Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part 1. Acceleration: issues and applications for gifted learners (K-5) -- 1. Acceleration and the K-5 gifted child -- 2. Acceleration in a differentiated classroom -- 3. Acceleration and creativity: closing the gap -- 4. Assessment for accelerated learners -- Part 2. Appropriate academic-classroom acceleration -- 5. Acceleration of content -- 6. The thinking process -- 7. Product development -- 8. Standards and policy -- Part 3. Social and emotional aspects of effective acceleration -- 9. Obstacles to acceleration -- 10. Adaptations to personality -- 11. Facilitating acceleration -- 12. Social relationships -- 13. Facilitating acceleration for parents and educators.

Written for K–5 teachers, this practical guide corrects misunderstandings in the field of acceleration and provides the tools necessary to effectively determine the most appropriate learning options for gifted students. Through real-life stories, well-known authors in gifted education Joan Franklin Smutny, Sally Y. Walker, and Elizabeth A. Meckstroth, dispel the common myths about acceleration and describe what it is, what forms it takes, and what it can do for gifted learners—intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

Presenting nuts-and-bolts guidance, this valuable resource provides: numerous case studies, helpful checklists, and reproducible forms, prevailing theories and current research, social-emotional aspects of acceleration practices, instructional strategies for implementation in various school settings, learning opportunities for underserved groups, such as multicultural and urban students and bibliographies and helpful web sites.