Date of Award
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Research suggests that academically gifted students are often underserved when it comes to the school setting. Academically gifted students require specialized instruction to challenge them. Several successful strategies exist for creating an educational environment that appropriately challenges and helps these students achieve academic growth; however, these strategies are rarely employed due to a lack of accountability, supports, or these students’ ability to make passing scores on state assessments.
The school chosen for this study came out of analysis of state growth numbers for academically gifted students. Analysis revealed that while gifted students of this school were meeting proficiency standards on state tests, academic growth numbers were in the negative. Based on these findings, research-based strategies will be implemented to improve growth numbers.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect program changes for academically gifted students have on the collaborative efficacy of teachers. Participants of the study were teachers from the school of study that teach math, English/language arts, science, and social studies. All of these participants receive a growth index number based on student performance on North Carolina final exams and end-of-grade assessments in Grades 6-8. Two measures were used to determine the change in teacher efficacy, North Carolina Growth Estimates (NC Growth Estimates) and Bandura’s (1977) Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale. NC Growth Estimates from 2103 and 2016 were compared to determine the level of change. Additionally, Bandura’s Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale results from 2013 were compared with those of 2016. These two measures determined the level of impact on collaborative efficacy for teachers as a whole.
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Putnam, Trevor J., "Program Changes for Gifted Students and the Impact on Collaborative Efficacy" (2018). Education Dissertations and Projects. 378.