Acceleration for Gifted Learners, K-5 »

Joan Franklin Smutny is founder and director of the Center for Gifted at National-Louis University and a winner of the NAGC Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the field of education. She directs programs for gifted children and teaches courses on gifted education for graduate students. She is editor of the Gifted Children Journal, contributing editor of Understanding Our Gifted and the Roeper Review for gifted education professionals, and a feature writer for the Gifted Education Communicator. She has authored Differentiating for the Young Child (Corwin Press 2004) and Designing and Developing Programs for Gifted Children (Corwin Press 2003). Other credits include Underserved Gifted Populations (2003), Differentiated Instruction (2003), Gifted Education (2003), and Stand Up for Your Gifted Child (2001).

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 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.

Preface   Miraca U. M. Gross     ix
Acknowledgments     xiii
About the Authors     xv
Introduction     xvii
Acceleration: Issues and Applications for Gifted Learners (K-5)     1
Acceleration and the K-5 Gifted Child     3
Acceleration in a Differentiated Classroom     19
Acceleration and Creativity: Closing the Gap     37
Assessment for Accelerated Learners     55
Appropriate Academic-Classroom Acceleration     73
Acceleration of Content     75
The Thinking Process     91
Product Development     107
Standards and Policy     121
Social and Emotional Aspects of Effective Acceleration     133
Obstacles to Acceleration     135
Adaptations to Personality     147
Facilitating Acceleration     159
Social Relationships     169
Facilitating Acceleration for Parents and Educators     179
Bibliography     191
Index     199