The progress of gifted students in a rural district that emphasized acceleration strategies

Rural school districts can make acceleration programs successful if they follow certain guidelines. This article documents one district's experiences with the use of various acceleration strategies in different elementary schools. Although each school tailored its program to its own needs, almost all of the programs were equally effective. Their success may be attributed to four characteristics: (a) planning for each student focused on individual needs, (b) instructional materials closely approximated students' instructional levels, (c) teachers of the gifted monitored students' progress on a routine basis, and (d) the district required that program evaluation be conducted.