Special Needs Involved With Teaching Gifted

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.

One of the difficulties in identifying the needs of low-income students is the profound cultural barriers which exist that prevent their strengths and deficits from being identified. Children from low-income homes frequently have poorer vocabularies and a weaker basis of the type of knowledge that is frequently considered 'intelligence' on most forms of assessment. A low-income child's IQ may be high, even though he lacks a framework of accepted middle-class knowledge. "In January 2003, the National Academy of Sciences released a report on the seeming overrepresentation of minorities in special education and underrepresentation of those students in gifted education. The NRC reported that, nationwide, 7.47 percent of all white students and 9.9 percent of Asian students are placed in gifted programs. Meanwhile, 3.04 percent of African-American students, 3.57 percent of Hispanic students, and 4.86 percent of American Indian students are classified as gifted" (GT-minority identification, 2003, ERIC Clearinghouse). The discrepancy, the NAS believed, could not be solely explained by talent alone but was at least partially rooted in the methods of identifying students labeled as gifted. Biases in standardized and other tests identifying student strengths, combined with prejudices, however unintentional, amongst educators and administrators lead to under-identification of the gifted

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.

Mala Morrow is a gifted student. She was identified as being gifted after she scored in the 98 percentile on the Test of Cognitive Skills (TCS). She maintained an A average while she was enrolled in elementary school, now as a middle schooler she has a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.9. Mala’s ethnicity is Indian. She is actively learning, English, German, and she is fluent in two different Arabic dialects. These attributes clearly define that Mala is properly labeled as a gifted and talented student.

(2013). Curriculum Issues. Gifted child Today. Retrieved from Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson), Ipswich, MA. Accessed July 29, 2015.

2 & 3. Use the most current versions of standardized tests that are going to be used to make a decision about admission into a gifted program and that norms are up-to-date and a good representation of

Many educators feel that teachers aren’t trained to teach gifted students. Teaching accountability has teachers focus more on

The students within Northern Secondary School’s 2014-2015 Gifted Program graduating class slid into AP and gifted classes like they were made for them. Since the beginning of their middle school careers, these gifted high school students have been spoonfed a thought-provoking and comprehensive education. At Wong’s public gifted elementary school, Cummer Valley, the faced-paced and in-depth curriculum not only stimulated his intellectual capacity and unlocked his potential, but “compelled him to achieve higher academic standards and established a strong foundation to build upon for high school.” Wong claims that he entered Earl Haig, a non-gifted public high school, with a knowledge base practically a grade higher than the majority of his subordinate

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.

Gifted students should be provided advanced opportunities to be challenged, to experience both success and growth, to develop higher level study, creativity, and productivity. To develop their interests and talents their individual characteristics, needs, learning rates, motivations for learning, cognitive abilities, and interests must be taken into account. Differentiation can be included in the curriculum by incorporating acceleration, complexity, depth, challenge, and creativity. Students can also be given fewer tasks to master a standard, use multiple resources and higher-level skills, conduct research, develop products, make cross-disciplinary

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

In this case, some people refute that gifted students are practically children with adult minds who are capable of diving into the real-world while they have merely begun to test the waters. Others counter with the belief that pushing gifted youth to tackle subjects above the average student of their grade is socially damaging. However, K. Elijah (2011) explains that gifted students who are not being challenged can develop an extreme boredom in school which can lead to disruptive behaviors that will evolve into dropping out of school. In the same article, gifted students are credited with learning quicker, more deeply, and tend to practice material for memorization less (Elijah, 2011). Also, “Acceleration of Gifted Students” (2003) further clarifies that when gifted students are properly assisted in developing an educational program, they report to be satisfied emotionally and academically. Students also tended to have more self-confidence, and no negative effects of acceleration were reported in a survey of non-gifted and gifted students (“Acceleration,” 2003). Assisting gifted students is imperative whether it be through homogeneous grouping, heterogeneous grouping, and/or acceleration in order to provide proper instruction that will benefit these

The term twice-exceptional refers to an individual who is gifted in one area and yet suffers from a emotional, physical, sensory, learning, or developmental disability (Assouline, Foley, & Huber, 2006). The term gifted student refers to a student who has an exceptional capability (2006). Over the years there have been numerous myths about gift learners. One such myth is that these students are lazy or underachievers (2006). Another myth is that a student can be gifted and also have a learning disability (2006). This kind of thinking has led to numerous amounts of students being misclassified and not receiving the services and interventions they need (2006).

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

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