SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: Integrated Acceleration System

The Ultimate Resource for Grade-Skipping, Subject Acceleration, and Early Entrance with researchers Susan Assouline and Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik

What are five things you will learn in this episode?

1. What is the story behind the Integrated Acceleration System? 
2. How does the Integrated Acceleration System work? 
3. Who currently uses the Integrated Acceleration System? 
4. What kinds of outcomes do users experience? 
5. What should someone curious about the Integrated Acceleration System know about it?

ABOUT THE INTEGRATED ACCELERATION SYSTEM

Determining whether or not to accelerate a child can feel overwhelming. Teachers or parents often have questions about whether their students need more challenges. They may wonder whether their student should skip a grade, start kindergarten or college early, or move ahead in a particular subject. 

The Integrated Acceleration System, an online tool developed by leading researchers in gifted education, guides participants through the process of gathering and integrating information about acceleration. Informed by decades of research, the Integrated Acceleration System systematically accounts for the major factors to consider when making a decision and generates a report about whether acceleration is a good fit for a particular student. This report includes the recommendation plus extensive documentation of the information used in the decision.

During the process, a team of educators and parents collects pertinent data, such as test scores, grades, and indicators of the student’s psychosocial development. Teachers, parents, and the student contribute information that is entered into the online platform. The Team Meeting is the culminating step in the process, in which all data are reviewed, a report is produced, and the team discusses the decision and a potential transition plan.  The Integrated Acceleration System guides you along every step of the process and gives you the power to make confident, research-driven decisions.

The authors of the Integrated Acceleration System are Dr. Susan Assouline and Dr. Ann Lupkowski-Shoplik; they are also co-authors of other relevant work, including the Iowa Acceleration Scale, A Nation Empowered: Evidence Trumps the Excuses Holding Back America’s Brightest Students, Developing Academic Acceleration Policies, and Developing Math Talent. Mr. Brian Douglas is the Lead Developer. The team is affiliated with the University of Iowa Belin-Blank Center, a leading research center in gifted education and talent development.

Ann first appeared on this podcast in episode 136 to discuss THE IMPACT OF SKIPPING A GRADE ON STUDENTS.

To learn more about the Integrated Acceleration System, visit https://accelerationsystem.org or email [email protected].

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS

Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, feel free to get in touch through our contact page.