The education context for twice-exceptional students: An overview of issues in special and gifted education.

Twice-exceptional children (2e) identified as having a disability and areas of high ability require a diverse range of support and enrichment services. However, services associated with special education and gifted programs present numerous barriers to the appropriate education of 2e students. In this manuscript, the author briefly recounts his experiences as a 2e child and shares experiences of 2e students and their families presented at the 2021 Summit on the Neuroscience of Twice Exceptionality. Challenges associated with the provision of special and gifted education to 2e students are also described. The role of neuroscience in education, as it relates to 2e students, is also discussed. Although many of the barriers to effective education for 2e children are systemic in nature, school-level reforms, as well as scientific advances, have the potential to improve services for this population.

Gifted Parents the Impact of Giftedness on Parenting Cultures in the United States, 1920-1960

This paper explores how discourses of giftedness informed attitudes towards parenting in the United States from 1920 to 1960. Using psychologists’ studies of giftedness, media coverage of the topic, and guidebooks for parents of gifted children, I argue that giftedness emerged in the 1910s, and by the 1920s addressed a newly limited definition of intelligence and problems in urban public education, coinciding with the popularity of the culture and personality school. Scholarly debates about giftedness traveled from the academy to the wider public through the media and guidebooks for parents. Media coverage brought awareness of the problem of the neglected gifted student, and guidebooks offered parents practical suggestions about how to raise gifted children. I show that the discourse contributed to racial segregation in American schools and classrooms by using merit to determine access to educational opportunity. Experts’ advice about giftedness also altered expectations about childrearing and encouraged parents to become more involved in their child’s educational development. This argument puts the history of psychology in conversation with histories of parenting, and it evidences how the discourse on giftedness impacted institutional inequality both through merit-based gifted and talented programs and by impacting ideologies of parenting. Thus, I provide a more comprehensive account of how and why giftedness profoundly shaped both the school and the home. This article considers the cultural work the discourse accomplished; it gave the public the impression that disparities in educational achievement between individuals and groups could be explained by the parenting a child received, putting significant pressure on all parents to make educational achievement a top priority for their child (AU)

Extreme giftedness? Trading on the general education of child prodigies in the nineteenth century

The child prodigy phenomenon expanded during and after the mid-19th century, nurtured by a growing entertainment industry in Europe. Prodigies were particularly popular in two domains —classical music and mental calculation. Many spent their early childhoods on tour and living abroad. This paper analyzes the problem of the general education of the child prodigy, and the parents’ and impresarios’ role in financially exploiting the child’s talent. I focus on virtuosos and arithmetic wonders who performed in France in the 19th century. These children rarely received regular schooling and many only learned to read and write once their years of glory as a prodigy passed, or when their lack of education became problematic. The consequences of neglecting the prodigy’s elementary studies were greater than parents and impresarios had anticipated. Illiteracy and a meager knowledge of the wider culture affected talent development. In the end, a lack of general education contributed to the deterioration of the child’s giftedness, accelerating the transition from prodigy to ordinary (AU)

"Explora": atender a los alumnos con más curiosidad, motivación o capacidad sin excluir a nadie / "Explora": Assisting students with more curiosity, motivation, or ability without excluding anyone

Durante el curso 2014/2015, la Consejería de Educación del Gobierno de La Rioja puso en marcha en ocho colegios de esta Comunidad Autónoma, de manera experimental, el programa "Explora" para la atención al alumnado de capacidad intelectual elevada. Se planearon tanto talleres presenciales como online. La implementación de los presenciales (objetivos, contenidos, actividades, selección de alumnado, sesiones, etc.) fue diseñada por los propios centros docentes, estructurándose su funcionamiento de manera tradicional. Sin embargo, los cuatro talleres online (matemáticas, lenguaje, informática e inteligencia emocional) se desarrollaron siguiendo el enfoque deportivo (Sports Approach) de Joan Freeman. En el presente artículo se muestra la fundamentación, desarrollo y evaluación de estos talleres online. Se realizó una evaluación cualitativa y cuantitativa cuyos resultados son muy alentadores: se confirmó la buena aceptación del programa por parte de los participantes y se comprobó su adecuación para la selección del alumnado de elevada capacidad

In the academic year 2014/2015, the Education Department of the Government of La Rioja launched in eight schools in this region, on an experimental basis, the program "Explora" for the attention to students with high intellectual capacity. Both face-to-face and online workshops were planned. The implementation of face-to-face workshops (goals, contents, activities, student selection, sessions, etc.) was designed by the own educational centers in a traditional way. However, the four online workshops (maths, language, computing, and emotional intelligence) were developed following the Sports Approach by Joan Freeman. This paper shows the foundation, development, and evaluation of these online workshops. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation was carried out, with very encouraging results: big acceptance of the program by participants was confirmed along with the program appropriateness for the selection of students with high intellectual capacity

Universal screening increases the representation of low-income and minority students in gifted education.

Low-income and minority students are substantially underrepresented in gifted education programs. The disparities persist despite efforts by many states and school districts to broaden participation through changes in their eligibility criteria. One explanation for the persistent gap is that standard processes for identifying gifted students, which are based largely on the referrals of parents and teachers, tend to miss qualified students from underrepresented groups. We study this hypothesis using the experiences of a large urban school district following the introduction of a universal screening program for second graders. Without any changes in the standards for gifted eligibility, the screening program led to large increases in the fractions of economically disadvantaged and minority students placed in gifted programs. Comparisons of the newly identified gifted students with those who would have been placed in the absence of screening show that Blacks and Hispanics, free/reduced price lunch participants, English language learners, and girls were all systematically "underreferred" in the traditional parent/teacher referral system. Our findings suggest that parents and teachers often fail to recognize the potential of poor and minority students and those with limited English proficiency.

Challenges in the identification of giftedness: Issues related to psychological assessment / Retos en la identificación de los alumnos superdotados: cuestiones relacionadas con la evaluación psicológica

This paper discusses issues related to the assessment of children and youth for the identification of giftedness, and presents specific recommendations for educational measures in order to attend to the particular characteristics and needs of these students. We outline the most common difficulties related to the psychological assessment of these children, including the lack of adequate instruments for the assessment of the multiple dimensions of giftedness, as well as the shortage of training for this identification. Regarding these difficulties, we describe some assessment procedures that assure higher levels of objectivity and validity in data, reducing the possibility of false positives and false negatives in the identification of these students. In addition to psychological tests, we present the advantages of using multiple informants and the contribution of different professionals and parents for this assessment. On the other hand, as we present giftedness as a result of a developmental process, it is important to conduct students’ assessment in phases, including an initial screening phase, followed by the sound assessment of students and nurturing. Finally, we present some suggestions for the advancement in giftedness identification and assessment, as a means to support the development of research in this area

Este artículo analiza los temas relacionados con la identificación de los estudiantes superdotados y recoge algunas recomendaciones específicas sobre medidas educativas, con el fin de responder a la diversidad de estos estudiantes. Se plantean las dificultades más comunes relacionadas con la evaluación psicológica de estos estudiantes, entre ellas la falta de instrumentos adecuados para la evaluación de las múltiples dimensiones de la superdotación y el talento, así como, la falta de formación que tienen los profesionales para esta identificación. Con respecto a estas dificultades, se describen algunos procedimientos de evaluación con el fin de asegurar mayores niveles de objetividad y validez de los datos, lo que reduce la posibilidad de falsos positivos y falsos negativos en la identificación de estos estudiantes. Además de las pruebas psicológicas, se presentan las ventajas del uso de diferentes fuentes de información y la contribución de los distintos profesionales y padres para esta evaluación. Por otro lado, es importante llevar a cabo la evaluación de los estudiantes superdotados por fases, incluyendo una fase de evaluación inicial (screening), seguida de la fase de diagnóstico o identificación; y la fase final, orientada a atender a la diversidad de estos estudiantes. Por último, se presentan algunas sugerencias para el avance en la identificación y evaluación de la superdotación, como un medio para apoyar el desarrollo de la investigación en esta área

EPTS curriculum model in the education of gifted students / El modelo de curriculum EPTS para la educación de los alumnos superdotados

In this article, the author reviews the EPTS Model (Education Programs for Talented Students) and discuss how it was developed through multiple stages, the ways it is used to develop programs for gifted students, and then presents research carried out on the effectiveness of this model in the education of gifted students. The EPTS Model has two dimensions: ability and content. The ability dimension has a hierarchical structure composed of three levels of cognitive skills. The content dimension is the extension of the regular curriculum but organized at four levels: data, concept, generalization and theory. Included in the article also is a brief critics of the current state of curricular programs in gifted education

En este artículo el autor revisa el modelo de los Programas para alumnos Superdotados y Talentos (EPTS, por sus siglas en inglés) desarrollados en la Anadolu University. Se discute como dichos programas se han desarrollado a través de múltiples fases, la forma en que estos se usan para desarrollar programas educativos para alumnos superdotados y la investigación llevada a cabo sobre la efectividad de este modelo educativo. El modelo EPTS tiene dos dimensiones: habilidad y contenido. La dimensión de habilidad tiene una estructura jerárquica compuesta por tres niveles de destrezas cognitivas. La dimensión de contenido es la extensión del currículo ordinario pero organizado en cuatro niveles: datos, conceptos, generalización y teoría. En el artículo también se incluye una breve crítica sobre el estado actual de los programas curriculares en la educación de alumnos superdotados

Motivational orientations of high-achieving students as mediators of a positive perception of a high-achieving classmate: Results from a cross-national study / Orientaciones motivacionales de los estudiantes de alto rendimiento como mediadoras de una percepción positiva por parte de sus compañeros: Resultados de un estudio transnacional

The purpose of this study was to explore whether and in what ways high-achieving school students’ motivational orientations influence their perceptions of a fictitious future high-achieving classmate. The final sample consisted of the 396 highest achieving students out of a sample from 1794 seventh and tenth graders from five countries: Australia, Peru, South Korea, Spain, and Vietnam. A series of stepwise regression models were used to test the hypothesis that positive perceptions of a highachieving classmate might be mediated by an approach motivation, but not by an avoidance motivational orientation. The hypothesis was generally confirmed. Learning goal orientation and performance approach motivation predicted positive perceptions of a high-achieving classmate’s intellectual ability, social qualities and popularity among peers, whereas a performance avoidance orientation was usually uncorrelated. However, sporadic exceptions have been found among the participants from Vietnam, South Korea, and Peru

El propósito de este estudio es explorar si las motivaciones de alto logro influencian las percepciones de los alumnos sobre un futuro compañero de clase ficticio que se caracteriza por tener un alto rendimiento; y si es así de qué modo ocurre. La muestra final consistió en 396 alumnos de alto rendimiento que fueron seleccionados de un total de 1794 alumnos de séptimo y decimo grado de cinco países: Australia, Perú, Corea del sur, España y Vietnam. Se llevaron a cabo una serie de modelos de regresión por pasos sucesivos para probar la hipótesis de que las percepciones positivas sobre un compañero de alto rendimiento podrían estar mediadas por el enfoque motivacional, pero no por la orientación a la evitación del trabajo. La hipótesis fue confirmada en su generalidad. Las metas orientadas al manejo del aprendizaje y las orientadas al alto rendimiento predijeron percepciones positivas de la habilidad intelectual, cualidades sociales y popularidad entre los compañeros del alumno de alto rendimiento, mientras que las metas de evitación del trabajo no obtuvieron correlaciones significativas. Sin embargo, se dieron algunas excepciones esporádicas entre los participantes de Vietnam, Corea del sur y Perú

Recognizing young children with high potential: U-STARS∼PLUS.

Hands-on science is the ideal platform for observing young children's ability to solve problems, think deeply, and use their creative ingenuity to explore the world around them. Science is naturally interesting and offers authentic reasons to read for information and use math skills to collect, compile, and analyze data. This chapter will share one approach to nurturing and recognizing young children with high-potential: U-STARS∼PLUS (Using Science, Talents, and Abilities to Recognize Students∼Promoting Learning for Underrepresented Students). Each of the five components (high-end learning environments; teacher's observations of potential; engaging science activities; partnerships with parents; and capacity building for system change) will be explained. Concrete examples will be given for each area showing how it works and why it is important. Special attention will be paid to the needs of educationally vulnerable gifted children who remain underserved: racially, ethnically, and linguistically different; economically disadvantaged, and children who are twice exceptional (2e).

Beyond perceived ability: the contribution of psychosocial factors to academic performance.

In this study, we examined the contributions of grit, hope, and academic self-efficacy to academic achievement in a sample of 609 academically talented students ranging in age from 10 to 18 years. Our hypothesis was that these variables would predict academic achievement above and beyond the contributions of demographic variables and perceived ability. After establishing the reliability and structural validity of scores for the three constructs in this sample, regression analyses indicated that hope and academic self-efficacy were predictors of perceived ability and that academic self-efficacy was the most robust predictor of academic achievement. Grit was not a meaningful predictor of either perceived ability or academic achievement. We concluded that psychosocial variables can contribute to performance in talented students, but research is needed to establish which psychosocial variables are the most useful.

Cultivating the social-emotional imagination in gifted education: insights from educational neuroscience.

Evidence from education, psychology, and neuroscience suggests that investing in the development of the social-emotional imagination is essential to cultivating giftedness in adolescents. Nurturing these capacities may be especially effective for promoting giftedness in students who are likely to lose interest and ambition over time. Giftedness is frequently equated with high general intelligence as measured by IQ tests, but this narrow conceptualization does not adequately capture students' abilities to utilize their talents strategically to fully realize their future possible selves. The brain's default mode network is thought to play an important role in supporting imaginative thinking about the self and others across time. Because this network's functioning is temporarily attenuated when individuals engage in task- and action-oriented focus (mindsets thought to engage the brain's executive attention network), we suggest that consistently focusing students on tasks requiring immediate action could undermine long-term cultivation of giftedness. We argue that giftedness-especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-can be cultivated by encouraging adolescents' intellectual curiosity and supporting their ability to connect schoolwork to a larger purpose. Improving STEM and gifted education may depend upon a shift from knowledge transmission and regimented evaluation to creative exploration, intentional reflectiveness, and mindful switching between task focus and imagining.

Creativity in gifted identification: increasing accuracy and diversity.

Many federal definitions and popular theories of giftedness specify creativity as a core component. Nevertheless, states rely primarily on measures of intelligence for giftedness identification. As minority and culturally diverse students continue to be underrepresented in gifted programs, it is reasonable to ask if increasing the prominence of creativity in gifted identification may help increase balance and equity. In this paper, we explore both layperson and psychometric conceptions of bias and suggest that adding creativity measures to the identification process alleviates both perceptions and the presence of bias. We recognize, however, the logistic and measurement-related challenges to including creativity assessments.

A contextual perspective on talented female participants and their development in extracurricular STEM programs.

We advocate a more contextual perspective in giftedness research. In our view, doing so opens up three particularly interesting research areas, which we refer to as the participation issue, the effectiveness issue, and the interaction issue. To illustrate their utility, we examined characteristics of females participating in German high achiever-track secondary education who had applied for participation in a 1-year extracurricular e-mentoring program in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) (n = 1237). Their characteristics were compared with male and female random-sample control groups. We assessed the effectiveness of the mentoring program by comparing the developmental trajectories of program participants with those of three control groups: applicants who were randomly chosen for later participation (waiting-list control group) and a female and a male control group. Finally, we examined whether differences in program effectiveness could be partially explained by characteristics of the interaction with the domain. Program applicants possessed more advantageous individual characteristics but, unexpectedly, less advantageous home and school environments than female and male members of the control groups. Program participation affected positive changes in certainty about career goals (independent of STEM) and in the number of STEM activities. The amount of STEM communication partially explained differences in program effectiveness.

Aspectos psicoeducativos en la evaluación del alumnado con altas capacidades intelectuales: análisis de un caso / Psychoeducational aspects in the assessment of students with High intellectual abilities: a single-case study

El presente trabajo trata de favorecer la reflexión, desde la psicología educacional, sobre la respuesta a las necesidades específicas de apoyo educativo de los alumnos y alumnas con Altas Capacidades Intelectuales. Tras una breve exposición sobre las características de este tipo de alumnado, se realiza un análisis de caso con el que establecer la relación entre la evaluación psicoeducativa y la intervención psicopedagógica. Desde la labor de los psicólogos de la educación (interviniendo en todos los procesos psicológicos que afectan al aprendizaje o que se derivan de este) y otros colegas que actúan en el ámbito educativo, se buscaría, en última instancia, relacionar los objetivos de cualquier intervención psicoeducativa: la valoración diagnóstica y la planificación de la intervención pedagógica dentro de la atención a la diversidad desarrollada en el sistema educativo español.

The following paper aims to promote an educational psychology-based reflection on the response to those specific educational needs required by students with high intellectual abilities. After a brief discussion on the characterization of this kind of student, a single-case study is developed in order to establish a relationship between psycho-educational assessments and educational psychology interventions. The work of educational psychologists (intervening in all the psychological processes affecting learning or resulted therefrom) and other acting colleagues in the educational field would ultimately seek to relate the objectives of any psychoeducational intervention: diagnostic assessment and educational intervention planning within the diversity emphasis developed on the Spanish educational system.

[Psychoeducational intervention in high ability: intellectual functioning and extracurricular enrichment]. / Intervención psicoeducativa en la alta capacidad: funcionamiento intelectual y enriquecimiento extracurricular.

The 'new paradigm' defines the high intellectual ability as a potential that should crystallize progressively throughout development. Its main feature is a high intellectual initial multidimensional potential, which is transformed so that, being a person with high intellectual ability is the result of a developmental process from a neurobiological substrate and the incidence of variables (psychosocial and education) which determines its manifestation more or less stable and optimal to excellence. It is interesting to know the effectiveness of psychoeducational intervention of the extracurricular enrichment programs and their effects on the expression of differential functioning and the optimization of the management of cognitive resources that lead to excellence. An extracurricular enrichment program is described and evaluated through: 1) the stability of the intellectual measures; 2) the satisfaction level of participants and families. Participants are 58 high ability students on the enrichment program and 25 parents. Intellectual profiles are obtained on T1-T2 and calculated their stability by regression analysis, the CSA and CSA-P questionnaires were applied in order to know the participants and families' satisfaction measure. Results show the basic stability of intellectual profiles with five cases of instability among the 58 profiles obtained, and a high satisfaction with the results obtained in the domain of cognitive and personal management among the participants.

TITLE: Intervencion psicoeducativa en la alta capacidad: funcionamiento intelectual y enriquecimiento extracurricular.El 'nuevo paradigma' define la alta capacidad intelectual como un potencial que debe materializarse progresivamente a lo largo del desarrollo. La caracteristica principal es un alto potencial intelectual inicial multidimensional que se transforma de tal modo que ser una persona con altas capacidades intelectuales es el resultado de un proceso de desarrollo a partir de un sustrato neurobiologico y la incidencia de variables (psicosociales y educacion) que determinan su manifestacion mas o menos estable y optima hacia la excelencia. Es interesante conocer la efectividad de la intervencion psicoeducativa de los programas de enriquecimiento extracurriculares y sus efectos sobre la expresion de la funcion diferencial y la optimizacion de la gestion de los recursos cognitivos que conducen a la excelencia. Se describe un programa de enriquecimiento extracurricular y se evalua mediante la estabilidad de los baremos de capacidad intelectual y el grado de satisfaccion de los participantes y las familias. Los participantes en el programa de enriquecimiento son 58 estudiantes con altas capacidades y 25 padres. Los perfiles intelectuales se obtuvieron en T1-T2 y su estabilidad se calculo mediante un analisis de regresion; para averiguar la satisfaccion de los participantes y las familias se emplearon los cuestionarios CSA y CSA-P. Los resultados demuestran la estabilidad general de los perfiles intelectuales, con solo cinco casos de inestabilidad entre los 58 perfiles obtenidos, y una elevada satisfaccion con los resultados obtenidos en el dominio de la gestion cognitiva y personal de los participantes.

Niños con altas capacidades / Highly gifted children

El presente trabajo intenta realizar una descripción del perfil cognitivo de los niños con altas capacidades y dificultades que pueden asociarse. La superdotación supone una inteligencia muy superior respecto a su grupo de edad medida a través de las pruebas de inteligencia. Estos sujetos poseen gran creatividad, imaginación, sensibilidad y curiosidad insaciable. El perfil cognitivo evidencia un elevado nivel lingüístico, pero generalmente con mayor descompensación de las habilidades de procesamiento gráfico. Un niño con altas capacidades no sólo cuestiona sus altos potenciales, sino también su existencia, ocasionándole lo que se denomina “Síndrome de Bajo Rendimiento (SBR)”. Cuando se encuentran en esta situación, ocultan sus capacidades para evitar ser rechazados o discriminados por sus compañeros. En esta etapa los sujetos sobresalientes, pueden confundirse con niños con trastornos de aprendizaje, trastornos por déficit de atención, Sme. de Asperger u otras patologías, presentando distintos perfiles y generándoles dificultades en las habilidades sociales, trastornos conductuales, etc., tanto en el ámbito escolar como extraescolar.

Niños con altas capacidades / Highly gifted children

El presente trabajo intenta realizar una descripción del perfil cognitivo de los niños con altas capacidades y dificultades que pueden asociarse. La superdotación supone una inteligencia muy superior respecto a su grupo de edad medida a través de las pruebas de inteligencia. Estos sujetos poseen gran creatividad, imaginación, sensibilidad y curiosidad insaciable. El perfil cognitivo evidencia un elevado nivel ling³ístico, pero generalmente con mayor descompensación de las habilidades de procesamiento gráfico. Un niño con altas capacidades no sólo cuestiona sus altos potenciales, sino también su existencia, ocasionándole lo que se denomina ôSíndrome de Bajo Rendimiento (SBR)ö. Cuando se encuentran en esta situación, ocultan sus capacidades para evitar ser rechazados o discriminados por sus compañeros. En esta etapa los sujetos sobresalientes, pueden confundirse con niños con trastornos de aprendizaje, trastornos por déficit de atención, Sme. de Asperger u otras patologías, presentando distintos perfiles y generándoles dificultades en las habilidades sociales, trastornos conductuales, etc., tanto en el ámbito escolar como extraescolar

Mentorship: mutual benefits for ASL students and gifted students (part 1).

Postsecondary American Sign Language (ASL) students are capable of teaching short lessons related to sign language and deaf culture to gifted students in elementary school. College students who work as interest-area mentors benefit gifted students while building their own academic discipline and professional skills. In Part 1 of a 2-part series of articles, the authors explain the unique needs shared by students in gifted education programs (GEPs), the concept of interest-area mentorship, and how mentors help meet the needs of gifted students in light of National Association for Gifted Children standards. Benefits for ASL students, gifted students, and GEP teachers are discussed. College instructors also benefit, because mentoring experiences help make mentors better students and professionals. Additionally, mentoring in gifted classes facilitates recruiting of the next generation of professionals. In this case, recruiting occurs with the best and brightest: gifted students.