Possible economic benefits of full-grade acceleration

Abstract

Full-grade acceleration is an intervention in which students finish the K-12 curriculum at least one year early, usually due to early entrance to kindergarten, grade skipping, or early graduation from high school. Many studies have shown benefits during childhood for accelerated individuals, but few studies have examined outcomes of acceleration in adulthood. In this study data from five longitudinal datasets were combined to compare adult incomes of accelerated and non-accelerated subjects after controlling for five important childhood covariates. Results showed that accelerated adults earned 4.66% more per year (d=0.044). Income differences between accelerated and non-accelerated groups were larger for women than men. A conservative estimate is that there is a $72,000 lifetime earnings difference between accelerated and non-accelerated subjects, though this study cannot show a causal association between acceleration and increased income.

Keywords: Full-grade acceleration; Gifted education; Income; Longitudinal studies; Meta-analysis.