Accelerated learning takes on more forms than you might expect. One study identifies 26 unique types of acceleration (Rogers, 2018).
The 26 Types of Accelerated Learning
- Accelerated/honors high school classes
- Accelerated residential high school
- Advanced Placement courses - AP classes
- Compacted Curriculum
- Competitions
- Computer on-line courses - asynchronous independent learning
- Concurrent/dual enrollment classes
- Credit by examination
- Distance education courses - synchronous classes, usually online
- Early entrance to kindergarten or first grade
- Home Schooling
- Honors classes at university
- Independent study
- Individualized acceleration - continuous content that is accelerated based on student needs, there is no grade placement due to age
- International Baccalaureate program
- Mentorship
- Saturday classes on university campus
- Single-subject acceleration
- Summer university classes
- Talent search programs
- Early admission to university - can happen before a high school diploma is given
- Grade skipping
- Grade telescoping
- Multi-grade combination
- Non-graded/multi-age classroom
- Radical acceleration - four years of high school are combined with the first four years of college
This giant list includes forms that are not particularly viable for rural Alaska. AP classes and IB programs for instance, are not going to be available in many of Alaska's small schools. The accreditation requirements and instructional components, combined with the limited number of students that they would successfully serve, cause them to be out of reach. Logistically they just don't work. However, there are many other options that could work just fine, and are already common in rural Alaska. Multi-grade combinations, distance courses, multi-age classrooms, and academic competitions in the form of Battle of the Books, spelling bees, and chess tournaments are very common.
An exciting avenue for rural Alaskan school districts to explore is the viability of some of the options that lay in the middle ground of not being commonly used currently and not being viable. These include single-subject acceleration, home schooling, grade telescoping, individualized acceleration, and dual enrollment options.
Further exploration into the viability of these options is needed. There are budgetary considerations, staffing complexities, time/schedule considerations, logistical issues, and more. However, with Alaska's Mission of "An excellent education for every student every day," this is a needed area of development.
An exciting avenue for rural Alaskan school districts to explore is the viability of some of the options that lay in the middle ground of not being commonly used currently and not being viable. These include single-subject acceleration, home schooling, grade telescoping, individualized acceleration, and dual enrollment options.
Further exploration into the viability of these options is needed. There are budgetary considerations, staffing complexities, time/schedule considerations, logistical issues, and more. However, with Alaska's Mission of "An excellent education for every student every day," this is a needed area of development.
Rogers, K. B. (2018). Meta-analysis of 26 forms of academic acceleration: Options for elementary (primary) and secondary learners with gifts or talents. In B. Wallace, D. A. Sisk, & J. Senior, The SAGE Handbook of Gifted and Talented Education (pp. 309–320). SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526463074.n26