Whole-grade acceleration moves a student up one or more grades in response to that student's academic needs. Although grade-skipping is supported by decades of research, this type of acceleration is not often used. Acceleration policies make whole-grade acceleration available to more students who would benefit, encourage more educators to use the…

In its various forms, acceleration continues to be an evidence-based and widely used service provided to gifted students but remains controversial and unsupported in legislation in most states. Case studies, current legislation, interviews with state directors of gifted education programs, and a deep dive into the 2018-2019 State of the States in…

This qualitative Case Study sought to evaluate the perceptions of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's professional service delivery from the New Accelerated Promotions Program perspective. Institutional Theory, Transformational Leadership Theory, and Social Learning Theory were used as the primary lens for this study. JCF institutional documents on…

In recent years, state and local support for academic acceleration has created opportunities for students with advanced learning needs to move through their education at a pace that matches their abilities and may be faster than their same-age peers. As a result, it is not uncommon for exceptionally bright students to complete their high school…

Georgia established the Dual Enrollment Accelerated Career Diploma (ACD) program in 2015 to address its skilled trades workforce shortage (Dual Enrollment Act, 2015: Williams, 2015). ACD allows high school students to earn their diplomas by replacing several of their graduation-required credits with technical college credentials earned through…

Access to the college readiness curriculum has become a civil rights issue. Social class continues to impact those underrepresented on college campuses. This dissertation study aims to gain foundational knowledge that can be used to take action by developing recommendations that support a culture in which students from an economically…

In the United States, there exists a chronic shortage of qualified special education teachers to provide instructional services to students with disabilities. One policy solution developed to increase the number of qualified teachers is alternative routes (ARs), which are broadly defined as nontraditional and accelerated preparation paths to…

Taking advanced courses in high school predicts a broad array of positive postsecondary and labor market outcomes. Yet students from historically disadvantaged groups and low-income backgrounds have long been underrepresented in these courses. To address this problem, more than 60 districts in Washington state implemented a policy that…

The research aims, through a comparative analytical study, to unveil whether there is an actual whole-grade acceleration policy in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) if compared with that applied at Massachusetts, USA. Adopting such a policy secures the right of the gifted student to grow academically in proportion with his peculiar potentials. The…

Taking the European Credit and Transfer System as its departure point, this article describes the (mis)fortunes of the figure of the independent learner. This figure is conceptualized by analyzing the expectations of the European learning space that is enacted in discourses, instruments and practices. The independent learner is a…

Equity and access to advanced learning opportunities have been issues of concern for educators in the field of gifted education for decades. Gifted programs are noted as some of the most segregated learning environments in schools today. This study was designed to investigate how school districts have addressed educational equity through the…

Under Florida's developmental education (DE) reform since 2014, recent public high school graduates and active-duty military personnel became exempt from DE and traditional placement tests. The legislation also required colleges to provide accelerated instruction strategies for students remaining in DE and offer enhanced advising and support…

Gifted education in Manitoba is neglected by policymakers, leaving gifted students without assurance of access to appropriate consideration in the province's classrooms. The needs of students with intellectual disabilities are addressed and protected by the Public Schools Act, but guidance for understanding and accommodating the needs of gifted…

Despite data increasingly being used to advance equity in education, students with and seeking refugee protection (SWSRP) are largely invisible in education data. To equitably include SWSRP in national education systems as envisioned by global refugee education policy, data on their needs are required. The purpose of this study was to source,…

This study assesses the coherence of Canada's educational policy regime with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) "Refugee Education 2030" strategy. We articulate a theoretical framework that combines theories about policy coherence, policy attributes, and policy tools, which informs a two-phase methodology. First,…