| This study was undertaken as a means of re-examination of Nancy Bluemel's doctoral dissertation, titled "An Analysis of the Effects of a Differentiated Program on the Library Experience of Gifted Students" (August 1985). This study investigated the significance of a differentiated library program for gifted and talented students in another school district.;The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge of library skills and amount of library usage by two groups of fourth and fifth grade gifted students: (1) a group that was previously enrolled in a gifted and talented pull-out program and was participating in a library program with a differentiated curriculum in a gifted and talented magnet school, and (2) a group that was previously enrolled in a gifted and talented pull-out program and was participating in a traditional library program in their home school.;All students recorded their library usage on weekly logs for a period of eighteen weeks, concluding with the administration of the School Library Media Skills Test by the researcher. The data were analyzed in regard to four research questions which examined the following areas as they related to the school library and gifted students: (1) use of the library for leisure, (2) use of the library for school-related activities, (3) use of library materials, including fiction, nonfiction, reference, encyclopedias, periodicals, and audio-visual materials, and (4) knowledge of library skills. Data analysis were recorded in two factor repeated measure analysis of variance, stepwise multiple regression, and t-tests for significant differences.;Analysis of the data show that in most instances the curriculum treatment experienced by the experimental group did produce significant differences over the treatment experienced by the control group. The students in the experimental group experienced a significant difference in the use of the library for school-related activities and for use of the six types of library materials. No significant difference was found in the use of the library for leisure and in the library skills test scores of the two groups. |
