Acceleration:  There are two types of acceleration. The first type is grade skipping or double promotion; the second type allows the student to complete the normal amount of work in less than the normal amount of time within a school year (see curriculum compacting). Acceleration is most effective in subjects that are linear-sequential in content and which build on previous skills and knowledge. Consideration should be given to the social implications of grade skipping.

Ability Grouping: An instructional strategy whereby students of similar ability are placed together in a setting that offers curriculum and instruction geared to the abilities of the individuals comprising the group.

Asynchronous Development: Being out of sync with what is developmentally expected behavior for a particular age group.

Bloom's Taxonomy: A classification of thinking organized by level of complexity. Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation are the six levels. Knowledge is the lowest level of thinking.

Cluster Grouping: A group of five to ten gifted students, usually those in the top five percent of the grade level population, who are clustered together in the classroom with a teacher, who has had training in how to teach exceptionally capable learners. Other students in the class are of mixed ability. Students might be further clustered based ability in specific subjects or areas of strong interest.

Critical Thinking: A persistent effort to examine evidence. The ability to think clearly, to analyze, and to reason logically.

Cross Grade Instruction: The student enrolled at a lower grade level receives instruction in certain subjects in a higher grade level classroom that is appropriate to the student's ability.

Curriculum Compacting: Reducing the amount of time spent on grade level work in a particular subject or topic because the material is already known or can be learned at a more rapid pace.

Differentiated Instruction: A flexible approach to teaching in which the teacher plans and carries out varied approaches to content, process, and product in anticipation of and in response to student differences in readiness, interests, and learning needs (Tomlinson, 1995, p. 10).

Readiness: The background of understandings needed to facilitate the learning of a new concept in any content areas or skill.