Seperate Schools in Gifted Education: A Comparative Study of Gifted Schools in America

Abstract

There are three basic strategies used in the field of gifted education. These are grouping, acceleration and enrichment. Grouping practices are conducted as programs in which all gifted students are educated with their peers in a separate school or classroom, or educated with their typical achieving peers in their regular classroom. The gifted students in Turkey are educated with their typical achieving peers in their regular classroom.The content, advantages and disadvantages of the separate schools founded for gifted students are not sufficiently known in practice. The aim of this research is to examine the separate schools founded for gifted students according to certain variables. In this research, designed as a descriptive study in the survey model, the data were analyzed by content analysis. In this context, 10 gifted schools providing service in the USA and Canada analyzed according to variables: private/state, fee, date of establishment, class levels, admission and identification conditions, program models used in school, curriculum, class sizes, social, cultural and sports activities. These schools have been selected for recognition and the richness of the content they offer on their websites. The findings show that, the vast majority of schools are private schools, these schools have annual fees between 10000-55000 dollars, the dates of their establishment vary between 1870-2017, these schools offer services at almost every educational level (primary, secondary, high school), almost every school has its own identification model and intelligence tests are determinant in admission to schools, curriculum enrichment and acceleration practices are carried out in schools, and there are a wide variety of distinctive social, cultural and sports activities. When evaluated in general, it is understood that schools for gifted students in America have a long-established history and new schools are founded today. When the structure and educational content of the schools are investigated, it is seen that remarkable opportunities are provided to gifted students. Consequently, we believed that the foundation of such schools by the public and private sector and the investigation of the effects of these schools on gifted education will contribute to the education system in Turkey.