<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mathematical acceleration on gifted learners&rsquo; academic achievement. The study compared academic achievement and mathematical attitudes of accelerated and nonaccelerated first through third grade gifted students. The study was conducted using a causal-comparative, quantitative design with pre and post assessments from STAR Math for achievement and the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory to evaluate change in attitudes toward the accelerated subject. Independent samples t-tests were used to analyze the differences in growth in the accelerated gifted groups&rsquo; and nonaccelerated gifted groups&rsquo; STAR Math achievement scores and attitudes on the Attitudes Toward Mathematics Inventory. Results indicated a slight increase for the accelerated gifted learners in the area of achievement. However, the differences in growth in mean scores for achievement was not statistically significant. In the area of attitudes, the domains of enjoyment and confidence reported statistically significant differences in the growth in mean scores for accelerated gifted learners. Nonaccelerated gifted learners showed the greatest growth in mean scores for the doain of motivation. However, the domain of value did not note statistically significant differences in the growth in mean scores for accelerated or nonaccelerated gifted learners.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in total scores on the <i>Mathematical Self-Efficacy Scale, </i> the mathematics task self-efficacy portion of the scale, and the math-related school subjects self-efficacy portion of the scale for middle school students between students assigned to a homogeneously grouped accelerated math class and students assigned to a heterogeneously grouped math class. </p><p> The instrument used to gather information for thus study on student self-efficacy was the <i>Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale</i> (MSES). The MSES measures 2 domains of mathematics-related behaviors and capabilities. The <i> Mathematics Task Self-Efficacy</i> scale is designed to measure the level of confidence the student would have when successfully completing the given task. The <i>Math-Related School Subjects Self-Efficacy</i> scale is designed to measure the level of confidence the student would have when successfully completing a college level course with a final grade of an A or B. The 2 parts of the MSES may be individually scored or holistically scored to obtain a total score representing overall mathematical self-efficacy.</p><p> Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data for the 9 research questions. Participants in the study were randomly assigned to the heterogeneous or homogeneous groups by their schools and were not controlled by the researcher. Students within the groups were chosen as participants based on their math ability and scores on the seventh grade TCAP test. At the time of the survey these students attended either a K-8 elementary school or a middle school in Northeast Tennessee. The population consisted of 357 gifted or talented eighth grade math students in 6 school districts in Northeast Tennessee.</p><p> The results of this study does not support or discourage the practice of acceleration by retaining 7 of the 9 null hypotheses that there are no significant difference in self-efficacy scores between homogeneous grouped eighth grade math students who were placed in accelerated coursework by taking Algebra I and those students who were heterogeneously grouped in a regular eighth grade math class.</p>

<p> The United States currently lags behind globally in the areas of math and science. In order to compete and meet the skills necessary for the future workforce, it has become necessary to seek out instructional strategies that will increase student achievement in those academic areas. With the wide variety of diversity occurring in public schools today, there is a need to identify how to best meet and challenge our students academically in order to close the achievement gap between different genders, ethnicities, socioeconomic status (SES), and ability levels. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of accelerated mathematics instruction on the student achievement of heterogeneous groups of sixth graders as measured on standardized assessments. In addition, this study looked at individual effects on subpopulations including special education, gifted, ethnicities, genders, and low Socio- Economic Status (SES). </p><p> The research design methodology used was quasi experimental non-equivalent groups. The study took place in a suburban school district located in the Southwestern United States comprised of over 32,000 students. Control and experimental groups were compared utilizing quantitative data collected from the mathematics subsection on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS). The study compared heterogeneously grouped sixth grade students at six schools using quantitative data collected for three years, from 2010-2012. The control group presented on-grade level mathematics curriculum to their sixth grade students. The experimental group accelerated the mathematics instruction of their students by one year or equivalent of seventh grade level. </p><p> The findings indicated there was a statistically significant difference between the control and experimental groups for the areas of SES, special education, gifted, gender and ethnicity. These data suggest that students taught a year ahead of their grade level, benefitted from this treatment rather than receiving the standard sixth grade mathematics instruction. </p><p> As a result of this study, teachers may be able to determine whether to include more students of varying ability in higher level mathematics courses rather than isolating advanced instruction to high ability students only. The study findings will also assist in identifying whether the acceleration method of instruction has any effect in order to be considered an option to the traditional method of remediation for low achieving students.</p>