Long-Term Effects of Enrichment Summer Courses on the Academic Performance of Gifted Adolescents

Abstract

Short-term effects on the development of gifted school students have been demonstrated for intensive enrichment programs and means of acceleration. Long-term effects of short enrichment programs, however, have never been investigated and have rarely been postulated. Data from a large enrichment program in Germany can help to clarify this question. Participants and equally gifted nonparticipants of a 2-week summer course in the years 1994 to 1996 were contacted about 10 years after and compared by questionnaires. Prior to this systematic study, anecdotal evidence had shown that some participants have been deeply influenced during this summer camp, which is organized yearly for several hundred German school students at about age 16. Data from a larger group of former participants and nonparticipants could not confirm the overall long-term positive influence of the summer course on measures of academic career. Several reasons for this result are discussed and theoretical explanations are provided.

Acknowledgements

The investigation reported in this paper was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and by Bildung und Begabung. Harald Wagner and Volker Brandt of this association for talent education, who organize the German School Students Academies, deserve our thanks for their generous support. We also thank our research staff, particularly Johannes Leder, Annika Kleinsteuber, Mandy Koschke, and Susann Fiedler, for their invaluable efforts.