Student Acceleration

Acceleration—moving students ahead at a faster pace than normal—may be the most effective way of accommodating the abilities of highly able students. While we often think of acceleration in terms of grade skipping, that is only one of many ways to advance a student.

If you are interested in more information on acceleration, or materials to support advocacy in this area, you will want to view the information posted at the website for the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA) at the Belin-Blank Center. The comprehensive site is divided into the following sections:

Resources—Lists several products for purchase that help parents and teachers decide if acceleration is appropriate in specific cases, questions and answers about acceleration, a power point presentation for use with groups, and an annotated bibliography.

Policy—Policy guidelines and existing policies by state.

Research—A variety of articles, studies, and grants in the area of acceleration.

Acceleration Stories—Stories of acceleration experiences offered in both writing and video.

A Nation Deceived—A report that highlights disparities between the research on acceleration and the educational beliefs and practices that often run contrary to the research. It is available in many languages.

International—Information on the Institute for Research and Policy on Acceleration (IRPA), presented in many different languages.