Assessment Criteria Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree Not Sure
*Student possess a level of mental development two or more standard deviation above the mean for the grade to be entered. (e.g. IQ score 130 or above)
Other: ________________________________
Attitude and Motivation
Student shows self-confidence and positive attitude towards his/her academic achievement
Student is eager to move ahead and ready to persist in new and higher-level academic challenges.
Student is self-motivated in learning and enjoys independent study.
Student completes most assignments more quickly and more effectively than other classmates do.
Student achieves over 90% of attendance in the latest school year
Other: ________________________________
Affective Characteristics
Student thoughtfully considers advice and criticism and adjusts behaviour appropriately.
Student demonstrates a reasonable level of social and emotional maturity.
Student has good interpersonal skills with age mates, as well as with both older and younger students.
Student has good interpersonal relationship with the majority of teachers in school.
Student is able to take responsibility for his/her successes and failures
Other: ________________________________
Participation in co-curricular activities
Student actively participates in one or more co-curricular activities.
Student has a leadership role or has achieved recognition in one or more co-curricular activities.
Other: ________________________________
Growth and Physical Ability
Student is of the average age for his/her present grade level
Student’s physical maturity is in the similar level as students in his/her present grade.
Assessment Criteria Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Strongly
Disagree Not Sure
Growth and Physical Ability
Student performs satisfactory physical ability as most students in his/her present grade do.
Other: ________________________________
School Policy and Support
School shows strong support for acceleration as a gifted education programme option.
School has extensive staffing, planning and discussion over the acceleration for the student.
Receiving teachers of the proposed grade to skip have adequate understanding of the student’s needs and are ready to provide support
School can maintain effective home-school communication and cooperation with parents for monitoring and supporting grade-skipping
Other: ________________________________
Family Support
Parents are strongly supportive and committed to working with school in supporting grade-skipping of their child
The student’s sibling is several grades above or below the student’s current class level.
Parents can keep close communication with the child’s for responding his/her emotional needs in coping with challenges
Other: ________________________________
Additional Remarks:
Overall Comments:
*Note: It is not recommendable to make IQ test score of student a compulsory criteria for assessing the student’s suitability for academic acceleration.
Sources of reference:
1. S. Assouline, N. Colangelo, A. Lupkowski-Shoplik, J. Lipscomb, L. Forstadt (2002). Iowa Acceleration Scale Form. Scottsdale, AZ : Great Potential Press.
2. Southern, W. T. & Jones, E. D. (1991). The Academic acceleration of gifted children (pp.151-158). New York: Teachers College Press.
3. 郭靜姿（民 87）：誰適合加速？資優教育季刊，第 66 期 第 1-12 頁
Appendix II
Types of Acceleration Options:
1. Early Admission to
Kindergarten or First Grade
The student is admitted to kindergarten or first grade prior to the age specified by the government for normal entry.
2. Grade-skipping* The student is moved ahead of normal grade placement.
This may be done in mid-term (e.g. placing a P.3 student directly into P.4), or at year end (e.g. promoting a P.3 student to P.5).
3. International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program (DP) *
Most IBDP courses offer pre-university curriculum that is recognised as equivalent to university/college-level courses, successful IB candidates are typically granted advanced placement credit at university.
4. Individualised Educational Plan (IEP) *
A written educational plan that addresses a student's specific individual needs. It may specify accommodations, materials, or classroom instructions to cater for the
students with special learning needs including the gifted.
5. Subject Skipping * The student is placed with classes with students at more advanced grade levels for a part of the day (or with materials from higher grade level) in one or more subjects.
6. Combined Classes The student is placed in classes where two or more grade levels are combined (e.g., P.3 and P.5 split rooms). The arrangement can allow younger children to interact academically and socially with older peers.
7. Curriculum Compacting* The student is given reduced amount of introductory activities, drill and practice. The time gained may be used for more advanced content instruction or to participate in enrichment activities.
8. Telescoping Curriculum The student is provided instruction that entails less time than is normal. The time saved form telescoping always results in advanced class level placement.
9. Mentoring* The student is paired with a mentor or expert tutor who provides advanced training and experiences in a content area.
10. Co-curricular programmes* The student is enrolled in coursework or after school or summer programmes that confers advanced instruction and/or credit.
11. Correspondence Courses* The student enrolls in coursework delivered outside of normal school instruction. Instruction may be delivered by different mechanisms such as internet or mail.
12. Early Graduation The student graduates from senior secondary school or university in years less than normal. This is always accomplished by increasing the amount of coursework undertaken each year in school.
13. Concurrent Enrollment # The student takes a course at one level and receives credit upon successful completion for a parallel course at a higher level.
14. Advanced Placement The student takes a course that can confer university credit upon satisfactory performance.
15. Credit by Examination The student receives university credit by successful completion of an examination.
*
Examples can be found in Hong Kong.# Most likely to be developed in Hong Kong.
Appendix III
Major findings of survey and interviews of local schools’ perception and understanding on acceleration:
Dimensions Major Findings
Perception on acceleration Schools admitted that acceleration is an effective way to cater for the great ability and fast learning pace of highly able students
Teachers found acceleration broadens the students’
learning experiences and reinforces their self-directed learning ability
School administrative arrangement
Time and Year-level of Implementation
School claimed that grade-skipping would be best implemented in the early stage, say P.1 to P.3 in primary schools, of students’ study
It was deemed that the beginning of a new school year would be a natural transition point to start acceleration programme. While, it is common to find grade-skipping cases in the mid-term of a school year. In such cases, teachers could have thorough observation and assessment on learning needs of the potential accelerant before making the decision.
Resource commitment
It was recommended to allocate resources to match up with the school-based acceleration measures. Resource center for gifted education could be an option
School administrative arrangement
(cont’)
Support for teachers
Principals suggested a school-based guideline about
the general arrangement and curriculum of accelerated learning should be provided for teachers
Teachers admitted that their knowledge on the assessment of more able students for acceleration should be strengthened
Principals stressed that teachers should be involved in
the thorough discussion on acceleration policy and the relevant arrangement
Schools mostly counted the time teachers spent on acceleration programme as part of their teaching load
Schools suggested lesson co-planning sessions could be arranged for teachers to prepare for the acceleration programme
Selection of Students for acceleration
Schools emphasized a student only benefits from
acceleration if s/he is selected carefully by school for acceleration programme
Acceleration, especially in the form of grade-skipping, of any more able student was deemed to be a collaborative decision which involves in-depth discussion among educational psychologist (if any), school counselor, social worker, present and receiving teachers and parents
School administrative arrangement
(cont’)
Besides academic ability, schools alerted that the social-emotional skill and maturity of the potential accelerated students should be in a level that enables them to maintain harmonious relationship with students in higher grades
Teachers remarked that potential accelerants should
be equipped with reasonable foundation knowledge before they accelerate to a higher level
Schools considered deliberately student’s own concern on acceleration arrangement.
Use of Checklist for Assessing Suitability of Grade-skipping:
It is a useful and effective tool to be used in discussion on strengths and potential difficulties for a student being considered for acceleration
It brings comprehensive and objective data to the discussion that promote the reliability of the results
The scale has proven to be a valid and reliable assessment tool after trial use
Curriculum design Content and organisation
Teachers pointed out that teaching materials of
accelerated programme should be adapted to a level that meets the needs of more able students and it should allow students to self-monitor on their learning progress
Schools included different learning experiences in the accelerated curriculum design
Curriculum design (cont’)
Some teachers arranged self-directed learning sessions with teachers’ guidance for accelerated students as a programme option
Schools deemed that they need more information on
the curriculum design for accelerated programme Curriculum evaluation
Schools carried out continuous assessment on the effectiveness of acceleration programme in the on-going process to ensure its quality
Learning outcomes Schools found accelerated students who have good grasp of foundation knowledge are highly motivated to meet the challenges in the accelerated programme
Schools found accelerated students are more motivated to learn as their distinctive ability can be further excelled
The confidence and interest in learning of accelerated students were also found to be improved
Accelerated students were found to perform excellently in their academic achievements
Teachers observed that high-ability students’ social skills, self-image and self-confidence have been remarkably improved after joining acceleration programme
The deviant behaviour resulting from the mismatch
between the learning ability of the more able students and the curriculum were found to be rectified by acceleration programme
Learning outcomes (cont’)
Accelerated students seemed to enjoy their harmonious relationship with the classmates in the acceleration programme
Most school got use of school internal assessment could
be used to evaluate if accelerated students are able to cope with the challenge
Special support for accelerated students (grade-skipping)
Some schools suggested an escape clause for the
grade-skipping students. Students should be allowed to return to normal grades if they fail to cope with the new challenge
It is recommended that grade-skipping students would
better be allocated in a class with smaller class size so that teachers could have better care on them
Schools reminded that there should be sufficient academic and affective support for accelerated students to ensure positive impacts on them
It is found that a close monitor on the adaptation of the
accelerants following by corresponding academic, social and emotional supports is the key of success.
Schools claimed that there should be good communication between school and parents. Both parties could meet regularly to report and discuss on the performance of the accelerant such as their learning motivation, academic performance, difficulties to cope with challenge and interaction with new peer group
Teachers emphasized that parents should be reminded to
Special support for accelerated students (grade-skipping) (cont’)
keep close monitoring on their children’s academic and emotional needs in coping with challenges and offer appropriate supports such as providing supplementary learning experience to fill the knowledge gap that may be caused by grade-skipping and sharing their feelings on the grade-skipping
Acceleration was found to be an option for primary students who are able to move ahead to secondary level. Such cases could be found in through-train school that administrative hurdles about secondary schools places allocation system were overcome.
Appendix IV
Timetables facilitating subject-skipping for a P.3 student who takes P.5 Mathematics in regular lessons:
Timetable of P.3
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
General
Studies Visual Art