1. A Survey of Types of Gifted Programs Offered in Iowa Public School Districts.
- Author
-
Belcastro, Frank P.
- Abstract
This paper discusses the outcomes of a 1997 survey of 171 Iowa public school districts on programs offered to gifted students. The survey evaluated whether the school districts offered the following programs: enrichment in the regular classrooms, part-time special classes, full-time special classes, independent study, itinerant teacher, mentorships, resource rooms, special schools, early entrance, continuous progress, nongraded schools, moderate acceleration, radical acceleration, advanced placement, fast-paced courses, or concurrent or dual enrollment. Results found that Iowa school districts are using the following flexible programming techniques: early entrance (20.5 percent), advanced placement (40.9 percent), concurrent enrollment (55 percent), fast-paced courses (12.9 percent), continuous progress (27.5 percent), moderate acceleration (46.2 percent), and radical acceleration (17.5 percent). Except for enrichment in the regular classroom, part-time special classes, concurrent or dual enrollment, and independent study, findings indicated that not even half of the Iowa school districts are providing adequate programs for their gifted students. This 1997 study is compared to a 1990 study by the same person. Several recommendations are made for enhancing gifted programming and include: (1) providing flexible programs; (2) consolidating school districts to enable schools to provide gifted educational programs; (3) setting special requirements for teachers in gifted programs; and (4) providing and funding inservice programs for teachers in gifted programs. (Contains 23 references.) (CR)
- Published
- 1998