Gains for Honors Program Students: Going Beyond Good Grades

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 8
  In Poster Session: Gifted Education, Creativity, and Talent Development Posters

Abstract

This study extends research on the importance of specialized programming and curriculum for gifted individuals to those at the postsecondary level, using data from the 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore honors program participation and various reported gains in a sample of 6,621 seniors at 10 universities. A series of OLS regression models suggest that even after controlling for demographic and institutional characteristics, honors program participation is a positive predictor of encouragement to explore new opportunities, feeling like part of an academic community that encourages thoughtful reflection and intellectual growth, and changing life in positive ways. However, the magnitude of these relationships varies, and other gains items did not show a significant relationship with honors participation.

Authors

• Angie L. Miller, Indiana University

• Andrew Cognard-Black, St. Mary's College of Maryland