Longitudinal Effects of Ability Grouping on Gifted Students' Academic Achievement, Self-Concept, and Interest in German and English

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development Poster Session (San Diego)

Abstract

Previous studies have investigated the effects of high ability grouping on students’ academic achievement and self-concept. Due to inconsistent findings, is still not clear whether ability grouping in gifted students is a useful intervention. Some researchers pointed to a more favorable development of academic achievement. Other have warned of costs of high-ability grouping for students’ academic self-concept. We carried out a longitudinal study that investigated the development of high-ability students’ academic achievement, self-concept, and interest in two language domains over the curse of two and a half years. We found that students from special classes were associated with higher decreases of their academic self-concepts, whereas ability grouping was neither related to gains in achievement nor to costs in interest.

Authors

• Vsevolod Scherrer, University of Trier

• Moritz Lion Breit, University of Trier

• Markus Daniel Feuchter, University of Trier

• Franzis Preckel, University of Trier