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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX™
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Ability grouping for gifted students

Overview

  • Influence: Ability grouping for gifted students
  • Domain: Classroom
  • Sub-Domain: Class composition effects
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Students deemed to be gifted are grouped together into a class and taught separately from other students.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 6
  • Number of studies: 131
  • Number of students: NA
  • Number of effects: 516
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.20
  • Robustness index: 3

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Review of Educational Research Kulik & Kulik Effects of accelerated instruction on students 1984 Classroom organization on gifted 25 NA 25 0.25
Conference paper Goldring A meta-analysis of classroom organization strategies for gifted education programs 1987 Ability grouping for gifted 23 NA 146 0.35
The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented Rogers The relationship of grouping practices to the education of the gifted and talented learner. Executive summary 1991 Grouping on gifted 13 NA 13 0.43
Gifted Child Quarterly Vaughn, Feldhusen, & Asher Meta-Analyses and Review of Research on Pull-Out Programs in Gifted Education 1991 Pull out programs for gifted 8 NA 8 0.47
High Ability Studies Neber, Finsterwald & Urban Cooperative Learning with Gifted and High-achieving Students: A review and meta-analyses of 12 studies 2001 Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous on Gifted 6 NA 314 0.13
Book Kulik & Kulik Ability grouping and gifted students. 1991 Classroom organization on gifted 56 NA 10 0.02
TOTAL/AVERAGE 131 NA 516 0.27
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