Linguistically gifted and talented students often do not receive appropriate instruction in the classroom. Little research has been conducted about how teachers of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses provide instruction to students who demonstrate advanced proficiency in a second language. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how teachers of these courses provided instruction for students who demonstrate advanced proficiency in Spanish. The conceptual framework was based on Krashen's second language acquisition theory and Gardner's multiple intelligences theory. Participants included 2 teachers from 2 high schools in 1 county in a western state. Data were collected from individual teacher interviews, reflective journals, and documents such as course standards and course descriptions. Single case analysis involved coding and category construction, using the constant comparative method for interview and journal data, and a content analysis for documents. Cross case analysis involved an examination of all data sources and cases to determine themes and discrepant data. A key finding was that, in addition to course rigor, teachers used a variety of instructional strategies, such as flexible grouping, choice, higher order thinking skills, and formative assessments to meet the needs of all students, including advanced proficiency students. Recommendations are to improve the identification of linguistically gifted and talented students and to provide professional development in differentiated instruction. This study contributes to positive social change by providing educators with a deeper understanding that students who are proficient in languages will be invaluable in building a strong global community.

The primary focus of the current study was to determine if there is a relationship between size of high school and advanced academic achievement as measured by the Virginia Index of Performance while statistically controlling for multiple combinations of the following variables; socioeconomic status, urbanicity of school, per-pupil expenditure, and student-teacher ratio. The combinations of variables used in the current study were determined by knowledge gained in the review of the literature. Level of award on the Virginia Index of Performance, school enrollment, percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch prices, per-pupil expenditures, student-teacher ratios, and school locale were collected for all high schools in Virginia with 9th-12th grade configurations for school years 2006-07 through 2008-09. A sequential multiple regression analysis was conducted using level of Virginia Index of Performance award earned as the dependent variable and school size as the primary predictor variable while statistically controlling for per-pupil expenditure, student-teacher ratio, socioeconomic status, and urbanicity in different combinations. The analyses performed on the collected data revealed that school size, when other variables were accounted for, was not a significant predictor of performance on the Virginia Index of Performance incentive program. When the analyses were performed for Research Question 2, however, socioeconomic status was found to be a significant predictor of performance on the Virginia Index of Performance incentive program. Multiple limitations should be noted when interpreting the results of the analyses. The main limitations to the current study were a restricted population of schools due to confines placed on grade configurations of schools included in the study and the initial criteria of making Adequate Yearly Progress for two consecutive years in order to be eligible to receive an award in the Virginia Index of Performance program. The combination of these restrictions resulted in a large number of schools being excluded from the current study. Due to the range restrictions placed on the studied population, the relationship between size of school and advanced student achievement could be stronger than reported. Future research should include a less restricted population of schools and other measures of advanced student achievement. / Ed. D.