Gifted Education
Gifted education refers to specialized educational strategies geared to meet the needs of students who process information at a faster pace than those of the same age. However, gifted education is a broad term that covers many aspects; thus, there is no standard global definition of what a gifted student is. However, in 2011, the National Association of Gifted Children published a position paper that defined what a gifted student is. Gifted describes individuals who demonstrate outstanding aptitude or competence in one or more domains. Aptitude is defined as an exceptional ability to learn or reason. Competence is defined as documented performance or achievement in the top
10% of the population.
10% of the population.
Differentiation
Differentiation is a common term used when referring to gifted education and gifted students. Differentiation is the modification of a gifted student’s curriculum to accommodate their specific needs. This may include changing the
content or ability level of the material.
content or ability level of the material.
Hoeterogeneous grouping
Hoeterogeneous grouping is a strategy that groups students of varied ability, preparedness, or accomplishment in a single classroom environment. Usually this terminology is applied to the groupings of students in a particular grade,
especially in primary school. For example, students in Year 5 would be heterogeneously grouped in mathematics if they were randomly assigned to classes instead of being grouped by demonstrated subject mastery. Heterogeneous grouping is sometimes claimed to provide a more effective instructional environment for less prepared students.
especially in primary school. For example, students in Year 5 would be heterogeneously grouped in mathematics if they were randomly assigned to classes instead of being grouped by demonstrated subject mastery. Heterogeneous grouping is sometimes claimed to provide a more effective instructional environment for less prepared students.
Homogeneous Grouping
Homogeneous grouping is a strategy that groups students by specific ability, preparedness, or interest within a subject area. Usually this terminology is applied to groupings of students in a particular year level, especially in primary school. For example, students in Year 5 would be homogeneously grouped in mathematics if they were assigned to classes based on demonstrated subject mastery rather than being randomly assigned. Homogeneous grouping can provide
more effective instruction for the most prepared students.
more effective instruction for the most prepared students.
Enrichment
Enrichment is a form of gifted education where students are assigned extra work to extend themselves further in class compared to their peers. This work is done in addition to, and not instead of, any regular school work assigned. Critics of this approach argue that it requires gifted students to do more work instead of the same amount at an advanced level.
Compacting
Compacting is another form of gifted education. The regular school material is compacted by pretesting the student to establish which skills and content have already been mastered. Pretests can be presented on a daily basis (pupils doing the most difficult items on a worksheet first and skipping the rest if they are performed correctly), or before a week or longer unit of instructional time. When a student demonstrates an appropriate level of proficiency, further repetitive practice can be safely skipped, thus reducing boredom and freeing up time for the student to work on more challenging material.
Acceleration
Acceleration occurs when students are given the opportunity to proceed in an educational environment at a faster pace or at an earlier age than usual. Acceleration provides greater challenge, deeper conceptualisation, more creative approaches, and/or more highly developed skills and processes to students. Learners for whom acceleration may be considered are those who can comprehend information at a faster pace than usual. They are able to forge ahead to reach a higher level of performance in some aspects of their learning and/or work at a deeper level than many who are of the same age. There are several forms of acceleration which include early entry to primary/secondary/tertiary institutions, grade skipping, dual enrolment, self paced instruction, extra curricula programmes, mentoring, clustering, curriculum compacting, credit by examination and subject acceleration.