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Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K-5

By: Joan Franklin Smutny, Sally Y. Walker, Elizabeth A. Meckstroth

Raise the bar on accelerated learning and discover new possibilities that go beyond minimum proficiency!
Based on the 2004 Templeton Report, this valuable resource dispel the common myths about acceleration and describes what it is, what forms it takes, and what it can do for gifted learners. Providing the tools necessary to effectively determine the most appropriate learning options for gifted students, the authors offer:

Case studies, checklists, and reproducible forms
Prevailing theories and current research
Social-emotional aspects of acceleration practices
Instructional strategies for implementation
Learning opportunities for multicultural and urban students
Bibliographies and helpful Web sites

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Product Details

Grade Level: K-5
ISBN: 9781412925679
Published By: Corwin
Year: 2006
Page Count: 232
Publication date: October 26, 2006

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Description

"Smutny has assembled a group of colleagues who bring very practical and useful insights to this issue and suggest practices that will make the use of this important curricular modification justifiable, manageable, and, most of all, normal. Acceleration is not treated as a strategy of last resort but as a logical and reasonable way to acknowledge and provide for the growth and continuous progress of all children. By broadening the idea of acceleration as a way to meet academic, emotional, and social needs, the book turns the concerns about acceleration into strengths."
—Barbara Clark, Professor Emeritus, California State University, Los Angeles

"A well-written, extremely useful guide for parents and educators who wish to provide gifted students an opportunity to learn at a pace and level appropriate to their abilities. Offers valuable insight on the social and emotional aspects of effective acceleration."
—Jan Davidson, President and Cofounder, Davidson Institute for Talent Development
Coauthor, Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds

Raise the bar on accelerated learning and discover new possibilities that go beyond minimum proficiency!

Written for K–5 teachers, this practical guide corrects misunderstandings in the field of acceleration and provides the tools necessary to effectively determine the most appropriate learning options for gifted students. Through real-life stories, well-known authors in gifted education Joan Franklin Smutny, Sally Y. Walker, and Elizabeth A. Meckstroth, dispel the common myths about acceleration and describe what it is, what forms it takes, and what it can do for gifted learners—intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

Presenting nuts-and-bolts guidance, this valuable resource provides:

Numerous case studies, helpful checklists, and reproducible forms
Prevailing theories and current research
Social-emotional aspects of acceleration practices
Instructional strategies for implementation in various school settings
Learning opportunities for underserved groups, such as multicultural and urban students
Bibliographies and helpful Web sites

Offering a new perspective on how prevailing attitudes have deprived students of opportunities to develop their talents, Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K–5, directly reflects the 2004 Templeton Report in validating the urgency to meet gifted students' needs.

Key features

Written by experienced authors.

Provides numerous case studies, helpful checklists, reproducible forms.

Includes bibliographies, helpful websites, and centers where readers can gather additional information and support for acceleration practices.

Provides theoretical/research background, and addresses the practical application of and social/emotional aspects of a variety of acceleration practices. No current text covers all three areas so comprehensively.

Linked to the widely distributed Templeton Report on Acceleration (October, 2004).

Author(s)

Joan Franklin Smutny

Joan Franklin Smutny is founder and director of the Center for Gifted, a Northern Illinois University Partner. She directs programs for thousands of bright, talented, and gifted children in the Chicago area annually. She also teaches creative writing in many of these programs as well as courses on gifted education for graduate students at the university level. She is editor of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children Journal, contributing editor of Understanding Our Gifted, and a regular contributor to the Gifted Education Communicator, Parenting for High Potential, and the Gifted Education Press Quarterly. Smutny has authored, co-authored, and edited many articles and books on gifted education for teachers, parents, and administrators, including Challenging High Potential Spanish Speaking Students (2012), Teaching Advanced Learners in the General Education Classroom (2011), Manifesto of the Gifted Girl (2010), Differentiating for the Young Child, Second Edition (2010), Igniting Creativity in Gifted Learners, K–6 (2009), Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K–5 (2007), Reclaiming the Lives of Gifted Girls and Women (2007), Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Students (2003), Underserved Gifted Populations (2003), Gifted Education: Promising Practices (2003), Stand Up for Your Gifted Child (2001), The Young Gifted Child: Potential and Promise, an Anthology (1998), and Teaching Young Gifted Children in the Regular Classroom (1997). In 1996, she won the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the field of gifted education.

Sally Y. Walker

Elizabeth A. Meckstroth

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Introduction

Part I: Acceleration: Issues and Applications for Gifted Learners (K-5)

1. Acceleration and the K-5 Gifted Child

2. Acceleration in a Differentiated Classroom

3. Acceleration and Creativity: Closing the Gap

4. Assessment for Accelerated Learners

Part II: Appropriate Academic-Classroom Acceleration

5. Acceleration of Content

6. The Thinking Process

7. Product Development

8. Standards and Policy

Part III: Social and Emotional Aspects of Effective Acceleration

9. Obstacles to Acceleration

10. Adaptations to Personality

11. Facilitating Acceleration

12. Social Relationships

13. Facilitating Acceleration for Parents and Educators

References

Index

Reviews

"A must-read resource. Parents and teachers will value highly the content of this book on acceleration as they work together to address the needs of children who are gifted and talented."

Julia Link Roberts, Director
The Center for Gifted Studies, Western Kentucky University

"Acceleration is not treated as a strategy of last resort, but as a logical and reasonable way to acknowledge and provide for the growth and continuous progress of all children."

Barbara Clark, Professor Emeritus
California State University, Los Angeles

"Gives readers excellent step-by-step guidance on extensive ways to provide appropriate acceleration adjustment for our young advanced learners."

Nicholas Colangelo, Myron and Jacqueline Blank Professor of Gifted Education
Belin-Blank International Center for Gifted Education, The University of Iowa

"Each chapter is an in-depth manual on how to sensitively and effectively achieve acceleration collaboratiively with parents, educators, and students."

Susan G. Assouline, Associate Director
The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, The University of Iowa

"A well-written, extremely useful guide for parents and educators who wish to provide gifted students an opportunity to learn at a pace and level appropriate to their abilities. Offers valuable insight on the social and emotional aspects of effective acceleration."

Jan Davidson, President and Cofounder, Davidson Institute for Talent Development
Coauthor, Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our Brightest Young Minds

"A practical guide for all stakeholders in gifted education: parents, teachers, counselors and administrators. A 'how to' with heart and compassion focusing on the whole child that addresses the social and emotional aspects of effective acceleration."

Dorothy Sisk, Professor and Conn Chair for Gifted Children
Lamar University

"Provides a much-needed implementation guide for educators and parents who support acceleration. A critically important addition to the professional libraries of all who support gifted, young people in their quest for an excellent education."

Susan Winebrenner, Author & Staff Development Specialist
Education Consulting Service, Inc.

"A renewed interest in acceleration and powerful support from the research community have triggered a need for practical guidance to effectively implement acceleration practices. This book provides teachers with the tools for assessing individual student's academic strengths and differentiating classroom practices to accommodate the needs of highly able learners."

Joseph S. Renzulli, Director
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented

"A detailed and humane resource for achieving the proper educational match between the curriculum and gifted students' ability levels, interests, and motivation. All educators and parents interested in the progress of gifted education should read and apply the pedagogically enlightening and inspirational ideas presented."

Gifted Education News-Page, February/March 2007

"This delightful book, packed with resources and ideas for working with gifted learners, helps us be aware of all the children in the classroom. It is easy to read and provides a wonderful resource for teachers, parents, and staff."

PsycCRITIQUES, October 2007, Vol. 52(42)

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