The Incidence of Potentially Gifted Students Within a Special Education Population

Abstract

From a sample of 13,176 children with disabilities who were a part of the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study, 330 students achieved a score at the 90th percentile or higher on the Woodcock-Johnson III. These children represent some 9.1% of children who have disabilities nationally and who might be identified as gifted or academically advanced. Only 11.1% of these students were participating in programs for gifted and talented students with African Americans, Hispanics, or females significantly less likely to participate. The discussion considers the reasons behind these results and possible approaches for identifying and serving students within a current response-to-intervention approach.

Keywords:

• gifted
• identification
• learning disabilities
• response to intervention
• special education
• twice-exceptional

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lucy Barnard-Brak

Lucy Barnard-Brak, PhD, is an associate professor of educational psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership at Texas Tech University. Her research focuses on examining the educational experiences and outcomes of individuals with disabilities via quantitative research methods that explore measurement issues. E-mail: [email protected]

Susan K. Johnsen

Susan K. Johnsen, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she directs programs related to gifted and talented education. She has expertise in the following areas: identification, assessment, program evaluation, standards in gifted education, and differentiation of the common core. She is editor of Gifted Child Today and coauthor of Identifying Gifted Students: A Practical Guide, the Independent Study Program, RTI for Gifted Students, Using the National Gifted Education Standards for University Teacher Preparation Programs, Using the National Gifted Education Standards for PreK–12 Professional Development, and more than 200 articles, monographs, technical reports, and other books related to gifted education. She has written three tests used in identifying gifted students: Test of Mathematical Abilities for Gifted Students (TOMAGS), Test of Nonverbal Intelligence (TONI-4), and Screening Assessment Gifted Students (SAGES-2). E-mail: [email protected]

Alyssa Pond Hannig

Alyssa Pond Hannig is a graduate student in the Department of Educational Psychology at Baylor University, pursuing her master’s degree specializing in applied behavior analysis techniques. E-mail: [email protected]

Tianlan Wei

Tianlan Wei, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Mississippi State University. Her research focuses on examining math interest as it relates to emotion and affect across the student population as well as relevant subpopulations. E-mail: [email protected]