Fostering the development of High-Achieving Students – a research synthesis

Lead: TUM

The research synthesis addresses the current debate on fostering the development of high-performing students (see also Bund-Länder Initiative➚ (only available in German)) and provides empirically sound data on the subject. The project aims to order the current research status and provides new starting points for an objective discussion. The fundamental question is how high-achieving students can be fostered in the regular classroom.

To evaluate this question comprehensively, the status of national and international research in this area is analyzed and summarized. Thereby, the following research questions regarding high-achieving students are addressed:

• How often is differentiation in the regular classroom applied?
• How do teachers rate the utility of differentiation in the regular classroom?
• Which facilitators and barriers exist for the implementation of differentiation in the regular classroom?
• How effective is differentiation in the regular classroom?

Beside the review and analysis of the scientific findings, numerous contacts to educational practice, administration and policy are utilized to discuss the research synthesis results and gain further information regarding the topic of fostering high-achieving students.

The German language practice bulletin was published as part of the series, "Wissenschaft macht Schule" as printversion and ebook (by publishing house Waxmann). The ebook can be accessed free of charge at waxmann.com/buch4257. The English language scientific paper is currently in preparation.