Articles are listed in descending order by year (most recent first), and then by first author's last name.
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.
Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M. C., Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016). What one hundred years of research says about the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K-12 students’ academic achievement: Findings from two second-order meta-analyses. Review of Educational Research, 86, 849-899. doi:10.3102/0034654316675417
Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M. C., Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016). What one hundred years of research says about the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K-12 students’ academic achievement: Findings from two second-order meta-analyses. Review of Educational Research, 86, 849-899. doi:10.3102/0034654316675417. [Keyword: Program Model]
Two second-order meta-analyses synthesized approximately 100 years of research on the effects of ability grouping and acceleration on K–12 students’ academic achievement. Outcomes of 13 ability grouping meta-analyses showed that students benefited from within-class grouping (0.19 ≤ g ≤ 0.30), cross-grade subject grouping (g = 0.26), and special grouping for the gifted (g = 0.37), but did not benefit from between-class grouping (0.04 ≤ g ≤0.06); the effects did not vary for high-, medium-, and low-ability students. Three acceleration meta-analyses showed that accelerated students significantly outperformed their nonaccelerated same-age peers (g = 0.70) but did not differ significantly from nonaccelerated older peers (g = 0.09). Three other meta-analyses that aggregated outcomes across specific forms of acceleration found that acceleration appeared to have a positive, moderate, and statistically significant impact on students’ academic achievement (g = 0.42).
Shaunessy-Dedrick, E., Evans, L., Ferron, J., & Lindo, M. (2015). Effects of differentiated reading on elementary students' reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading. Gifted Child Quarterly, 59(2), 91-107.
This study examined the effects of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model -- Reading (SEM-R) on fourth graders' reading comprehension and attitudes toward reading. Students in the SEM-R schools had significantly higher comprehension scores, but no significant differences were found regarding attitudes toward reading.
Missett, T. C., Brunner, M. M., Callahan, C. M., Moon, T. R., & Price Azano, A. (2014). Exploring teacher beliefs and use of acceleration, ability grouping, and formative assessment. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 37(3), 245–268.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353214541326
Few academic interventions for gifted students have generated more empirical support than acceleration and ability grouping, and formative assessment is advocated as a tool that educators can use to appropriately integrate accelerative practices and ability grouping into the classroom. However, the empirical support for accelerative practices, ability grouping, and formative assessment does not always translate into practice. This qualitative study sought to explore how teacher expectations about student ability influenced teacher use of accelerative practices, ability grouping, and formative assessment. The findings indicate that the availability and use of formative assessments, coupled with high teacher expectations about student ability, support teacher use of best practices in pacing and grouping strategies.
Vogl, K., & Preckel, F. (2014). Full-time ability grouping of gifted students: Impacts on social self-concepts and school-related attitudes. Gifted Child Quarterly, 58(1), 51-68.
Positive socioemotional outcomes and developments represent important educational goals. Full-time ability grouping of gifted students has been criticized for potentially detrimental socioemotional effects. Therefore, in the present longitudinal study, we investigated whether or not social self-concepts and school-related attitudes and beliefs are affected by full-time ability grouping of the gifted. Students in regular classes and students in special classes for the gifted were paralleled for cognitive ability, sex, socioeconomic status, and school. By doing so, we studied 99 “statistical twins” (N = 198) from the beginning of fifth grade to the middle of sixth grade. Data were analyzed through repeated-measures multivariate analysis of covariance (within-subject factor: time; between-subject factors: class type—gifted vs. regular—and cognitive ability as covariate). Cognitive ability had hardly any effect on the variables under study. Attending a gifted class had initially positive effects on students’ social self-concept of acceptance but no effects on social self-concept of assertiveness. Moreover, children in gifted classes exhibited more interest in school and reported better student–teacher relationships than their counterparts in regular classes.
Heacox, D. (2008). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach all learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing.
In this timely, practical guide, Diane Heacox presents a menu of strategies for any teacher faced with a spectrum of student needs and styles. The 2008 edition includes a CD with reproducible forms.
Al-Lawati, F. A. K., & Hunsaker, S. L. (2007). Differentiation for the gifted in American Islamic schools. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 30(4), 500-518.
A brief narrative description of the journal
article, document, or resource. This research focuses on teacher instructional
and curricular practices in gifted students' experiences in Islamic schools in
the United States. Surveys were administered at private, full-time Islamic
elementary schools to determine the extent to which differentiation practices
for meeting the needs of gifted students and the integration of Islamic values
were employed. Findings suggest that Islamic schools in the United States have
limited programs for gifted students. A majority of teachers in Islamic schools
differentiate little between gifted and average students in instructional
strategies. When differentiation occurs, it is very basic. Further, teachers at
Islamic schools generally do not integrate Islamic values into other academic
areas and present them to all students without differentiation.
Lee, S.-Y., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2006). A study of instructional methods used in fast-paced classes. Gifted Child Quarterly, 50(3), 216-237.
This study involved 15 secondary-level teachers
who taught fast-paced classes at a university-based summer program and similar
regularly paced classes in their local schools in order to examine how teachers
differentiate or modify instructional methods and content selections for
fast-paced classes. Interviews were conducted with the teachers during the
summer sessions with a brief survey used as supplemental data. Overall,
teachers in this study used a varied set of instructional strategies and
in-class activities for their fast-paced classes including lectures,
presentations, group activities, demonstrations, frequent tests and quizzes,
timed writing, essays, and discussion. The shorter time frame (3 weeks versus 9
months) and teachers’ perceptions about students’ academic abilities were the
two major reasons given for the differentiated instructional strategies and
content in the fast-paced classes. In the survey data, less repetition in
course content, advanced-level readings and questions, and more independence in
learning were found for the fast-paced classes. Yet, the teachers were not
likely to move beyond the textbook for enrichment materials or individualize
homework or assignments for students in their fast-paced classes. They also
expressed concerns regarding depth versus breadth of the material covered in
the 3-week courses.
Rogers, K. B. (2002). Grouping the gifted and talented: Questions and answers. Roeper Review, 24(3), 102-107.
Five questions about the academic, psychological, and socialization effects on gifted and talented learners of grouping for enrichment, of cooperative grouping for regular instruction, and of grouping for acceleration are addressed. Analysis of 13 research syntheses supports sustained periods of instruction in like-ability groups for gifted and talented students.
Shields, C. M. (2002). A comparison study of student attitudes and perceptions in homogeneous and heterogeneous classrooms. Roeper Review, 24(3), 115-119.
Despite arguments advocating mainstreaming and heterogeneous grouping as the best option for most, if not all students, the findings of this study suggest that homogeneous classes may serve the needs of academically talented and gifted students without detrimental effects to other students served in heterogeneous classrooms. The researcher compared a number of different measures for fifth and eighth grade students in both types of classrooms. These measures included student academic achievement as well as students’ perceptions of themselves as learners, of their school experience, and of their teachers’ behaviors and attitudes. Anticipated differences in academic achievement, consistent with initial placement criteria, were found. Statistically significant differences were identified for students’ perceptions of teachers’ behaviors and attitudes, but the anticipated differences in students’ attitudes towards themselves and their school experiences were not present.
Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C. L. C. (1992). Meta-analytic findings on grouping programs. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36(2), 73-77.
Meta-analytic reviews have shown that gifted students gain little from programs of minimal instructional modification (multilevel classes), more from greater modifications (cross-grade and within-class programs) and the most from those involving the greatest amount of curricular adjustment (enrichment and acceleration).
Slavin, R. E. (1987). Grouping for instruction in the elementary school. Educational Psychologist, 22(2), 109-127.
Focuses on two major categories (between class and within class) found in research on the achievement effect of grouping. Among between-class ability grouping plans, research supports the achievement effects of the Joplin Plan (described by C. Floyd, 1954) and related programs in which students are regrouped across grade lines for reading and/or mathematics only. In contrast, research on ability-grouped class assignment, where students are assigned to self-contained classes by ability, consistently fails to support this practice. Research on special programs for the gifted and for students with mild academic handicaps tends to support acceleration and mainstreaming, respectively. Use of cooperative, heterogeneous learning groups also has consistently positive achievement effects if the groups are rewarded based on the learning of all group members.
