Gifted Education

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Year Level Advancement

Year Level Advancement occurs when a student is promoted into a higher grade resulting in the student not completing a full twelve months placement in an intervening grade, for example, at the conclusion of Grade 3 a student is promoted into Grade 5 the following year.

Year Level Advancement may also occur where a student is based in a Grade 3 or Grade 4 composite classroom. This student commences the year in Grade 3 and during the year completes the Grade 4 curriculum as well as Grade 3. When the Grade 4 students are promoted at the end of the academic year the student is promoted with that Grade 4 cohort.

Year Level Advancement can refer to:

  • a single year advancement
  • multiple single year advancements over the period of the child’s schooling
  • radical year level advancement (or radical acceleration as it is sometimes called) where more than one year is advanced in a single promotion, when for example, a student who has just completed Grade 3 enters Grade 6 the next year. 

It is also considered that there are ‘natural transition’ points where year level advancement is likely to be less disruptive, such as the beginning of a new academic year, transition to a new school, or transition to a new campus of the same school.

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When to consider Year Level Advancement

Year Level Advancement achieves two main purposes:

  1. It can expose the student to a more appropriate level of curriculum given the child’s advanced academic abilities.
  2. The student is likely to be placed with students closer (although perhaps not close) to his or her interests.

Likely candidates for Year Level Advancement should have undertaken an individual cognitive assessment and will usually have scored in the moderate to highly gifted range (about 130+) on an individual intelligence test such as the Wechsler or Stanford-Binet V. Usually these students show a wide range of interests rather than in only one subject area. Students should be capable of, or have demonstrated their capabilities, at performing one or two years beyond their grade-for-age. This advanced capability may have been demonstrated through individual subject acceleration or through off-level achievement testing.

Students should be reasonably socially mature. In terms of their independence as learners they should be operating at a similar level to those in the year level into which they are being advanced.

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Considerations prior to Year Level Advancement

A decision to grade advance a student must be considered with great care. Several researchers suggest educators follow a strict process before considering Year Level Advancement.

The receiving teacher should however feel positive about the move and be provided with the opportunity for professional learning as the student may need further extension before the year is completed. It is preferable that a professional with expertise in the area of gifted children be involved in the acceleration decision.

An instrument such as, the Iowa Acceleration Scale may be utilised to facilitate the discussion regarding Year Level Advancement. This Scale has been developed to support teachers and parents in deciding on whether a full-year acceleration is the right option for the specific student.

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The benefits of implementing Year Level Advancement

The benefits of Year Level Advancement include:

  • it is a proven method of meeting the needs of gifted and high potential children
  • it is inexpensive for the school to implement as the receiving class is already there waiting to be educated
  • no professional development or specialised skills in the receiving teacher are required – the teacher already has the skills needed to meet the whole grade’s learning needs as well as that of the accelerated student
  • it can be used in almost all educational settings.

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When Year Level Advancement should not be considered

Several factors could be considered as critical to the success of the Year Level Advancement. It should not be considered if:

  • the child scores less than 115 on an individual IQ assessment
  • when the child would move into the same grade as a sibling
  • when the child is in the same grade currently as a sibling and would be moving beyond that sibling
  • when the student is adamant they do not want to be skipped.

(adapted from Assouline, Colangelo, Lupkowski-Shoplik, Lipscomb and Forstadt 1998)