Classroom Practices

Many academically talented students do not receive appropriate levels of challenge in their classrooms or schools. Recently, several studies conducted by researchers at The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented investigated classroom practices in U.S. classrooms for high-ability students, finding a pattern of little challenge and differentiation for academically talented students. The Classroom Practices Survey conducted by Francis Archambault and a team of researchers examined the extent to which these students receive differentiated education in regular classrooms. Approximately 7,300 third- and fourth-grade teachers in public and private schools were randomly selected to participate in this research; more than 51 percent of this national sample responded to the survey. Sixty-one percent of public school teachers and 54 percent of private school teachers reported that they had no training in teaching gifted students. The major finding of this study is that classroom teachers made only minor modifications in the curriculum to meet the needs of gifted students, and this result was consistent for all types of schools sampled and for classrooms in various parts of the country and for all types of communities.

The Classroom Practices Observational Study led by Karen Westberg examined the instructional and curricular practices used with gifted and talented students in regular elementary classrooms throughout the United States. Systematic observations were conducted in 46 third- or fourth-grade classrooms identified by school superintendents and principals. Two students, one high-ability student and one average-ability student, were selected as target students for each observation day, and the types and frequencies of instruction that both students received through modifications in curricular activities, materials, and teacher–student verbal interactions were documented by trained observers. Results indicated little or no differentiation in the instructional and curricular practices, including grouping arrangements and verbal interactions, for gifted students in the regular classroom.

A third study, The Curriculum Compacting Study, led by Sally Reis, examined the effects of using curriculum compacting to modify the curriculum and eliminate previously mastered work for high-ability students. More than 400 teachers participated in this study, identifying 783 students as gifted and in need of curriculum differentiation. Students took the next chronological grade-level Iowa Test of Basic Skills in both October and May. When classroom teachers in the group eliminated between 40 and 50 percent of the previously mastered regular curriculum for high-ability students; no differences were found between students whose work was compacted and students who did all the work in reading, math computation, social studies, and spelling. In science and math concepts, students whose curriculum was compacted scored significantly higher than their counterparts in the [Page 140]control group. Accordingly, teachers could eliminate as much as 40 to 50 percent of material without detrimental effects on achievement scores.

A lack of challenge in reading was also found to exist. Reis and her colleagues in 2004 investigated the type and nature of reading instruction provided for talented readers through use of in-depth qualitative comparative case studies. A team of researchers conducted multiple observations in 12 third- and seventh-grade reading classrooms in both urban and suburban school districts over a 9-month period. These observations focused on whether talented readers received differentiated reading curriculum and/or instructional strategies. Talented readers were defined as students reading at least two grades above their chronological grade placement who also had advanced language skills and advanced processing capabilities in reading. Researchers studied daily reading practices in reading classrooms to determine frequency and type of usage of various differentiation practices, such as curriculum compacting, interest or instructional level grouping arrangements, acceleration opportunities, and the nature of independent reading and any independent study work completed by talented readers. Results indicated that talented readers received some differentiated reading instruction in only three of the 12 classrooms. In the other nine classrooms, no challenging reading material or advanced instruction was provided for these students during regular classroom reading instruction. Appropriately challenging books were seldom made available to talented students in their classrooms, and they were rarely provided with more challenging work. Different patterns did emerge across districts, as the three classroom teachers who did provide some level of differentiation taught in suburban schools.

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