The PACE program: A high school follow-up study
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the retrospective perceptions of twelfth grade students and their families about the effectiveness of PACE (Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment) in developing talent in gifted youth. The study also sought to develop grounded theory about interactions between the PACE program and the family systems of participating students. The investigation was a phenomenological, multiple-case study. In the first phase of the research, 23 high school seniors who had participated in PACE for at least three years during elementary school completed a questionnaire containing both closed and open-ended items. Parents completed a parallel form of the same questionnaire. In phase two of the research, 10 of the families who had completed questionnaires were selected by criterion-based sampling procedures for in-depth families interviews. Constant-comparative, case and cross-case analyses of the questionnaire responses and interview transcripts yielded grounded theory about the impact of the PACE program on students and families. PACE appeared to have had had a positive impact on most of the participants. PACE also appeared to have been successful in achieving program goals such as the development of gifted students' creative and critical thinking abilities and self concepts. In addition, PACE was found to have had the characteristics of an appropriate "early years" talent development experience and to have changed the family systems of participating students in subtle ways. The study suggests that well-designed pullout programs can be effective in facilitating talent development in gifted youth.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Feldhusen, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Special education|Elementary education|Curricula|Teaching
Off-Campus Purdue Users:
To access this dissertation, please log in to our
proxy server.