Research abstract

Twice Exceptional Students May Be Overlooked

A gifted class should not be denied an exceptional student with limitations regardless of the perception of that student. A "Twice Exceptional" student has no limitations except what society deems that person to be. There are many examples of successful people that were "Twice" limited but excelled to become very instrumental in our society. Don't prejudge on a false perception.

Laura Lurns Last updated February 1, 2020 · 1 min read

One school district is making a difference by assisting minority populations in the identification of students with learning disabilities but who are also gifted. Twice-exceptional students, as they have been called, are statistically an overlooked population. Despite the lack of California standards to identify gifted students, the school district Sacramento United has implemented testing for gifted and twice-exceptional students and has also broadened the allowances to access gifted programs. They hope to continue identifying and serving low-income and high achieving students in the face of budget cutbacks.

Key takeaways

Nationwide, children with disabilities have been underrepresented in programs for exceptional students, however, this has changed recently.
The growth in disabled children qualifying for gifted programs has been attributed to two factors: 1. Moving away from solely using teacher referrals to include tests 2. A focus on minority students.
There has been a backlash among teachers to the prioritizing of tests in identifying gifted and talented students.

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Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert Writes about the learning brain for parents who want plain answers. Every article is grounded in current neuroscience and classroom practice.

Key takeaways

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