Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Renaissance Academy (RA), one recently developed full-time special program for students (Grades 6-8) interested in the arts, sciences, and technology, as compared to a traditional gifted/advanced program. Subjects included 226 students and 10 teachers in both programs. A mixed methods design was employed to answer three research questions regarding student outcomes in project quality, academic engagement, and investment in academic learning. Student products were assessed by external raters using the Student Product Assessment Form (Reis, 1981). To evaluate academic engagement, class observations were conducted using the William and Mary Classroom Observation Scales-Revised (VanTassel-Baska, Bracken, & Drummond, 2003). Students completed the My Class Activities survey (Gentry & Gable, 2001) to report perceptions toward academic interest, challenge, choice, and enjoyment. Qualitative measures included observations and interviews with students and teachers. Findings indicated that experimental group students had significantly higher project quality scores than comparison group students as measured by independent t tests, and influential factors included choice, depth and complexity, and audience authenticity. Descriptive statistics revealed that experimental group students displayed engagement behaviors more frequently and at a higher level than comparison group students, with notable differences in general behaviors, problem solving, and research strategies. Multivariate analyses revealed that overall, experimental group students scored significantly higher than comparison group students on the subscales of interest and enjoyment, and grade level comparisons yielded differing results. Qualitative analyses supported and provided insight into quantitative results. Findings from this study supported previous research on full-time programming for advanced learners and delineated specific factors that may influence program effectiveness in engaging and challenging gifted adolescents.
