Review of the first 14 years (1971-1985) of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth at The Johns Hopkins University reveals that many youths who reasoned exceptionally well mathematically were identified, studied further, and aided. The use of longitudinal teaching teams in nonguided instructional settings is encouraged. (Author/CL)

The author suggests that acceleration is often more appropriate than enrichment for intellectually brilliant students, particularly in the area of mathematics. (DB)

Scores on the Math and Verbal Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) of 873 mathematically talented students (eighth grade and under) revealed that boys and girls performed similarly on the verbal SAT but that boys had a significantly higher mean score on the math SAT. (CL)

The article presents the sixth-year report of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth at John Hopkins University, which attempts to identify mathematical talent among junior high students in Maryland and develop that talent while fostering the students' acceleration through college. (DLS)

The founder and director of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) at Johns Hopkins University discusses reasons why acceleration is a desirable educational strategy with highly gifted youth. Cases of successful radical acceleration by mathematically gifted youth illustrate the advantages to be gained by many others if the practice of…

The article discusses the breadth and depth of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) in its seventh year (1977-78). SMPY emphasizes the educational acceleration of youths who reason unusually well mathematically, and its activities focus on four areas: identification, description, development, and dissemination. (DLS)

Progress in programs to identify and develop academically precocious youth are discussed while showing that the age-in-grade basis for education impairs learning quality and extent. A national search for talented youth is described, and a longitudinal mathematics team-teaching program is proposed. (CM)

A program to facilitate instruction for mathematically and scientifically gifted junior high students was described. Compared were nine educational alternatives for the gifted such as homogeneous grouping and early admission to college in terms of educational goals such as allowing for individual differences. Thirty-five scorers in a science fair…

Differentiation among gifted junior high students who score at the 98th or 99th percentile on in-grade achievement tests of quantitative abilities can be accomplished by administering a test normally given to older students such as the College Entrance Examination Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test-Mathematical (SAT-M). SAT-M scores of 396 7th, 8th,…

The paper examines the problem of highly gifted junior high school students who are intellectually ready for college-level study before beginning high school. The term radical accelerates is used to describe gifted students who jump from junior high to college education, bypassing the high school years. Briefly described are two widely known and…

If the academic needs of the most profoundly gifted students can be met through the use of existing educational practices, specialists in gifted education can assume that the educational needs of less able, but still academically talented, students can also be met by using some combination of these strategies as well. This paper illustrates the…

The three phases (finding seventh and eighth grade mathematically talented students, studying them, and helping them educationally) of the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) are detailed, and examples of the superiority of educational acceleration over educational enrichment are pointed out. Results of standardized intelligence tests…

A natural experiment dramatically reveals that scores on a difficult standardized mathematics aptitude test predicts achievement in mathematics over a 2 or 3-year period considerably better than the judgment of the students' present mathematics teacher. (Author/AM)

It is argued that aptitude and achievement tests designed for much older students are invaluable for finding extremely high ability at younger ages, particularly in mathematical and verbal reasoning. Results of the first two years of the Study of Mathematically and Scientifically Precocious Youth (SMSPY) are examined to show that considerable…

Describes a program that identifies gifted mathematics students and places them in an accelerated program. (IRT)