Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Published articles on acceleration

I'm going to spend my lunch time browsing for some of the published articles that illustrate that grade acceleration is not necessarily harmful (there are a few good resources on Hoagies, particularly http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/portfolio.htm).

Figured I'd ask her as well. I want to find papers that don't necessarily emphasize PG (I want to avoid getting into nuisances of levels of giftedness if possible). Particularly articles that debunk socialization problems with accelerated children. If you have favorite resources bookmarked, please share. I'm also going to poke around the Davidson's site because IIRC they have a pretty good database of articles.

Thanks in advance.

JB

http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10116.aspx

Lots of references in this article.

Nation Deceived

http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/

JB,
I could write an article for you about my son. He's working 5+ grade levels above his same-age peers. Although we homeschool so it is easier to advance in grade levels and he doesn't "sit in a class" with children who are older than him. However he has no problems socializing with people of all ages. He has friends who are two or more years younger than him and also friends who are older than him. I guess I've never heard that children who are accelerated have trouble with socialization. If you have references for what gave you that idea, I'd be interested.

Lemonade

Funny coincidence, JBDad, I just logged on to ask folks for their favorite articles on acceleration.

We are going into a meeting with our local school next week and would like to give them a decent sample of the most lucid current thinking. We plan to focus on two key themes: (1) the social-emotional benefits of acceleration, where it's indicated; and (2) the perils to work ethic/learning enthusiasm where acceleration is denied.

I've done some reading here, at Hoagies, and at U. Iowa, but still feel as though I'm scraping the surface. It would be great to hear about articles others have found to be especially clear and objective.

Thanks.

Of course you have a copy of "A Nation Deceived," right?

http://www.accelerationinstitute.org/Nation_Deceived/

That would be where I'd start if I were in your shoes.

Hi JBdad,

Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send you PDFs of published papers (I'll send them to anyone else who's interested).

Also, I have a couple counter-arguments that I like to use against the "socialization" argument:

1. When I look back on my childhood, everyone I knew had friends in grades above and below them; +/-2 years was the norm, and some kids hung around with other kids whose ages differed by as much as +/-4 years.

2. Socializing seems to happen mostly on the playground, not in class when everyone is supposed to sitting quietly. Kids can play with kids their own age then if they want to. I'm not sure what "socialization" means. Can you explain it to me?

Val

Guys, thanks for all of the good info. I'm putting together my documentation tonight (I'm in meetings a lot this afternoon so I probably won't post again for a while).

Again, thanks!

JB

Excellent point, Val! And just as a side note, we who homeschool often ask the same question.

People often say "socialization" when they mean "socialize," as in "to be social and have fun with other kids." Happy, challenged kids who are well placed in school usually have an easier time making friends and being social than miserable, underchallenged kids who are placed with people who don't understand them. Same with homeschoolers: GT kids finish their work fast and go to the park! More play time, not less.

Sometimes, though, people mean "to become socialized," as in "to learn how to stand in line and wait your turn," which seems a funny thing to be worried about to me with school-aged kids. I guess there might be some kids who still have trouble with this at 5, but both my kids mastered it at the very start of pre-K, age 3. <shrug>

Or worse, people really mean "to learn how to be bored." But calling it "socialization" sounds less like the oppression that it really is...

Anyway, I think it pays to ask for the definition of the word as they're using it so you know what you're really discussing. I totally agree!

I guess JBs point is disputing the harm of public school acceleration. Our kids are not in public school. Actually, I think that public school is the worst place for a child to learn how to socialize...

Websters
3: of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society

Public school is the only place in society where children are kept in groups with 30 other kids of the same age for 8 hours a day. It's actually contradictory to what real society is like - that you will go to the store and encounter 50 people of varying ages. That you will have a job one day also working with people of varying ages. Your boss might be younger than you...

I do, however understand an administrators hesitation to place a child who is more than a year younger than the other 29 kids into the same classroom. The "herd mentality" of the older kids quite possibly place the younger child in harms way. Could lead to anything like teasing, bullying etc. This is one of the big reasons that we do homeschool. I wouldn't really want my child placed in a grade with kids that were that much older.

C~

One would hope not!

But since JB's child is just 5, I thought it might be relevant. People still ask me about it for my 7yo! I mean, really? 7yos still have trouble with that?

Ooooookay...

Yes, this was brought up. Parents don't think about in high school when such-and-such. I want to be prepared. FWIW, due to my birth date, I've always been the youngest in my class and began college when I was 17. Based on DS's birth date, we're only asked for a 6-month exception to the cut-off.

Thanks everyone. I'm reading fast and furiously between meetings.

JB

This argument is spurious. First of all, it makes assumptions about facts not in evidence. Who knows what's going to happen in 8 years??? As a way to shut down this argument, you can always smile gently and say "We could always re-examine the issue when the time comes in 2016 if he's having significant problems with his peers." Seriously, treat it like a valid point and then remove any route to use it as a means for denying the acceleration.

Also, people using this argument conveniently ignore the fact that high school is a mixed bag of ages. HS kids mix by age in class, on sports teams, at lunch, in the hallways, in the bathrooms...well, you get my point. If mixing with older kids is such a big deal, why aren't the seniors segregated from everyone else??

Also, no one seems to bring up this "issue" with respect to redshirted kids who may be a lot older than their classmates in the less-age-mixed environment in the elementary grades.

My turn to go to a meeting!!!

Val

My personal experience. I found that although I socialized with many kids, my closest friends had accelerated. One, a year younger and is seriously PG, so it looks like I felt most comfortable, not with age mates, but peers.

I am firmly in the acceleration camp because I did not have a socialization issue with 2 skips, though in high school I did exposed to things too early. Since the drinking age was 18 then, kids could go to bars very young, and I did. But that was the big downside. I couldn't drive until graduation, bigger issue for a boy.

But the important thing is to find peers. Even at 3, I see DD being able to connect with all age groups, including the teenagers hanging next door dancing to Hannah Montana. She brought them home to show them her room and toys....

They were very sweet and commented on her wardrobe. I think that is the amazing thing about our kids is how they know so early how to adopt behavior to "hang" with younger or older kids.

They learn the rules.

Ren

Way to go, Dottie! This sounds to me like exactly the right thing to say. I love the idea of bringing up the harm of not accelerating.

Yes!

Another comparison to acceleration are the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts have kids from all age groups and a good Troop will promote based on merit and ability. You can see younger scouts as Patrol Leaders with much older Patrol members and vice-versa.

Aren't they usually grouped by age though? Or is that just in Cub Scouts? (I'm new to all this Scouting stuff, so please forgive my ignorance!)

I'm another firmly in the acceleration camp; I was only accelerated one year, but it was honestly a non-issue when I was in school. Just a curiousity that came up now and then. To listen to some, getting your drivers' license when you're a junior would scar you forever! (It won't.). In my mind, the risks of *not* accelerating are far more lasting.

I like Dottie's line--acknowledge that there are risks to acceleration, but that you as parents are willing to assume those risks. And that those risks seem lesser than leaving you DC in his current placement. You want him to "learn how to learn," which likely won't happen without some sort of acceleration.

I actually made a note about that. It's not in our letter, but I am sure that the topic will come up and that's a good way to handle it.

Thanks guys. I have a lot of good material for tomorrow.

JB

If you want to steer clear of the PG ness of the subject, I would advise not bringing in the Terrenc Tao article at this stage of the game.

Good luck, let us know how it went.

Also many private schools (as in all of them in my area). The prevalent strong sentiment against acceleration is striking and confusing. Perhaps the administrators are thinking (maybe rightly so) if I say yes to this child's parents, all the rest will want their children to accelerate, too! Parents are not always reasonable (present company excepted, of course!).

By the way, another point for discussion with school administrations is the importance of a good work ethic in any pupil. Failure to accelerate where a challenge is not presented by the age-group curriculum positively degrades this ethic, and, in doing so, works at cross-purpose to the pupil's long-term development.

Fitzi - YES! I'm spending the summer working on DS's work ethic. he has no stamina for anything which takes longer than 5min and requires the tiniest bit of effort on his part.

This is key feature of my one-on-one work with DS these days, too. It's tricky finding that limited space within which they can be pushed (or led) without being driven. Children are mysteries, in the best sense.

Hello all...

I'll take the plunge in this thread... For those who do not know me, I've posted an introduction in the general discussions forum.

About acceleration "positives" and "negatives", I do not have a synthetic article to submit on acceleration, so unfortunately I don't think it's something which you can use, but in my country:

- the % of students with one grade skip or more entering an average university is around 5%

- the % of students with one grade skip or more entering the more selective part of the system (which probably serves some 5-10% of the population) is 15%

- I could not find again the % of students with one grade skip or more entering the most selective University, but, if I remember well, it must be around one third.

As for social issues... I think that, if we were a little less strongly set against acceleration, it would be much less of a social issue. In the old times (in my parents' times, around the sixties), in my country, 20% of kids or so were grade skipped... When I was in school, two grade skips were exceptionnal, but one skip was "normal enough", with, in my environment, some 10% of kids who had skipped a grade... Nowadays, it is much more uncommon, with, in many places, something like 1 grade skipped kid every two classes... and then, it becomes more of an issue to have been skipped, because of the environments' prejudice rather than because of the grade skip per se.
Ah, by the way, my parents' generation is well-adjusted enough, despite the high percentage of skips!

Light

Keep in mind that in our case it was a private school that did not get it. Public school was actually right on the ball, maybe even too much as it now turns out...

Re: Scouts... I mentioned this in another thread, but wanted to clarify here. The CUB Scouts do have age minimums for each grade, but individual packs may allow a younger boy to register just under the wire. It's always ok to be a bit older too. They are tied very closely to school grade though, and the vast majority of kids tend to be within 18 months of eachother in a level.

The BOY Scouts are a separate organization. Kids progress at their own pace, and are promoted based on merit. One reason I like my son's new troop is that there's a 15 year old working toward his eagle rank. Some troops will try to hold kids back, but this one allows the boy to go as fast as he wishes, as long as he meets all requirements. A hard working 14 year old just completed training to be a camp counselor next summer- he'll get paid, earn leadership credit, and have fun, all before he can get a "real" job or drive a car!