Gifted students who experienced grade-based acceleration in primary or secondary education have to meet the challenges of adjusting to university at a younger age than students who did not accelerate. This systematic review critically evaluates the research on social-emotional characteristics and adjustment of these gifted accelerated university…

Asian immigrant parents may hold high expectations for their children to excel academically and professionally. Filial piety and the desire to make their parent(s) proud can motivate these children to achieve but can also place undue pressure on them. In this qualitative study, researchers explored how seven Asian American women who entered…

The Early Entrance Program at California State University, Los Angeles, has successfully met the needs of some highly gifted 11-16 year-olds. The rationale for the program, its stages of development, and some case histories are described. It is suggested that this model can be inexpensively adapted for other campuses. (Author/CL)

Surveys completed by colleges and universities revealed, among other findings, that over two-thirds had policies allowing for early admission of gifted students, but few students took advantage of the opportunity. Possible reasons may include lack of specialized counseling and lack of personnel directly responsible for administering the program.…

Although the academic gains associated with acceleration and peer ability grouping are well documented, resistance to their use for gifted students continues because of concerns that such practices will cause social or emotional harm to students. Results from the broad research indicate that grade skipping, early school entrance, and early…

Coordinators of gifted education, school psychologists, principals, and teachers (554 respondents) were surveyed concerning their attitudes toward early admission and acceleration. Though negative reactions were weak along some dimensions, practitioners from each category expressed consistently conservative sentiments toward the value of…

The article describes the procedures, results, and followup of a Search for Exceptional Academic Achievement involving 450 7th and 8th graders nominated by their schools or by themselves. Sixty-eight Ss achieved scores on the Washington Pre-College Test high enough for early college entrance. (CL)

This is the second follow-up study of the Early Entrance Program at the University of Washington. Ninety-five individuals (45%) participated. Respondents overwhelmingly chose early university entrance because they were excited to learn; many also praised the peer group, intellectual stimulation, and faculty and staff support. Some reported feeling…

The study reports on a group of 25 educationally accelerated entrants to Johns Hopkins University. Findings support the ability of students who enter a highly selective college two to five years early to make good grades, win honors, and graduate promptly. (Author/CL)

This study interviewed students (n=24) participating in the University of Washington's Early Entrance Program. Students were unanimous in their satisfaction with their choice to forego major high school social events and found attitudes toward them sometimes annoying. (DB)

A study explored the first semester experiences of 10 students (ages 17-18) who enrolled in the National Academy of Arts, Science, and Engineering (NAASE), an early entrance program at the University of Iowa. Students' perceptions were influenced by their transition experiences, their relationships, and the quality of their learning experiences.…

Thirty-three female early college entrants were administered a psychological inventory at the beginning and end of the first college year. Accelerants evidenced a consistent pattern of healthy personality growth over the year, which was not observed in a control group of capable nonaccelerants still attending high schools. (Author/JDD)

This study compared differences in self-esteem scores at college entrance and one semester later of 109 early entrants to the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas. Findings indicated slight negative changes in self-esteem after one semester, possibly because of normal college adjustment and changes in social…

Fourteen sets of parents and 11 gifted students who had been accelerated (early kindergarten entrance, grade skipping, and subject skipping) were interviewed. All parents and students indicated they would make the same decision again. Administrator attitudes became more positive, but teachers perceived some student adjustment problems. (DB)

Students (n=63) who entered college by age 14 supplied data on the number and ages of friends, time spent together, and degree of shared intimacy. By junior year, early entrants appeared to have established relations with older students of breadth and depth equivalent to those already existing with agemates. (Author/JDD)