Effects of elementary school acceleration on secondary students in a British Columbia school district
Date
1973
Authors
Lott, Joseph William
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Abstract
This study examined the performance of students who attended one secondary school in the district of Saanich in British Columbia. The study compared samples drawn from a population of students with superior I.Q. ratings. One sample had been double-promoted in the elementary years and the other had followed the regular promotion pattern. Four areas of accomplishment in secondary school were used as the basis of this comparison. Membership on school representative teams, achievement in Physical Education 11, involvement in extra-curricular activities and grade point averages for subjects in Grades 11 and 12 were compared for the two groups.
Data was gathered from school records and a comparison made of the performance of the accelerates and the non-accelerates. Differences were tested for significance by using Chi Square tests. Significant differences in favour of the non-accelerates were found in Physical Education 11 grades, in extra-curricular involvement, and in grade point averages. While the direction of the difference in membership on athletic teams also favoured the non-accelerates, it was not statistically significant. These results are in contradiction of much that has been written on the effects of acceleration. The general view in the literature is that accelerates perform better in all aspects of their secondary school education than do non-accelerates.