'Allowing Them to Flourish': Parents Support the Leadership, Academic and Administrative Challenges of Full-Year Acceleration of Their Children at High School

Although there is a plethora of research evidence in support of the benefits of acceleration, the voices of parents are seldom heard in the literature around outcomes from full-year acceleration. This retrospective study reports on the views of the parents (N = 16) of a group of New Zealand students (N = 12) who were accelerated a full year in their first year of high school. The students completed five years secondary schooling in four years, before all proceeding to university, with the majority being 16 years old at time of entry instead of 17 or 18. As the data are substantial, the results are reported in two articles: the first reported on social and emotional challenges faced by the students. This current article reports on the parents' perceptions of the leadership, academic and administrative challenges of full-year acceleration. Most of the accelerands were moderately, not profoundly gifted and all resided in a lower socio-economic area. The parents reflect on the strategy of full-year acceleration and how it affected the opportunities available to their children. This positive account reinforces the international literature on the long-term benefits of full-year acceleration.