This project was a 2-year investigation of elementary school children placed in programs for high-ability learners. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate academic and affective changes in students during their first 2 years in a gifted program. Students were assessed during the fall of one year and the spring of the next year. Subjects were from 14 different school districts in 10 states and included African American and Caucasian/ non-Hispanic students. The study compared students enrolled in gifted programs (special school, separate class, pullout, within-class), high-achieving students from districts in which no program was available at the designated grade levels, and nongifted students in regular classrooms. This project focused on academic and affective student outcomes through multiple administrations of an achievement test, a self-perception survey, and a motivation inventory. In addition to comparing programs in general, an important dimension of the project was to examine characteristics of students from traditionally underserved populations. This was accomplished by including the variables of racial/ ethnic status and the social status of participants. Results revealed that there were differences in cognitive and affective outcomes across program types. Therefore, it is strongly advised that educators conduct ongoing evaluations of their programs to be better able to monitor and address all students' needs.Putting the Research to Use: The main purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the cognitive and affective outcomes of students in gifted programs, rather than to ascertain which program was "best." Results showed that no single program fully addressed all the psychological and emotional needs of gifted students. In terms of achievement, gifted children attending special programs performed better than high-achieving peers who were not in programs. Specifically, children in special schools, separate class programs, and pullout programs for the gifted showed substantially higher levels of achievement than did both their high-achieving peers not in programs and those attending within-class programs. Policy makers should know that students from within-class grouping arrangements received the lowest scores in all areas of achievement. Given that within-class programs are a popular model in gifted education, their curricular and instructional provisions for the gifted must be carefully maintained lest they disintegrate into a no-program format. In addition, there were no differences between any groups in the study regarding their social perspectives. These elementary school students felt comfortable with the numbers of friends they had and with their own popularity. The type of grouping arrangement did not appear to influence student perceptions of their social relations, whether they were gifted, high-achieving, or nongifted. Self-perceptions were relatively low, however, for at least one group. Students from the separate class program scored at the highest levels of achieve...

This study examined the influence of intrinsic motivation and perceived competence on subsequent academic achievement among second-and third-grade students participating in a national study of students in gifted programs. Measures of intrinsic motivation, perceived competence, and academic achievement were administered near the beginning and end of one school year. Factor analyses supported the internal validity of the intrinsic motivation and perceived competence measures in subgroups of second-and third-grade students and in students in gifted versus regular education programs. Structural equation modeling indicated that intrinsic motivation influenced perceived competence and that perceived competence influenced subsequent academic achievement.

No abstract

This report summarizes a comparison of 675 gifted and 322 regular education students (grades 2 or 3) on the incidence of behavior problems as rated b y parents using the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and b y teachers using the Teacher Report Form of the CBCL. After controlling for grade and minority status, there were n o significant differences between gifted and regular education students in the incidence of any form of behavior problems as rated b y either teachers or parents. The small group of gifted education students rated as having a clinically high level of total behavior problems did not differ from a comparable group of regular education students in the kinds of behavior problems they exhibited. Agreement between parent and teacher ratings was surprisingly low, indicating the need t o consider both sources of information in evaluating a child's overall behavioral adjustment.

This paper presents results from the first round of data collection for the Learning Outcomes Project at the University of Virginia, an ongoing, longitudinal investigation of over 1,100 elementary school children receiving different types of gifted services or regular classrooms. This initial report compares 5 types of services for gifted: within regular classrooms; through pull-out resource rooms; ability grouping in separate classes; special schools; no program offerings. Gifted students are also compared with two groups of students in regular classrooms: classmates of gifted students and students identified as gifted in schools without available gifted programs. Overall results indicate that students selected for all types of gifted services were well above grade level in academic achievement. There were significant differences in the achievement levels, self-concepts, and teacher ratings of students selected for different types of gifted services. These results have implications for both researchers and educators in comparing the effectiveness of different types of gifted service delivery options.