School-Within-a-School Gifted Programs

Abstract

The authors conduct open-ended surveys of 530 students and teachers in three publicly funded schools with different approaches to providing a high-ability “school-within-a-school”: a gifted program, an international baccalaureate program, and a high-ability program with a science focus. Overall, the authors find that teachers and students in all of these gifted programs express strong satisfaction with their academic programs. At the same time, however, all groups (students and teachers in gifted and regular programs at all three schools) express concerns about the relationship between the special gifted programs and the schools within which they are housed. Based on an analysis of stakeholders' concerns and suggestions in the contexts of the different schools' approaches to integration, suggestions are made for and questions are raised about fostering a positive school climate in secondary schools that offer programming for high-ability learners.