The beliefs and attitudes of administrators regarding the acceleration of gifted elementary students in the state of Missour

Appropriately meeting the needs of gifted students by implementing research based practices is a challenge for public education. According to Davis and Rimm (2004), gifted students are a unique group of learners who have a higher intellectual ability or creativity than their same-age peers. Implementing research-based practices is an important issue to consider when educating gifted learners. Three research-based practices of gifted education are acceleration, enrichment, and ability grouping. Studies have been conducted which determine the effectiveness of each of these practices, including John Hattie's (2009) meta-analysis. His research showed acceleration was the most effective practice, with an effect size of .88. Colangelo, Assouline and Gross (2004) defined acceleration as an intervention that progresses students through their educational program at a quicker rate or a younger age.;A Nation Deceived (2004) was written over a decade ago. This publication resulted in new attention to the programming of gifted students in this country, specifically regarding acceleration and its cost effectiveness and benefits in educating gifted learners. However, acceleration is not a universally used intervention, and research is being conducted as to why. There is limited research in the state of Missouri regarding research based gifted education practices.;This quantitative research study focused on the practice of acceleration in the state of Missouri and examined administrator attitudes and beliefs regarding acceleration. Statistically significant differences were found in both the research based gifted practices scale and the acceleration scale. Significant differences were found in the gifted practices scale between districts with a state approved elementary gifted program in the practices of grade skipping, curriculum compacting and ability grouping. Significant differences were found in the acceleration scale in the demographic factors of level of education, district size, district location, and position. After analysis of the data, it could be concluded that administrator attitudes toward acceleration were not positive in the state of Missouri and that acceleration was the least occurring research based practice in the state. The occurrence of acceleration is similar to the number of districts with acceleration policies and procedures. There was a great variance in perceptions about the practice of acceleration. There was also a frequency of neutral responses that shows a hesitation or lack of knowledge toward some ideas about acceleration, including the research supporting acceleration. The Missouri Gifted Advisory Council recommendation to require districts to develop an acceleration policy may spur administrators in the state of Missouri to be aware of the research behind the practice of acceleration. The advisory council should provide models and research about the practice of acceleration, as well as the potential financial benefits of the practice.