Can The Regular Inclusive Classroom?

In 2015, I wrote about my personal philosophy of the gifted learner. I stated in my paper that, “Giftedness is not a one, set definition. The definition of gifted must encompass intellect, ability, creative talent as well as emotional awareness. It cannot be micro-managed and be a “one size fits all” definition” (Dauber, 2015). People, who are gifted, need differentiation and opportunity to express, demonstrate and show their giftedness. Educators must be able to provide opportunities for the gifted learner to express his/her abilities and/or talents. Gifted students learn differently and require special educational experiences in order to grow academically and achieve their highest potential. Therefore, the education field must be able to understand not only the cognitive side of a gifted learner but the affective or social/emotional aspects too.

Middle school is a period of transition for adolescents. Students are no longer the children were once were in elementary school; they are beginning to mature into the adults they will need to become. Gifted learners at the middle-school level face the same developmental and tasks tasks and challenges that their peers do. Yet, gifted learners also possess traits that are different from their peers, which often make them misunderstood or ignored. The need for teachers to identify these students and differentiate instruction in a way that addresses the needs of the gifted students in the classroom is becoming more crucial than ever.

gifted students within those states, and are not consistent across the United States. “Seven states

Motivating gifted students can present a challenge for any teacher. Many children are coming to school with very little enthusiasm to learn, especially the gifted child. Although

Adams County public school system’s current program doesn’t seem to recognize any minority or poor students who could be considered gifted. Educators in this district and committee members seem to lack any motivation to include diverse learners in their program. The fact that Adams County only recognized three out of four hundred thirty-eight over a five-year span is appalling. I feel Adams County need some major changes to extend their idea of giftedness. It needs to start with intensive and in-depth teacher training along with community outreach and awareness programs to help educate parents about giftedness. For instance, parent could learn ways to better support their children and help identify their child’s areas of giftedness.

Because of school-wide issue such as, funding, space, and staff availability, this may be the maximum amount of time that they can physically provide for pullout enrichment for gifted students. This is common, and in these cases, it is important to “ensure that the curricular and instructional experiences within the general education classroom are appropriate for the advanced needs of gifted students” (Brighton and Wiley, 2013, p.192). We know from the Lackland description, that their students are not receiving these educational opportunities in their general education classrooms because many of the students are displaying a lack of

Ford, D. (1998). The underrepresentation of minority students in gifted education: Problems and promises in recruitment and retention. The Journal of Special Education, 22, 4-14.

The need to reform the special education system is a topic agreed on across the board by scholars, but they do not all agree on the same aspects needing to be reformed. Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes concentrate their research in developing a single accepted definition for twice-exceptional students. The authors created a timeline of what they consider the development of the history of twice exceptionality. The authors argue critics of Twice-Exceptional students do not accept the existence of a group of students gifted and disabled because there is not substantial proof (Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes, 2015, p.211). The authors examine different approaches for establishing a unified solution to the gap in the education of twice-exceptional students. The premise of the author’s arguments are based on the acceptances of gifted students and disabled students, but not both combined. The revision of IDEA in 2004 began to open the door for the acceptance of the twice-exception field. “Significantly, the mention of students with disabilities who may also have gifts and talents was noted for the first time in the priorities for funding” (Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes, 2015, p. 210). The authors use legal, educational and social lens when establishing their arguments. VanTassel-Baska’s focus is much the same as the previous authors. VanTassel-Baska examines the history of twice-exceptional students. The author suggests, “That gifted education policy is not coherent across the country, is controlled by state legislatures, and subject to annual scrutiny for continued and new funding” (VanTassel-Baska, 2018 p. 98). The author stresses the lack of coherence across the United States. The author suggests the issues surrounding twice-exceptional students are left to state level policy, therefore differ. The author further argues

Every school year teachers have to encounter students with exceptionality. According to the United States Bureau, there are 54 million individuals with a disability and only 6% of them receive special education services. In that large number, there are 32 million students who are considered as gifted or talented. Many of gifted or talented students may not receive any services. To be considered exceptional means that a child differs from the norm. They are required an individualize program of special education that fully benefits their education and needs. Gifted and talented students are defined as having extraordinary abilities in more than one area. Intellectual disabilities are required to students with learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, or any physical and health impairments. Children should not be labeled because of their disability. Other tend to accept different disabilities more than others. For example, a person may have more empathy to a person who is blind, rather than to those with emotional disturbances. Researchers have also proven inside of an education setting, classmates display negative attitudes towards peers with intellectual disabilities.

Based on the information you have read in the text and any experiences you have had as a teacher, what do you think are the issues gifted students face as they go through school?

My experience the past two school year has disproven these two myths. Gifted students are not always high achieves and are not always welcomed addition to a classroom. They can have the same socially and emotional limiting problems and less than desirable characteristics as non-gifted peers. The bottom line is that gifted students are individuals with their own personalities and environmental influences. Their giftedness does not take these

This question would be asked in order to make sure that the demographic characteristics match with the gifted community, the special education community, and the whole school. With the definition, that was given the percentages should be similar according to Clarenbach & Eckert (2013).

For that matter, minority students may enter a G&T program without the skills necessary for success; for example independence, speaking skills, organization, and goal setting skills (Lovett, 2011, p.57). Without these skills we are simply adding to the stress of being in a G&T program for minority students so it’s important than as a teacher we include lessons which teach our students who are gifted and talented the skills needed to be able to manage themselves. This goes beyond just what is expected of students who are gifted and talented in the classroom but these skills can be utilized outside of school in their home and work

If a student were gifted in math, they should be able to join the advanced math classes to continue to challenge them. There is absolutely no reason for these gifted students to be forced to stay with the curriculum provided to those that require an alternate education. In order to solve this problem, change in the curriculum for these students needs to be implemented in order to help prevent students from being bored in certain subjects and have them continue to grow and expand their knowledge or instructors need to be educated on how to cope and teach to students that have learning disabilities. Of all the students that enter the Teacher Education field, only twenty-four percent of them enroll in special education courses. This means that approximately three-fourths of the future educators will not know how to reach out and teach students with learning disabilities. If more future educators were to enroll in special education classes, more of these students would be able to attend public schools which would have a major impact on them both academically and socially. With these little changes, students like Robert would be able to expand on their knowledge and determine what path they want to take for their

The topic of gifted and talented education is one that has always sparked debates among parents and teachers, and recent movements towards totally integrating classrooms have added to this debate. For many years now, "average" children, gifted and