Psychosocial effects of gifted programming

Abstract

Gifted elementary students in a congregated educational program (n = 165) were compared to gifted peers in regular programming (n = 49) in an urban, Western-Canadian, public, school division. Mean scores on measures of self-concept (Multidimensional Self Concept Scale), classroom environment (Classroom Environment Scale), and student life satisfaction (Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale) were analyzed. MANOVAs revealed main effects of educational programming and no mediating effects of gender or grade level. Students in the congregated program had lower academic self-concept than students in regular programming, replicating the commonly found “Big-Fish-Little-Pond” Effect (Marsh, 1987). There was also some weak indication that students in the specialized program had lower satisfaction with "self" than those in the regular program. In contrast, students in the specialized program thought their programming to be more innovative relative to how the other group perceived theirs was. However, all differences were of small-to-moderate magnitude (.5 SDs). Moreover, all scores for all measures were at, or slightly above, levels typically found in normally developing peers.