Acceleration Bakersfield City School District Bakersfield City School District Extended Programs Department GATE Program February, 2010 PowerPoint adapted from Riverside Unified School District’s GATE Program

What is Acceleration? Acceleration should refer to the rapid rate of a child’s cognitive development, not the education intervention provided. What we provide in the name of acceleration is appropriate services (strategies) and curriculum at a level commensurate with the gifted child’s demonstrated readiness and need. Van-Tassel-Baska (1992) Van-Tassel-Baska (1992)

Why Differentiate Through Acceleration?  Research shows that no other arrangement for gifted children works as well as acceleration.  Acceleration is far more effective in raising student achievement than the most successful school reform models.  A review of 380 studies revealed that almost all forms of acceleration result in growth and achievement. (Templeton National Report on Acceleration, 2004)

Strategies Include:  Lesson Pacing;  Begin with Difficult/Critical;  Compacting; and  Tier System.

Pre-Assessments Key Pre-assessing is essential to establishing a student’s current skill level and developing achieved outcomes. You should always ask, “What does the student already know?” Pre-assessing is essential to establishing a student’s current skill level and developing achieved outcomes. You should always ask, “What does the student already know?” Use resources available within your program:  Unit or chapter tests;  Quick checks/quick writes; and  Independent practice pages. Remember to build pre-assessments into your lesson plans.

Lesson Pacing Student completes the same assignment as others, but at their own, faster pace.  Pre-testing may show many gaps indicating the student needs to participate in the general lesson or activity.  Despite these initial gaps the gifted student will often grasp the concept more quickly than others and be ready to move ahead with independent practice while others are still being guided through the lesson.  Develop a system that allows the student to move ahead through the lesson without disturbing others.

Begin with Difficult/Critical This can be a form of pre-testing or a variation on lesson pacing. It is a first step towards more formal compacting. This can be a form of pre-testing or a variation on lesson pacing. It is a first step towards more formal compacting.  Determine which items represent the most difficult or critical examples of the entire task. These might appear sequentially, near the end or from various sections of the assignment (Five are usually a reasonable number). Identify them for students.  Students who attempt Difficult/Critical items identified and answer all questions correctly do not have to complete the rest of the assignment.

Compacting Curriculum for a gifted student should be compacted in those areas that represent the student’s strengths. The compacting process has three basic phases: 1. Determine goals/objectives of regular curriculum. 2. Assess student for mastery of these objectives. 3. Substitute more appropriate challenging options.

Use a Compactor  The compactor is a record of assessed strengths and alternate activities.  Activities should build on a student’s strengths.  Activities can accelerate, extend or enrich. Area of Strength Documented Mastery Alternate Activities Map Unit Advanced on Chapter Test used as a pre-test *Create papier -mache map *Research history of map- making *Complete end of chapter activity #3, following class lesson on latitude.

How are alternative activities selected? Remember, the challenge for teachers is to provide appropriate curriculum and services at a level commensurate with the student’s demonstrated readiness and need. This could include pacing as far and as fast as they want to go or it can be to extend work to broaden the understanding of concepts and materials.

Accelerate, Extend, Enrich  Acceleration activities allow the student to hasten or increase speed. This means working on just what is not known or moving to the next instructional level.  Enrichment activities enhance, supplement and/or develop understanding. These are often appropriate for all students, though time can be a constraint.  Extension activities expand or broaden understanding. Tiered assignments are usually developed to extend understanding.

Tier Assignments Tier assignments are designed to meet the needs of a group of learners functioning at a range of levels. Students work on the same content but are provided with different activities which are assigned according to ability.  Assignments must add depth and breadth to student understanding of the curriculum.  Can contain individual, partner or group tasks.

Six Ways to Structure Tier Assignments  Challenge Level-Use Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Complexity-More layers to the assignment.  Resources-Relate to abilities.  Outcome-Same materials, different product.  Process-Same outcome, but a different process.  Product-Tied to learning styles.

Tier Assignments in Practice  Make sure you introduce all tiered activities in an equally enthusiastic manner and alternate which activity is introduced first.  Plan tasks that, while different, allow the same level of activity.  Show fairness in terms of work expectations.  Require use of key concepts, skills, or ideas.

Acceleration is really about letting students soar It is an essential approach to differentiation that respects individual differences and acknowledges the fact that some of these differences merit educational flexibility. ( Templeton National Report) PowerPoint adapted from Riverside Unified School District’s GATE Program