Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement

by John Hattie

Levin (1988) asked, if acceleration is so beneficial for gifted students, why could it not also be used with non-gifted students? Hence, his Accelerated Learning program aims to accelerate the learning of at-risk students so that they are able to perform at grade level by the end of elementary school. These programs involve high expectations, specified deadlines for meeting educational requirements, stimulating instructional programs, planning by all staff, and using all available community resources. The evidence, however, is limited from a meta-analysis standpoint: Borman and D'Agostino (1995) claimed Accelerated Learning had “highly promising evidence of effectiveness” although the overall effect size was only d = 0.09.