Acceleration for High Ability students study

 

We’re contacting you to let you know about a study that might be of interest to members of Gifted and Talented Children’s Association of South Australia.

We – Lynn Dare and Dr. Susen Smith – are looking at beliefs about acceleration for high ability students. The research is a collaborative project through Western University, Canada and UNSW.  We’d like to learn more about parents’, students’, and teachers’ beliefs about acceleration so we can develop recommendations for educational practices and professional development.

We interested in hearing from:

·         high-ability students ages 9-14 (they don’t need to have experienced acceleration, as this study is about beliefs),

·         parents of high-ability students, and

·         accredited teachers 

We’ve attached an information sheet which gives a bit more detail.

In brief, there are two stages to the study.

For students: Students are invited to take part in two interviews. In the first interview, we’ll ask for their thoughts about placing younger children with older classmates. In the second interview, we’ll give students a stack of cards with the responses from the first phase printed on them. We’ll ask them to read the statements, sort them into groups, and rate each statement in terms of importance. These interviews typically take around 30 minutes. Both interviews can be conducted through Skype.

For parents: In the first stage, parents are invited to respond to a brief (5 minute) online survey. In the second stage, parents can login to a website where they review responses from the survey, and complete a sorting and rating activity to help us interpret the data.

For teachers: In the first stage, teachers are invited to respond to a brief (5 minute) online survey. In the second stage, teachers can login to a website where they review responses from the survey, and complete a sorting and rating activity to help us interpret the data.

We look forward to hearing if this research is something that you and your members might be interested in contributing to.  If you have any questions    at all, please ask! We would greatly appreciate your support, if feasible.

Please contact Angela at GTCASA if interested in the study on giftedsa@gtcasa.asn.au