Academic acceleration
![A one-room schoolhouse, the original multi-age classroom.[1]](/Images/godic/202412/19/Interior_view_of_Oakdale_School_near_Loyston,_Tennessee._From_30_to_40_pupils_usually_attend._-_NARA_-_5326483217.jpg")
![A discussion class at Shimer College, which has offered an early entrance program since 1950.[2]](/Images/godic/202412/19/Shimer_College_Discussion_Class3217.jpg")
![A kindergarten class](/Images/godic/202412/19/0303-N-3666S-003_Boatswain's_Mate_2nd_Class_Rasheema_Newsome,_assigned_to_Commander,_Navy_Region_Hawaii,_reads_Dr._Seuss'_The_Cat_in_the_Hat_to_kindergarten_students_at_Lehua_Elementary_School3217.jpg")
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Academic acceleration is the advancement of gifted students in subjects at a rate that places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum. Because it provides students with level-appropriate material, academic acceleration has been described as a "fundamental need" for gifted students. Although the bulk of educational research on academic acceleration has been within the United States, the practice occurs worldwide.