in college science, higher levels of stress, and worse grades than their control counterparts.
Plucker, J. A., & Callahan, C. M. (2020). The evidence base for advanced learning programs. Phi Delta Kappan, 102(4), 14–21.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721720978056
There is substantial evidence on the effectiveness of many forms of advanced education, especially various approaches to acceleration, ability grouping, and curricular innovations such as structured curriculum and enrichment. Nonetheless, additional research on the ways in which advanced education impacts the learning and lives of students across the variables of class, race, ethnicity, and gender is still needed, as it is for most educational interventions. Jonathan Plucker and Carolyn Callahan share the evidence base for several popular strategies and describe what evidence is still needed.
Roegman, R., Allen, D., & Hatch, T. (2019). Dismantling roadblocks to equity? The impact of advanced placement initiatives on Black and Latinx students’ access and performance. Teachers College Record, 121(5), 1–32.
https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811912100505
Background: Increasing access to Advanced Placement (AP) coursework has been a long-term goal of the College Board and many districts across the country, yet achieving this goal has remained elusive, particularly for African American and Latinx youth and youth in poverty.
Purpose: In this study, we analyze the work of five districts that have identified inequities in AP participation and developed initiatives to address these inequities. We examine these districts’ strategies, as well as their impact on both access to AP coursework and success on AP exams. We consider how efforts to increase access to AP have affected different racial/ethnic student groups.
Participants: The five districts are led by superintendents who were members of the Instructional Leaders Network (ILN), a statewide network that focuses on supporting superintendents’ system-wide, equity-focused improvement. The districts vary in demographics, size, and socioeconomic status.
Data Collection and Analysis: This mixed methods study includes five years of AP enrollment and performance data for four districts, and two years of data for one district. We also identified two of these districts as case studies of AP initiative development and implementation and conducted a series of interviews with administrators from the districts over the five years of the study. We analyzed quantitative data descriptively and used Bonilla-Silva’s (2018) concept of color-blind racism to analyze these data in relation to the interview data.
Findings: All districts adopted strategies focused on students as a whole, which for the most part led to an increase in access for all racial/ethnic groups, but no consistent pattern of reducing over- or under-representation. In terms of outcomes, in some districts, more students received scores of 3 or higher from all racial/ethnic groups, but disparities in average test scores remained. Additionally, across all districts, Black students continued to receive the lowest scores.
Conclusions: As school districts, individual high schools, and the College Board continue their focus on increasing equity in both access and performance, their approaches need to involve ongoing data collection and evaluation on how different programs and initiatives are positively or negatively affecting student populations that have been traditionally underserved as well as students in general. This research demonstrates that color-neutral policies need to be constantly interrogated by K–12 administrators and other stakeholders to ensure that the policies do not reinforce and sustain existing inequities. If districts seek to target groups of students who are underserved, they need to consider strategies and policies that explicitly and directly address those groups.
Lau, C., Kitsantas, A., Miller, A. D., & Drogin Rodgers, E. B. (2018). Perceived responsibility for learning, self-efficacy, and sources of self-efficacy in mathematics: A study of International Baccalaureate primary years programme students. Social Psychology of Education, 21, 603–620.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9431-4
The purpose of this study was to assess the interrelationship of elementary students’ perceived responsibility for learning, self-efficacy, and sources of self-efficacy in mathematics, and differentiation as a function of gender and grade level. Participants in this study included 442 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students from U.S. International Baccalaureate schools. Self-report measures were used to assess key study variables. Students in grade five reported higher levels of mathematics self-efficacy and perceived responsibility for learning than those in grade three. Grade four students also reported higher levels of perceived responsibility than grade three students. In addition, regression results revealed that mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological state accounted for a significant amount of variance in students’ mathematics self-efficacy, with social persuasion being the strongest predictor. Educational implications for practice within the context of International Baccalaureate schools are discussed.
Warne, R. T. (2017). Research on the academic benefits of the Advanced Placement Program: Taking stock and looking forward. SAGE Open, 1–16.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016682996
With more than 3 million participants per year, the Advanced Placement (AP) program is one of the most popular programs in the United States for exposing high-achieving high school students to advanced academic content. Sponsored by the College Board, the AP program provides a framework in which high school teachers can teach introductory college-level courses to high school students. These students then take one of 34 standardized tests at the end of the year, and students who score well on their course’s AP test can receive college credit from their university in which they later enroll. Despite the popularity of the AP program, remarkably little independent research has been conducted on the academic benefits of AP. In this article, I summarize the state of knowledge about the academic benefits of AP. Previous research and descriptive data indicate that AP students outperform non-AP students on a variety of academic measures, but many other aspects of the program are poorly understood, partially due to variability across AP subjects. These aspects include the causal impact of AP, which components of the program are most effective in boosting academic achievement, and how students engage with the AP program. I also conclude by making suggestions for researchers to use new methodologies to investigate new scientific and policy questions and new student populations to improve the educational scholars’ and practitioners’ understanding of the AP program.
Gagnon, D. J., & Mattingly, M. J. (2016). Advanced Placement and rural schools: Access, success, and exploring alternatives. Journal of Advanced Academics, 27(4), 266–284.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X16656390
Completing Advanced Placement (AP) coursework is an important part of the selective college admissions process, and access to AP coursework can be viewed as a measure of equal opportunity. Relatively little research has fully examined how access to AP coursework is mediated by school characteristics. Rural schools are at a particular disadvantage in promoting AP success due to a lack of sufficiently prepared students, teaching constraints, and other logistical challenges. This study uses regression to analyze AP access, enrollment, and success across a rich data set of U.S. school districts. We find that remote, small, and poor rural schools are considerably less likely to offer any AP courses. Even for rural schools that do offer AP coursework, enrollment and success rates lag well behind more urban and affluent schools. We explore potential policy solutions and examine alternative advanced coursework options for those rural schools that do not offer AP.
Judson, E. (2016). Science and mathematics Advanced Placement exams: Growth and achievement over time. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(2), 209–217.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1075188
Rapid growth of Advanced Placement (AP) exams in the last 2 decades has been paralleled by national enthusiasm to promote availability and rigor of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Trends were examined in STEM AP to evaluate and compare growth and achievement. Analysis included individual STEM subjects and disaggregation by ethnicity. Analysis indicates growth in STEM AP was extraordinary but was slightly outmatched by non-AP subjects. Moreover, growth in STEM AP has been most pronounced among underrepresented minorities, even though their achievement has slightly declined. Interestingly, the proportion of students scoring at the lowest level grew steadily for all students from 1997 to 2010, yet this proportion was substantially less for Asian and White students compared to underrepresented minorities. Finally, it was found that achievement in most high-participation STEM subjects slightly decreased from 1998 to 2013, while achievement held steady or slightly increased in lower participation STEM AP subjects.
Park, K., Caine, V., & Wimmer, R. (2014). The experiences of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate diploma program participants: A systematic review of qualitative research. Journal of Advanced Academics, 25(2), 129–153.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X14532258
Enriched high school curricula like the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma programs are endorsed as “pathway programs” for postsecondary-bound students. Program participation is perceived to have benefits that appeal to a broad stakeholder group of universities, administrators, teachers, students, and parents. In this systematic review, we aim to establish what is known about program experiences by synthesizing pertinent qualitative research on student participation. We identified 20 relevant articles that were published up to July 2013 in English and were listed in commonly accessible databases. Analytical themes explored include the impact of peer relationships, the impact of the teacher–student relationship, the conceptualization of success, the construction of self-image, and perceived preparation for the future. Based on our findings, we offer critical insights into the existing qualitative research and provide recommendations for future research.
Assouline, S. G., & Lupkowski-Shoplik, A. (2012). The talent search model of gifted identification. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 30(1), 45–59.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282911433946
The Talent Search model, founded at Johns Hopkins University by Dr. Julian C. Stanley, is fundamentally an above-level testing program. This simplistic description belies the enduring impact that the Talent Search model has had on the lives of hundreds of thousands of gifted students as well as their parents and teachers. In this article, we compare the Talent Search model to school-based models of gifted education. The comparisons are both broad and narrow. Broad contrasts are made in the discussion of the historical impetus, whereas specific differences are presented in the discussion of numbers of students served and costs. Bridging the Talent Search model and K-12 gifted education models is addressed. Assessment information from Talent Search above-level testing offers valuable information for parents and teachers and recommendations for advocacy are presented. Finally, we highlight major findings from Talent Search research emphasizing that Talent Search research has made a significant contribution to our understanding of gifted and talented students. We conclude with a strong endorsement to recognize the founder of the Talent Search model, Julian C. Stanley, by referring to the impact of the Talent Search model as the Julian Stanley Effect.
Dutkowsky, D. H., Evensky, J. M., & Edmonds, G. S. (2008). Should your high school adopt Advanced Placement or a concurrent enrollment program? An expected benefit approach. Retrieved June 4, 2008, from http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/efap/Publications/Should_Your_HSchool_Adopt.pdf
This study utilized simulations of an Expected Benefit model to quantitatively compare the relative benefits of two types of
acceleration: Advanced Placement (AP) and Concurrent Enrollment Programs (CEP). While both AP and CEP can lead to high school students earning college credits for coursework completed while in high school, they differ in financial cost and the likelihood of obtaining college credit, thereby creating a need to compare the benefits of each.
To answer the research question “What model should an individual high school choose to offer for its students?” the authors use Expected Benefit – defined as the likelihood of achieving college credit at a given cost – as their dependent variable. Expected Benefit is calculated based on a formula that the researchers created and the data used in the simulation are drawn from the College Board for the AP and from Syracuse University for the CEP.
The results show that CEP placement is generally more appropriate for students who are planning on attending private undergraduate institutions and score within the average range on the AP test, while AP placement is generally more appropriate for students who have inexpensive access to a public undergraduate institution and/or score exceptionally well on the AP.
Hertberg-Davis, H., & Callahan, C. M. (2008). A narrow escape: Gifted students' perceptions of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Programs. Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(3), 199-216.
In this qualitative study, 200 students from 23 high schools in seven states were interviewed about their experiences in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. Hertberg-Davis and Callahan sought to understand how students enrolled in AP and IB courses perceive and evaluate their learning experiences in these classes.Based on the results of the interview data, the authors present five recommendations for serving gifted students through AP and IB programs: - Emphasize the benefits of experiencing genuine challenge over other rewards for taking AP/IB courses.
- Provide AP and IB teachers with more consistent and comprehensive AP and IB training.
- Make achieving equity within AP and IB courses a priority.
- Train AP and IB teachers to deliver a differentiated curriculum using varied instructional strategies to meet the needs of a broad range of gifted students.
- Investigate options for gifted and talented secondary learners beyond AP and IB courses.
Lee, S.-Y., Matthews, M. S., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2008). A national picture of talent search and talent search educational programs. Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(1), 55-69.
This article presents a comprehensive portrait
of talent search testing and associated educational programs in the United
States, now some 35 years after Dr. Julian Stanley originated the concept.
Survey data from the six major talent search centers in the United States were
used to examine the scope of talent search educational offerings, including
accelerated summer, distance education, Saturday and weekend, and leadership
programs. Reported data reveal that over 3 million students have participated
in talent search testing since these programs' inception, and subsequently
thousands of these students participate each year in other educational programs
offered by these organizations. In addition to above-level test scores, data
used to prequalify students to participate include on-level standardized
achievement tests, teacher or parent nominations, and portfolios.
Disproportional representations within talent search testing and educational
programs by racial and household income levels were addressed with a need for
more financial support and collaborative work between talent search centers and
local schools for more students to benefit from the talent search model.
Kyburg, R. M., Hertberg-Davis, H., & Callahan, C. M. (2007). Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs: Optimal learning environments for talented minorities? Journal of Advanced Academics, 18(2), 172-215.
Kyburg, Hertberg-Davis, and Callahan conducted a qualitative research study based on interview and observation notes from three urban high schools with diverse populations on the east coast of the United States. The two research questions they sought to answer were:- 1. Do AP and IB classrooms in high-poverty urban schools provide appropriate educational opportunities for gifted students from racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds, as well as gifted English language learners?
- 2. What modifications to curriculum, instruction, and scaffolding in high-poverty urban schools allow students to experience a sense of success and develop a readiness to take on new challenges in college?
The study found that the success of these programs depended largely on the belief by teachers, administrators, and counselors that students could succeed in AP and IB programs. School personnel also need to make sure that other support systems are in place in order to help students succeed.
Matthews, M. S., & McBee, M. T. (2007). School factors and the underachievement of gifted students in a talent search summer program. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(2), 167-181.
The topic of underachievement and how to reverse it has received a great deal of attention in the gifted education literature. The present study sought to add to the knowledge base on this issue by investigating the occurrence of underachievement behaviors and their predictors in a population of highly gifted students attending a summer educational program based on the talent search model. Results support qualitative findings in the literature, suggesting that educational interventions can be extremely effective in reversing the expression of underachieving behaviors.
Swiatek, M. A. (2007). The talent search model: Past, present, and future. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(4), 320-329.
Typical standardized achievement tests cannot
provide accurate information about gifted students' abilities because they are
not challenging enough for such students. Talent searches solve this problem
through above-level testing—using tests designed for older students to raise
the ceiling for younger, gifted students. Currently, talent search programs
serve gifted students from grades 2 through 8 throughout the mainland United
States and in several foreign countries. Extensive research demonstrates that
above-level test scores differentiate among levels of giftedness and have
important implications for educational planning. Students with high scores learn
advanced material rapidly and well and thrive in accelerated learning settings.
Therefore, talent searches have followed up on testing with educational
programs, many of which focus on acceleration. Decades of research have
documented both academic and psychosocial benefits to participants. Perhaps the
greatest challenge ahead of the talent searches is that of facilitating the
appropriate education of gifted students in the school setting.
Lee, S.-Y., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2006). Comparisons between talent search students qualifying via scores on standardized tests and via parent nomination. Roeper Review, 28(3), 157-166.
Talent search, developed by Dr. Julian Stanley at Johns Hopkins University, is a procedure for identifying talented youth (grades 3-8) through the use of an above-level test, such as the ACT, SAT, or EXPLORE (a test intended for 8th graders). Though there is research strongly supporting the benefits of involvement in talent search, there is disagreement about the best way to enter the process. Currently, two major ways of qualifying for talent search include achieving at the 95th percentile on a nationally-normed standardized test or a parent nomination. The authors note that standardized testing may lead to underrepresentation of some groups, including minorities, due to tests' heavy emphasis on verbal skills, themselves based on cultural experiences. This suggests that parent-norms may help correct underrepresentation.
The authors’ main goals are to assess the demographic characteristics of students entering talent search via standardized testing versus parent nomination, determine whether the two groups score differently on above-level testing, and learn about factors associated with any differences in scores for the two groups.
Results show that students qualifying via standardized tests scored slightly higher on the above-level tests than students who were parent-nominated. There were more Asian-American students in the parent-nominated group than the standardized testing group, though Asian-American students admitted via standardized testing scored 40 points higher on the above-level test than parent-nominated students. In addition, the authors found that parent nomination did not result in more low-income or underrepresented minorities being admitted to the talent search. The authors conclude that parent nominations can be a feasible alternative for identifying children for talent search testing, as parent-nominated students scored only slightly lower than standardized-test-identified children on the above-level test.
Shaunessy, E., Suldo, S. M., Hardesty, R. B., & Shaffer, E. J. (2006). School functioning and psychological well-being of International Baccalaureate and general education students: A preliminary examination. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(2), 76-89.
The study aimed to explore the school and psychosocial functioning of 33 gifted and 89 high-achieving students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme compared to that of 176 general education students in the same school, a public high school located in a rural county in the southeastern United States. IB students who were not identified as gifted were categorized as high-achieving learners. The high school offered both an IB high school and a general education high school in a single school building, with each program having its own faculty and staff. The study tested the overall effect of group membership (IB-gifted, IB-high-achieving, or general education) on academic functioning, life satisfaction, and psychopathology.
IB classes allow students to learn advanced content and skills at an age or grade earlier than expected, making them a form of acceleration. IB students tend to be highly self-motivated and meet or exceed school expectations, usually scoring above the 90th percentile on achievement tests.
Much of the information was collected through a survey. Teachers in both parts of the high school sent home letters regarding the study. Students who returned signed parent consent forms then completed questionnaires in groups of fifty to one hundred.
Indicators of adolescent functioning were organized in the following three areas: academic functioning, emotional distress, and psychological well-being. To assess academic functioning, the authors of the study use the School Climate Scale (SCS) and the Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C). Indicators of academic function were also ascertained from archival school records (GPA, attendance, and discipline referrals during the semester). To assess psychological well-being, the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale, and The Youth Self-Report of the Child Behavior Checklist were administered.
In four of six aspects of school climate, students in the IB program reported more positive perceptions of the crucial aspects of school climate than did their peers in the general education program. GPA, academic self-efficacy, attendance, and discipline referrals were significantly affected by group membership, with the strongest effect on GPA. Satisfaction with friends, self, school, living environment, and family were also significantly affected by group membership. In particular, gifted students in IB classes reported much higher levels of satisfaction with their friendships than their peers in general education. Psychopathology and problematic peer relations were significantly altered by group membership, with students in general education exhibiting more aggression and rule-breaking behaviors than either of other groups.
While the benefits of the IB program appear to include superior social functioning and psychological wellness, it is difficult to determine whether these benefits were a byproduct of the well-planned IB program or a result of other factors (preexisting student characteristics, teacher expectations, etc.). The study lacks non-accelerated gifted students as a control, and so has little to say about the effects of not accelerating a gifted student. The study also is not necessarily generalizeable to other IB school programs or other advanced curriculum because of its limited and specific scope. More studies are necessary to better understand the effects of IB and other advanced curriculum on gifted and high-achieving students. Other limitations of the current study include the relatively small size of the gifted sample, the low rate of participation from the general education students, and the cross-sectional design.
The authors suggest that, in addition to the training the IB program already provides in content-area test preparation and related exams, the program should provide training on the affective needs of gifted and high-ability students. The study’s authors conclude that the match between the academic demands of the IB program and the IB students’ abilities may have facilitated psychological wellness. Because students participating in an IB program showed similar or superior levels of psychosocial adjustment in comparison to general education peers, the IB program appears well-suited for gifted students and possibly all students with high achievement needs and academic values.
Taylor, M. L., & Porath, M. (2006). Reflections on the International Baccalaureate Program: Graduates' perspectives. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17(3), 21-30.
This paper presents the results of a survey
administered during the spring of 2005. At this time, graduates of the
International Baccalaureate (IB) Program from two public schools in a large
city in British Columbia, Canada, were asked to respond to 20 statements on a
4-point Likert-type scale, and to 7 open-ended questions. Graduates from the
years 1996 and 2000 were selected. At the time of this survey, many of the
graduates of 2000 were just finishing their undergraduate postsecondary
programs, and the graduates of 1996 were settling into their chosen careers.
Both groups were in a position to reflect on their experiences while they were
in the program, and also to analyze the benefits of IB, if any, that they
experienced during their postsecondary studies. Overall, graduates reported
positive experiences in the program. They felt that the rich curriculum to
which they were exposed, and the critical thinking and time management skills
that they developed, were well worth the extra effort required to earn an IB
diploma. Furthermore, they felt that the IB experience prepared them well for
postsecondary studies.
Barnett, L. B., Albert, M. E., & Brody, L. E. (2005). The Center for Talented Youth Talent Search and academic programs. High Ability Studies, 16(1), 27-40.
The article describes the goals, programs, and methods of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth (CTY), which seeks to identify and serve students with outstanding talent. CTY publicly recognizes exceptional students through newspaper articles and award ceremonies, which CTY hopes will motivate students and encourage schools to take action to challenge their students and reward academic excellence. In order to be eligible to participate in CTY programs, students must take an above grade level aptitude test through an annual talent search. CTY encourages those who score well compared with older students to both participate in CTY programs and seek advanced educational opportunities in their schools and communities. The CTY program is open to both American and international students. CTY programs, which serve students in grades two through eight, include family academic conferences, academic summer programs, one day programs, weekend programs, and week-long explorations. The academic summer programs focus on one subject intensively for three weeks. Courses are designed to challenge students in writing, humanities, engineering, computer science, mathematics, and science. Most of the summer programs are residential, allowing students to build a support network and bond with their intellectual peers.There are three talent searches, each of which uses a different test. The Talent search: Grades 7-8 uses the SAT I and gives students the option to take the Spatial Test Battery (STB) to supplement slightly lower SAT I scores. The Talent search: Grades 5-6 uses PLUS, which is similar to SAT I, and also offers the option of the STB to supplement slightly lower PLUS scores. The Elementary talent search uses the School and College Ability Test, or SCAT.Within CTY is the Center for Academic Advancement (CAA), which was developed for bright students who do not meet CTY’s admission requirements. Unlike most of CTY, the CAA program is designed for enrichment, not acceleration.
Brody, L. E. (2005). The study of exceptional talent. High Ability Studies, 16(1), 87-96.
The Study of Exceptional Talent (SET) identifies students who exhibit extremely advanced mathematical and/or verbal reasoning abilities and helps them find the challenging educational programs they need to achieve their full potential. Specifically, students who score 700-800 on the mathematical or verbal portion of SAT I before the age of 13 are invited to take advantage of SET's counseling and mentoring opportunities. An ongoing longitudinal study tracks the progress of these students, and their achievements to date have been exceptional. SET students, as a group, participate in a variety of accelerated programs, attend highly selective colleges and universities and earn advanced degrees in large numbers. Those who have embarked on their careers appear to be excelling in their chosen fields as well.
Klopfenstein, K., & Thomas, M. K. (2005, August). The link between Advanced Placement experience and college success. https://www.utdallas.edu/research/tsp-erc/pdf/wp_klopfenstein_2006_link_advanced_placement.pdf.pdf
This paper considers an effect Klopfenstein and Thomas label the “AP Arms Race,” which is the phenomenon of high school seniors taking more AP classes than they might under normal circumstances to weight their GPA. According to their discussion, seniors are more likely to enroll in AP courses than other rigorous college-preparatory courses because APs are often weighted-grade courses, which can raise a student’s class rank and overall GPA. Both class rank and GPA are considered by college admissions departments around the country. Data were collected from over 28,000 Texas high school graduates who attended 31 four-year Texas public institutions during the fall of 1999. The study defined early college success based on college GPA and measured college persistence as whether or not a student enrolled in the same institution for the 2000 academic school year.The results of the study found that, with the exception of Hispanic students who took AP science classes, participation in AP courses was no better an indicator of early college success or college persistence than enrolling in a rigorous college preparatory program.
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Lee, S.-Y. (2005). How schools use talent search scores for gifted adolescents. Roeper Review, 27(4), 233-240.
This study examined the talent search program from the
perspectives of local school officials who enroll their students in the
program, a topic on which little research currently exists. Specifically, the
authors were interested in the following issues and questions: (1) How do local
schools learn about talent search and how do they encourage students to
participate in it? (2) How do local schools serve students after they
participate in talent search? What do they do with the test scores and how do
they use them? (3) What impact does talent search have on the local school's
work with gifted students? Does it affect their programs, classes, or curricula?
(4) What differences exist between schools that actively participate in talent
search versus those that are less active in terms of methods to involve
students, follow-up after testing, use of scores, school services provided to
students, and the like? This study confirmed that talent search is perceived by
schools as a means of obtaining academic opportunities for gifted students, but
primarily outside-of-school opportunities. The research indicates that talent
search helps schools find appropriate courses, programs, and experiences
outside of school for their students.
Stanley, J. C. (2005). A quiet revolution: Finding boys and girls who reason exceptionally well and/or verbally and helping them get the supplemental educational opportunities they need. High Ability Studies, 16(1), 5-14.
The antecedents for the four regional annual talent searches for boys and girls who reason exceptionally well mathematically and/or verbally began in 1971 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, with the creation of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth' under the direction of the author of this article, its originator. Here he traces the development and expansion that led to much experimentation during the 1970s and the formation in 1979 of what is now called the Center for Talented Youth and similar progams based at three other private universities in the United Stated. These cover the entire USA and cooperate with educators in a number of foreign countries, especially England, Ireland, and Spain.
Wallace, P. (2005). Distance education for gifted students: Leveraging technology to expand academic options. High Ability Studies, 16(1), 77-86.
Technological advances and widespread access to
the Internet are facilitating new educational approaches that go beyond the
traditional face-to-face classroom setting. Distance education has emerged as a
valuable option for a number of special populations of learners whose needs are
more difficult to meet in the classroom, of which gifted students are one. This
paper explores the many varieties of distance education and the technologies
that support them and examines research on the effectiveness of the approaches
in different settings. Research on the distance education programs offered by
the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth is summarized and best
practices, based on the findings, are proposed.
Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Lee, S.-Y. (2004). The role of participation in in-school and outside-of-school activities in the talent development of gifted students. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 15(3), 107-123.
Based on survey responses from 230 students
enrolled in a summer gifted program at a university, this study gives a
description of gifted students’ participation in extracurricular activities in
and outside of school. Findings show that gifted students were more involved in
competitions, clubs, or other extracurricular activities in mathematics than in
other subject areas and were the least involved in computer science activities.
Sports were the most frequent extracurricular and outside-of-school activities,
as well as playing and working with computers. The data reveal some
gender-stereotypical tendencies regarding participation in and
outside-of-school activities and gender-typical patterns of support from
parents. Grade and course differences were also found. Contributions this study
makes to the existing literature are to assess the consonance of children's
participation in outside-of-school and extracurricular activities with their
talent area and to document empirically parental involvement and independent
home study for gifted adolescents.
Jarosewich, T., & Stocking, V. B. (2003). Talent search: Student and parent perceptions of out-of-level testing. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 14(3), 137-150.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of
academically gifted 7th- and 8th-grade students participate in 1 of 4 regional
or several local talent searches, through which they take the ACT or SAT as an
out-of-level test. Participation in a talent search offers young students the
opportunity to learn about their abilities, practice taking the standardized
test they will eventually take for college admittance, obtain information about
educational opportunities, and become eligible for rigorous summer and weekend
education programs with similarly gifted peers. Very little information is
available from the perspectives of students and parents regarding what it is
like to take these tests as a 7th or 8th grader. We surveyed 909 students and
their parents about their reasons for participating in one of the regional
talent searches, the ways in which they prepared for the test, and their
feelings while taking the test. Results suggest that students participated in
the talent search primarily to gain experience taking the test and to learn
about their abilities. Students and parents reported that taking the test was a
positive experience for the student. Parents reported being proud that their
children were invited to take the test and felt that participation was an honor.
Rothschild, E. (1995). Aspiration, performance, reward: The Advanced Placement Program at 40. College Board Review, 176-177, 24-32.
The history of the College Entrance Examination Board's Advanced Placement Program is chronicled from its inception in 1951 through early developmental stages and 40 years of implementation. Issues discussed include test development, funding, administration at the institutional level, expansion of curriculum areas and testing options, teacher involvement, and inclusion of precocious youth in instructional and testing programs.
Reis, S., et al. (1993). Why not let high ability students start school in January? The curriculum compacting study (Research Monograph 93106). Storrs, CT: National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented.
This study examined the effects of curriculum compacting, a curriculum modification technique for gifted and talented students, with approximately 436 elementary teachers and 783 students in 27 school districts throughout the United States. The study was designed to investigate the types and amount of curriculum content that could be eliminated for high ability students by teachers who received various levels of staff development. It also examined effects of curriculum compacting on students' achievement, content area preferences, and attitudes toward learning. Teachers were randomly assigned to one of four groups, three treatment groups that received increasing levels of staff development or a control group. After receiving staff development services, teachers in each of the treatment groups implemented curriculum compacting for one or two high ability students in their classrooms. A battery of pre/post achievement tests and a questionnaire regarding attitude toward learning were administered to identified students. Results indicated that the compacting process can be implemented in a wide variety of settings with positive effects for both students and teachers. Results also identified effective and efficient methods for training teachers to make appropriate curricular modifications for gifted and talented students. Appendices provide information on treatment and control group instrumentation and eight statistical tables.
Stanley, J. C. (1990). Leta Hollingsworth's contributions to above-level testing of the gifted. Roeper Review, 12(3), 166-171.
The pioneering work of Leta Hollingsworth (1886-1939) in using above-level testing with highly intellectually talented young people is recounted and related to contemporary activities of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth.
Benbow, C. P., & J. C. Stanley (Eds.) (1983), Academic precocity: Aspects of its development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Revised, expanded, and updated proceedings of the Tenth Annual Hyman Blumberg Symposium on Research in Early Childhood Education focus on the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY).
George, W. C., Cohn, S. J., & Stanley, J. C. (Eds.) (1977). Educating the gifted: Acceleration and enrichment. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Revised and expanded proceedings of the Seventh Annual Hyman Blumberg Symposium on Research in Early Childhood Education.
