Margaret Crawford

Citation

Thesis Title
Acceleration and Gifted Girls

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Academic acceleration is an effective educational intervention for gifted students, recommended by research but found to be underutilised in practice. Mrs Crawford employed a mixed methods research design and reviewed academic acceleration and gifted provisions in secondary education within girls' schools in New Zealand. Results of a national survey and three case studies provided perceptions of teachers, parents and students and showed that almost all schools provided one or more forms of acceleration. They designed and evaluated academic provisions with an emphasis on personalised learning within an accelerative and enriched curriculum. Content-based and grade-based acceleration were offered to individuals, groups and whole classes with open pathways through the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) to university. School context and student choice were determining factors however, in general, school size, type and decile were not. Her research showed schools demonstrated a close relationship between their cultures of learning and care for gifted students.

Supervisors
Professor Margaret Walshaw
Professor Tracy Riley