Gifted classes benefit high-achievers most
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 11:45 AM

Gifted education programs are designed for students who are more intelligent than the average student. However, many school districts aren't always sure who to admit into such programs. Should a child's IQ score be his or her entry pass? What about high-achieving students with more average IQs? David Card from the University of California-Berkeley and Laura Giuliano from the University of Miami sought to answer that dilemma in a study. Their report, which is a working paper, detailed their findings.

Who benefits most?
Researchers studied fourth grade students in a gifted class from an undisclosed school district. The district admits students into its gifted program who have an IQ greater than 130 (or 116 if they come from an underprivileged family). They can also get into the program if they have a lower IQ but have high achievement in third grade standardized tests. Students with high IQs are given priority in the gifted class, and leftover seats go to the high achievers.

After studying the students for a year, researchers found that those who were admitted for their test scores and not their IQs ended up benefiting the most from the gifted program. That is to say, their standardized exam scores increased more than the scores of other students as a result of the class. 

Why some students show improvement
The gifted program seemed to have little to no effect on the standardized test scores of students with a 130 IQ or above. Researchers noted that this is not necessarily surprising - these students already had high scores because they are naturally intelligent. The students with a 116 IQ or greater did not show much test score improvement either. However, students who did well on achievement tests did so by studying hard, and having access to challenging coursework only improved their scores.

The report also said that students who entered the class because of their test scores and who came from an underprivileged family or are considered a minority race saw the greatest test score improvements out of any of the groups.