Programs for Mathematically Gifted Students: A Review of Empirical Research

Abstract

This paper summarizes and critiques the empirical research of the 1970s and 1980s on programs for mathematically gifted students. Much research has shown that accelerating the mathematics curriculum provides a very good program for precocious students. Organizational plans that place mathematically gifted students together for mathematics instruction also offer opportunities for these students to perform well. Although technology-based instruction also appears to provide an efficacious way of providing instruction for mathematically gifted elementary students, this method should be examined further with older students and in long-term studies. Research with enriched curricula and non-computer-based instruction provided inconclusive evidence of efficacy for mathematically gifted students.