Ability Grouping
When students of a similar ability or achievement level are placed in a class or group based on observed behavior or performance. Ability grouping is not the same as tracking. Read the NAGC position on ability grouping.
Acceleration
A strategy of progressing through education at rates faster or ages younger than the norm. This can occur through grade skipping or subject acceleration (e.g., a fifth-grade student taking sixth-grade math).
Advanced Placement (AP)
A program developed by the College Board where high schools offer courses that meet criteria established by institutions of higher education. In many instances, college credit may be earned with the successful completion of an AP exam in specific content areas. See college specific guidelines.
Cluster Grouping
A grouping assignment for gifted students in the regular heterogeneous classroom. Typically, five or six gifted students with similar needs, abilities, or interests are “clustered” in the same classroom, which allows the teacher to more efficiently differentiate assignments for a group of advanced learners rather than just one or two students.
Criterion-Referenced Test
An assessment that compares a student’s test performance to his or her master of a body of knowledge or specific skill rather than relating scores to the performance of other students.
Enrichment
Activities that add or go beyond the existing curriculum. They may occur in the classroom or in a separate setting such as a pull-out program.
Norm-Referenced Testing
An assessment that compares an individual’s results with a large group of individuals who have taken the same assessment (who are referred to as the “norming group”). Examples include the SAT and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.
Pull-Out Program
A program that takes a student out of the regular classroom during the school day for special programming.
Social-Emotional Needs
Gifted and talented students may have affective needs that include heightened or unusual sensitivity to self-awareness, emotions, and expectations of themselves or others, and a sense of justice, moral judgment, or altruism. Counselors working in this area may address issues such as perfectionism, depression, low self-concept, bullying, or underachievement. View the NAGC position paper on social-emotional needs of gifted children.
