Pullout Programs for Gifted Students in Primary Education and Their Performance in Secondary Education

• In Event: Special Programs for Gifted Students

Abstract

Studies have shown that regular educational environments are not in support of a flourishing educational career of gifted students (e.g. Plucker & Callahan, 2014; Westberg & Daoust, 2004; Archambault et al., 1993). A mismatch between the special needs of gifted students and the educational challenges offered to them, is not only reflected in lower school performance but also in reduced personal well-being and students’ learning motivation and attitude (cf., McCoach & Siegle, 2003; Reis & McCoach, 2000). Moreover, underperformance leads to social costs.

To offer gifted students customized programs and combat underachievement, a growing number of primary schools in the Netherlands offer pull-out programs. A Dutch pull-out program offers a challenging educational program that usually complements the education that the students receive in their regular educational environment. For example, there is room for foreign languages (such as Spanish), philosophy and student can perform their own research. Attention is also often paid to the development of effective learning strategies and executive skills, higher-order thinking skills and social-emotional development.

Empirical studies analysing the effects of such programs are rare. Due to endogenity problems – gifted students attending a pull-out program differ from other (intelligent) students - and small sample sizes, it is hard to credibly assess the causual effects of a program. The existing literature shows positive effects of peer group education on school achievement and the socio-emotional development of students (e.g. meta-analyses of Vaughan et al., 1991; Rogers, 2007; Kim, 2016), as well as for specific groups of students (Delcourt et al, 2007; Gubbels et al, 2014; Van der Meulen et al, 2014). None of these studies analyse the long-term impacts of pull-out programs.

The present study aims to contribute to this literature by investigating the relation between pull-out programs in primary education and educational outcomes in secondary education. For the analyses a unique rich survey is used, i.e. a survey held by the Dutch Inspectorate of Education in 2009/2010. While some primary schools already started pull-out programs by that year, other schools indicated that they did have gifted students but did not (yet) start a pull-out program. This setting provides an opportunity to evaluate potential causal effects of pull-out programs on educational outcomes in secondary education. First, top students from these primary schools were selected according to their (standardized) final test in primary education. Second, using panel data we were able to follow these students throughout their secondary education. The particular outcome we measured was the completion rate of the pre-academic track in Dutch education (vwo) within the regular six years.

The results show that the top performing students attending a primary school with pull-out-programs perform much better in secondary school in terms of completion rates. It reduces their probability of not graduating within the regular six years by six percentage points on an average of 75 percent. These results are robust for a variety of specifications and sensitivity checks. It suggests that pull-out-programs may be a key factor for gifted students in determining better long-term educational outcomes.

Author

• Djoerd de Graaf, SEO Amsterdam Economics