The present paper comprises two drafts of Problem Statements pertaining to the topic of the research “Raising Reading Scores of Gifted Students”.
Problem Statement 1
Bates (1984) states that the majority of “programming suggestions for gifted students are based upon intuition rather than upon research” (p. 590). Unfortunately, the state of things has remained almost unchanged that calls for immediate action. A gifted student may be defined as the one whose reading achievement and potential is significantly above average (Durr, 1981). It is necessary to devote special attention to reading as the basis for academic success of gifted learners. The study of gifted students’ attitudes towards reading instruction should be conducted as it can be considered a necessary factor influencing the raise of students’ reading scores.
The target group will consist of the students of elementary school that belong to the category of gifted students. The target group can be formed on the basis of intellectual test administered among the students of elementary school. The number of sampling can be about fifty students.
The mixed method of research can be applied thought the study. A pre-test of student’s attitude towards reading should be conducted at the beginning of the study to determine initial attitude. Likert scale may be used as the traditional tool for measurement of attitude. In the course of the study, the group of students should be given special classes aimed at the raise of their reading scores. The final data should be obtained by means of a questionnaire and academic test after the course consisting of special reading classes. With the help of quantitative and qualitative analyses it will be possible to make a conclusion about the way students’ attitudes towards reading influence their reading scores.
Problem Statement 2
Existing research and practice in the sphere of education has shown that special strategies of instruction of those students who belong to the category of gifted students include the following: acceleration, streaming, special classes (Monks et al., 1992). Brody (2004) also mentions that a beneficial type of instruction is grouping of students into special classes “for the purpose of instructional acceleration” (p. 95). Since special classes and acceleration have been recognized as the basic types of school provisions for the gifted students (Durr, 1981), it is necessary to determine which one can be the most beneficial one for educational process if the aim is to raise reading scores of gifted students.
The target group can coincide with the target group from Problem Statement 1. It means that the target group of the present research can include students that belong to the category of gifted students. However, it is necessary to justify the tool of measurement of giftedness at the beginning of the research. The group of participants may include about fifty students belonging to the same age group.
As for the method of the research, mixed method is the most appropriate one as it will prove qualitative as well as quantitative data for analysis. One experimental group should be given a course of special classes while acceleration strategy should be applied to the second group. The results can be obtained on the basis of final test and the conclusions can be made on the basis of qualitative analysis of the received data. Quantitative analysis will also assist in identifying the difference of reading scores of the participants.
Reference
Bates, G.W. (1984). Developing Reading Strategies for the Gifted: A Research-Based Approach. Journal of Reading, 27(7), 590-593.
Brody, L. (2004). Grouping and Acceleration Practices in Gifted Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Durr, W.K. (1981). Reading and the Gifted Student. Web.
Monks, F.J., Katzko, M.W., van Boxtel, H.W., and Center for the Study of Giftedness. (1992). Education of the Gifted in Europe: Theoretical and Research Issues. The Netherlands: Taylor & Francis.