Bordering on Excellence: A Teaching Tool for Twice-Exceptional Students

Abstract

major goal of education is to provide all students with the opportunity to reach their potential. Although few are able to argue with this goal, twice-exceptional students, including some of our most gifted students, are often on the brink of excellence due to the unique blend of assets and deficits they exhibit. Teachers are challenged each day to find ways to empower those bright students who may be unable to write a complete sentence, even though they are able to participate actively in a class discussion. These are the students who may not be able to read a science textbook, but may show their knowledge of physics by constructing an elaborate model of a roller coaster that demonstrates the concepts of friction and centrifugal force. Ensuring that these twice-exceptional students (students identified as gifted and talented and also identified with a disability defined by federal and state eligibility criteria) have access to rigorous instruction and knowing how to provide appropriate adaptations and accommodations to make this happen often is problematic.

Twice-Exceptional Learners’ Perspectives on Effective Learning Strategies

“…Adaptation of the survey consisted of reordering topically and rephrasing the items from the format of “I like talking with my teacher about my favorite subject” to “Talking with my teacher about my favorite subject.” The response regime was changed from a Likert-type scale to a two-pronged system of indicating used/not used in the participant’s educational experience, followed by how beneficial the strategy was/could have been ( very, somewhat, not beneficial ). Also, a number of the strategies Kanevsky (2011) used with her gifted (but not explicitly twice-exceptional) participants were replaced by strategies suggested in the literature (Assouline & Whiteman, 2011; Baum et al, 1991; Baum et al, 2001; Hannah & Shore, 2008; Hua, 2002; Jeweler et al, 2008; Nielsen, 2002; Pereles et al, 2009; VanTassel-Baska & Stambaugh, 2006; Silverman, 1989; Whitmore & Maker, 1985; Yssel et al, 2010) as particularly helpful for twice-exceptional students, for example, using strengths to circumvent weaknesses, using compensatory strategies, developing study skills. The compensatory, executive function and learning strategies of Reis et al (1997) were also included.…”