The Performance of Students in a Program of Radical Acceleration at the University Level

Abstract

The academic performance of 24 academically accelerated students (mean age at matriculation = 14 years) was compared with that of two groups of college students averaging four years older: 24 matched to the accelerants on pre-entry academic aptitude test scores (or "readiness"), and 24 National Merit Scholars. Accelerated students earned cumulative grade point averages comparable to those earned by National Merit Scholars and significantly higher than those earned by university students matched on pre-entry aptitude tests scores. Accelerated students rated the importance of academic characteristics higher than did the students matched on pre-entry scores and they were more satisfied with the academic environment of the university than either comparison group. Implications of the results are briefly discussed.

Effects of Enrichment on Gifted/Learning-Disabled Students

“…The rapidity of changes in self-concept are critical given the relatively short duration of the experiment. While research among gifted students reveals relatively high levels of self-concept before any treatment (Janos & Robinson, 1985) and that short-term alterations in self-concept among the gifted are common (Olszewski-Kubilius, Ku- , 1989), similar examinations among students with learning disabilities have revealed relatively low pretreatment self-concept due to a general tendency to place blame for failure on themselves while attributing success to externalized factors (Bryan & Bryan, 1986, p. 203). The analysis of creative productivity found that 27 of the 108 gifted/LD students involved in this study initiated 27 Type III projects, and 21 were deemed by students and teachers to have been completed.…”

A Cross-Sectional Developmental Study of the Social Relations of Students Who Enter College Early

“…Although it has been made available by only a minority of American colleges and universities (Fluitt & Strickland, 1984;Karnes & Chauvin, 1982), carefully chosen and well supported early entrants are more likely to complete baccalaureate degrees than other academically talented youths, and they earn higher grades and more academic honors while so doing (Daurio, 1979;Eisenberg & George, 1979;Janos, 1987;Janos & Robinson, 1985a;Keating, 1976;Pressey, 1967;Stanley, 1985;Stanley & Benbow, 1983a, 1983cStanley, Keating, & Fox, 1974;Terman & Oden, 1947). Moreover, early completion of advanced graduate training has been found to be associated with increased scientific and scholarly productivity Stanley & Benbow, 1983b).…”

Personality Growth of Female Early College Entrants: A Controlled, Prospective Study

“…Carefully selected, intellectually capable adolescents who enter college at an early age are often highly successful in their academic work (Fund for the Advancement of Education, 1953Education, , 1957Janos & Robinson, 1985;Pressey, 1967;Stanley, 1985;Stanley & McGill, 1986). Nevertheless, there is widespread concern that accelerants are vulnerable to personality adjustment problems (Daurio, 1979;Montour, 1976Montour, , 1977Southern, Jones, & Fiscus, 1989).…”