Academic acceleration is moving students through an educational program at a rate faster or at an age younger than is typical. Students who would benefit from acceleration do not necessarily need to be identified as gifted in a particular subject. Acceleration places them ahead of where they would be in the regular school curriculum. It has been described as a "fundamental need" for gifted students as it provides students with level-appropriate material. The practice occurs worldwide. The bulk of educational research on academic acceleration has been within the United States. Impact Well-administered academic acceleration programs have been generally found to be highly beneficial to students. For example, accelerated students outperform peers on a variety of measures, including grades in school, future university status and grades, career achievements, and performance assessments. Effective administration involves ensuring student readiness, both academic and social-emotional, and providing necessary support and resources. Cohort acceleration programs, in which a number of students are accelerated together at the same time, are often especially effective. However, acceleration programs often face difficulty due to many teachers, administrators and parents being skeptical of the benefits of acceleration. This is because teacher education programs do not often present information about acceleration, even though there are decades of research demonstrating that acceleration is a successful educational option for talented students. Adults who have experienced acceleration themselves, however, tend to be very well-disposed to the practice. The influential 2004 U.S. report A Nation Deceived articulated 20 benefits of academic acceleration, which can be further distilled into four key points: Academic acceleration provides greater benefits for academically talented students than any other approach, such as differentiated instruction or enrichment. Research has provided no evidence of social or emotional maladjustment due to acceleration. Accelerated students are about as well-adjusted socially as their non-accelerated classmates. Academic acceleration contributes to meeting a gifted student's social and emotional needs by providing a better-matched peer group. Failure to accelerate a student who is able to accelerate may have adverse effects on motivation and productivity, and may even lead to dropping out. The 2015 follow-up to that report, A Nation Empowered, highlights the research that has occurred over the past decade, and provides further evidence that academic acceleration, when applied correctly, can be highly beneficial for gifted students. Research on Academic Acceleration One of the major concerns noted about acceleration is the impact on socialization. A longitudinal study conducted over 35