Acceleration
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The Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students: Support package: Acceleration (2004) (pdf 1 089kb) is intended to support schools in implementing the Policy and implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students (revised 2004) and needs to be read in conjunction with the policy companion document Guidelines for the use of strategies to support gifted and talented students (2004) (pdf 270kb). The support document details how school staff can manage the acceleration of gifted students.
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Acceleration is a set of administrative strategies that can be utilised by educators to cater efficiently and effectively for the diversity of cognitive development, needs and competencies of gifted and talented students. Accelerative provisions include strategies to enable students to access a developmentally appropriate curriculum and provision for a faster pace of learning. The Acceleration support package identifies the various strategies that may be implemented and refers to a number of case studies and supporting proformas and documentation that illustrate how some schools using acceleration strategies have supported gifted and talented students. Readers are advised to consult the Acceleration document to understand more fully the contexts of the additional resources listed below.
Support references:
| Strategies of acceleration for readiness or superior achievement | Strategies of acceleration for faster pace | Document title | Format | Description |
| Acceleration | Acceleration | PowerPoint presentation | This presentation provides schools with an introduction to the Acceleration support package. Copies of material mentioned in the support package will need to be produced prior to running a staff development session. Supporting documentation for group discussion is also available. | |
| Acceleration | Accelerated progression of academically gifted students K-6 | General desciption and proformas | Available on the Principals' online forum, this document provides an overview, information and proformas to inform proposals for accelerated progression. | |
| Acceleration | Accelerated progression of academically gifted students K-6 (pdf 210kb) | Description and proformas | A general version of the above document. | |
| Early school entrance | Early Entry to primary schools: A provision for intellectually gifted and talented students (general) (pdf 225kb) | General desciption and proformas | Overviews of the rationale and procedures relevant to Early Entry to school are supplemented here with proformas of interest to parents/caregivers. Principals will find a comprehensive version of this document on the Principals' online forum. | |
| Early school entrance | Early Entry to school | PowerPoint presentation | This PowerPoint presentation is suitable for staff development to further an understanding of issues associated with this procedure. | |
| Year or stage advancement | (pdf 13kb) | Report | A simple report format such as this could be used for obtaining feedback as a component of regular monitoring of students who have been accelerated. | |
| Year or stage advancement | Tom | Case study | The long term benefits of early intervention acceleration strategies for a gifted student are illustrated in this study. | |
| Year or stage advancement | Matha | Case study | The importance of curriculum advice and counselling support for an accelerated student who elects to return to his original cohort is highlighted in this case study. | |
| Continuous placement | (pdf 46kb) | Case study | Catering for the continuously changing needs of a gifted student who arrived in Australia with minimal expertise in English is represented in this summary. | |
| Self-paced instruction | CTHS Independent unit of study (pdf 76kb) | Description and proformas | The opportunity to participate in an independent unit of study for a semester allows gifted students to investigate a topic of interest in depth. | |
| Subject-matter acceleration | Curriculum compacting | (pdf 62kb) | Explanatory letter | A sample letter to parents/caregivers proposing acceleration is provided here. |
| Subject-matter acceleration | (pdf 558kb) | Rationale and proformas | The rationale and strategies for organising subject acceleration across schools are supported with considerable sample documentation in this model. | |
| Subject-matter acceleration , Combined classes , Correspondence courses | Curriculum compacting, Curriculum telescoping | (pdf 4257kb) | Case study | This case study highlights the significant intellectual, social and emotional benefits for this rural high school student who completed 18 units in the HSC as a consequence of the combination of accelerative strategies that she was able to access over several years. |
| Subject-matter acceleration | Gekko | Case study | An important aspect of this case study is the emphasis placed on appropriate support for gifted students with disabilities. | |
| Combined classes, Correspondence courses | Mentorships, Early graduation | (pdf 4257kb) | Case study | A range of accelerative strategies contributed as catalysts in the development of the potential of this gifted student whose performance in completing 23 units for the HSC is remarkable. |
| Combined classes | (pdf 30kb) | This study illustrates one school's approach to providing challenge in mathematics by vertically grouping students . | ||
| Advanced placement | Report | Patterson's report to The Winston Churchill Fellowship illustrates how the United States of America implements this strategy for acceleration. | ||
| Advanced placement | Extracurricular programs | Albert | Case study | Albert's experiences demonstrate that for gifted students opportunities to associate with like-minded peers is very important. |
| Acceleration in university , Subject-matter acceleration | J | Case study | J's theses support the concept that the gifted student needs to be involved in the planning and development of the individual's curriculum. | |
| Curriculum compacting | (pdf 59kb) | Rationale and timelines | Sydney Boys High School has a program for accelerating students in senior history. | |
| Curriculum compacting | (pdf 60kb) | Article | Published in Curriculum Support: Primary in 2002, this article presents teaching strategies for implementing curriculum compacting for gifted and talented students . | |
| Mentorships | Mentoring (general) (pdf 58kb) | Description | Information is provided here for establishing a mentor program. More detailed information and proformas are available to principals on their online forum. | |
| Subject-matter acceleration | (pdf 45kb) | Information & case study | St Ives North caters for the needs of gifted and talented students in Year 3 to Year 6. | |
| Additional material | Jane | Case study | Providing a clear student voice, this case study illustrates further examples of difficulties for a gifted student with psychological disabilities. |
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