ERIC Number: EJ1086583
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jan
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1934-9041
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
How to Learn Things at School You Don't Already Know: Experiences of Gifted Grade-Skippers in Germany
Gronostaj, Anna; Werner, Elise; Bochow, Eric; Vock, Miriam
Gifted Child Quarterly, v60 n1 p31-46 Jan 2016
Skipping a grade, one specific form of acceleration, is an intervention used for gifted students. Quantitative research has shown acceleration to be a highly successful intervention regarding academic achievement, but less is known about the social-emotional outcomes of grade-skipping. In the present study, the authors used the grounded theory approach to examine the experiences of seven gifted students aged 8 to 16 years who skipped a grade. The interviewees perceived their "feeling of being in the wrong place" before the grade-skipping as strongly influenced by their teachers, who generally did not respond adequately to their needs. We observed a close interrelationship between the gifted students' intellectual fit and their social situation in class. Findings showed that the grade-skipping in most of the cases bettered the situation in school intellectually as well as socially, but soon further interventions, for instance, a specialized and demanding class- or subject-specific acceleration were added to provide sufficiently challenging learning opportunities.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Student Experience, Acceleration (Education), Statistical Analysis, Student Attitudes, Student Surveys, Qualitative Research, Social Development, Emotional Development, Student Adjustment, Intervention, Student Interests, Teacher Response, Teacher Influence, Academically Gifted, Interviews, Grounded Theory
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: http://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A